Valley City State University senior linebacker Arron Martin has been named the Dacotah Bank/North Star Athletic Association Football Defensive Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday. It is the fourth straight week that a VCSU player has earned the Defensive POW Award.

NSAA Football Defensive Player of the Week
Arron Martin – Valley City State (N.D.) – 5’11” – 235 lbs., Senior – linebacker – Baxter, Minn. – Martin had a hand in 15 tackles (2 solo, 13 assist) as Valley City State (N.D.) held on to a 30-18 road victory at Dakota State (S.D.).  He also broke up one pass as the Vikings limited the Trojans to 282 yards of offense.

NSAA Football Offensive Player of the Week
Hayden Gibson – Dickinson State (N.D.) – 6’3″ – 225 lbs., Senior – quarterback – Bismarck, N.D. – Gibson had a record-breaking day as No. 21-ranked Dickinson State (N.D.) held off No. 25-ranked Waldorf (Iowa) in a 30-28 thriller.  He set the school records in completed passes, pass attempts and passing yards for the Blue Hawks.  He went 40-of-63 for a total of 524 passing yards.  Gibson threw four touchdown passes in the game.

NSAA Football Special Teams Player of the Week
Cameron Newsome – Waldorf (Iowa) – 6’3″ – 185 lbs., Senior – cornerback – Century, Fla. – Newsome blocked two field goals and a PAT extra-point kick attempt for No. 25 Waldorf (Iowa), despite a 30-28 home setback to No. 21-ranked Dickinson State (N.D.) in the battle of NAIA Football’s Top 25 nationally-ranked teams.  He also had three kick-off returns for a total of 28 yards.

Recap from last Saturday’s games
The tenth edition of the Dacotah Bank/North Star Athletic Association Football Game-of-the-Week saw the battle of NAIA Football Top 25 nationally-ranked teams between No. 21-ranked Dickinson State (N.D.) and No. 25-ranked Waldorf (Iowa) at Bolstorff Field in Forest City, Iowa.  The Warriors opened up with a 14-0 lead through the early second quarter before the Blue Hawks cut their deficit to 14-6 by halftime.  Dickinson State rallied back to tie the game at 21-21 after the third quarter.  Waldorf regained their lead after a 50-yard touchdown pass from Hilton to Joseph, followed by Slater Gifford’s PAT extra-point kick for a 28-21 lead with 7:07 remaining.  The Blue Hawks answered with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Hayden Gibson to Javonte Oliphan but failed to convert the two-point PAT extra-point kick and trailed at 28-27 with 4:15 left.  Jeremiah Paine hit a game-winning 42-yard field goal as the Blue Hawks’ postseason hope remained alive with a 30-28 thriller over the Warriors.  The Blue Hawks outgained the Warriors 587-415 in total offensive yards in the game.  Dickinson State improved to 7-2 overall record and 5-1 NSAA conference record.  Waldorf’s four-game winning streak came to an end, falling to 6-3 overall record and 4-2 record in North Star conference.

Valley City State (N.D.) and Dakota State (S.D.) were limited to below 300 offensive yards at the Trojan Field in Madison, S.D.  Trailing 10-7 in the second quarter, the Vikings outscored the Trojans 14-0 to earn a 21-10 lead in the third quarter.  The Trojans cut VCSU’s lead to 21-16, while the Vikings extended their lead to 23-16 after a 2-point defensive PAT extra point after an interception return to the DaSU’s end zone.  Valley City State outscored Dakota State 7-2 in the final quarter to secure a 30-18 victory.  The Trojans had 282 offensive yards compared to the Vikings 249 offensive yards.  VCSU won their fourth straight game to raise their overall record to 7-2 and 5-1 NSAA conference record.  Dakota State fell to 4-5 overall record and 2-4 NSAA conference record.

Dickinson State and Valley City State are tied for first-place in the Dacotah Bank/NSAA Football conference standings.  VCSU defeated DiSU 23-22 on Oct. 26.

Presentation (S.D.) won their first game of the season, ending their eight-game losing skid.  The Saints won a 51-35 high-scoring affair at Mayville State (N.D.), earning a split in their two meetings this season.  The Comets earned the first lead of the game at 7-0 before the Saints scored 17 unanswered points to grab a 17-7 lead by the end of the first quarter.  MSU could get no closer than three points at 17-14 in the second quarter.  PC went on to outscored MSU 34-13 to widen their lead to 51-27 with less than two minutes remaining in the game.  Presentation is 1-8 overall record and 1-5 NSAA conference record.  Mayville State dropped their fifth straight game, dipping their overall record to 2-7 and 1-5 record in North Star contests.

Looking Ahead
The final edition of the Dacotah Bank/North Star Athletic Association Football Game of the Week is set for Saturday at Lokken Field in Valley City, N.D.  Valley City State (N.D.) looks to keep the conference title chase alive as they wrap up their regular-season schedule versus No. 25 Waldorf (Iowa).  Kick-off is set for 1 p.m.  Waldorf won the first meeting of the season on Nov. 5 in Forest City, Iowa, by the score of 37-17.

Dakota State (S.D.) travels to Aberdeen, S.D. to take on Presentation (S.D.) at Swisher Field at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the regular-season finale.  No. 21 Dickinson State (N.D.) closes out their regular-season schedule as they host Mayville State (N.D.) Saturday at 2 p.m. (Central Time)/1 p.m. (Mountain Time).

Saturday’s Games
Dakota State (S.D.) @ Presentation (S.D.) – 1 p.m.
Mayville State (N.D.) @ (21) Dickinson State (N.D.) – 2 p.m. (Central Time)/1 p.m. (Mountain Time)
Dacotah Bank/North Star Football Game of the Week
(25) Waldorf (Iowa) @ (RV) Valley City State (N.D.) – 1 p.m.

NSAA Football Standings

Nov. 2 Results
(21) Dickinson State (N.D.) 30, (25) Waldorf (Iowa) 28 – FINAL
Presentation (S.D.) 51, Mayville State (N.D.) 35 – FINAL 
(RV) Valley City State (N.D.) 30, Dakota State (S.D.) 18 – FINAL

The NSAA Player of the Week is selected from a pool of conference players of the week.  Sports information director representatives from each conference institution may nominate players for the specific conference award in each category.  A voting panel comprising of sports information directors from each conference institution vote using the SIDHelp secure platform.

Nick Huntimer, North Star Athletic Association Sports Information Director