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ST. LOUIS – Missouri State quarterback Jason Shelley (Frisco, Texas) was named as the Newcomer of the Week by the Missouri Valley Football Conference on Sunday for his role in leading the Bears to a 31-23 win over South Dakota at Plaster Stadium this week.
It is Shelley’s second MVFC Newcomer of the Week honor this season.
The Bears signal caller posted his third straight 200-yard passing game and third straight game with no interceptions to help lead the Bears to a come-from-behind win over the visiting Coyotes. Shelley accounted for four touchdowns — two passing and two rushing — while engineering three scoring drives in the Bears’ first five second-half possessions to ignite a 17-0 run to end the game.
Shelley was 19-for-29 for a season-high 281 yards through the air and also racked up a career-high 62 ground yards on 17 carries (94 rushing yards when factoring out sack yardage), including touchdown runs of 26 and 12 yards. His 12-yard TD run in the fourth quarter gave the Bears an eight-point cushion and helped complete the comeback. He was 4-for-5 passing for 66 yards in the fourth quarter alone while racking up 21 rushing yards in the final period.
Shelley, a transfer from Utah State, is the Bears third Valley Newcomer of the Week award honoree this season. In addition to Shelley’s first honor for the Oklahoma State game (Sept. 4), Xavier Lane earned MVFC Newcomer of the Week for MSU’s win over Central Arkansas (Sept. 11).
Other MVFC award recipients announced Sunday were: RB Pierre Strong of South Dakota State (Offense); DB Darius Joiner of Western Illinois (Defense); and WR Izaiah Hartrup of Southern Illinois (Special Teams). The league will name its Offensive Lineman of the Week on Monday.
The Bears will start a two-game road swing next week at Illinois State (1 p.m.) when the Valley rivals square off in Normal.
The next home game for the Bears will be a homecoming date with Indiana State on Oct. 16 at Plaster Stadium.
