ST. LOUIS - North Dakota State wide receiver Christian Watson was named Offensive Player of the Week and punter Garret Wegner was named Special Teams Player of the Week by the Missouri Valley Football Conference on Sunday, April 11, for their performances in NDSU's 23-20 win at Northern Iowa.

Watson, a junior from Tampa, Fla., accounted for 229 all-purpose yards in the win and earned his first career MVFC player of the week award. He caught two passes for 86 yards including a long of 61 yards in the final minute of the first half that set up a 42-yard field goal and gave NDSU a 10-6 halftime lead. His 25-yard reception on third-and-8 extended a touchdown scoring drive in the fourth quarter that gave NDSU a 23-12 lead. Watson scored NDSU's first touchdown on a 100-yard kickoff return, the fourth such return in school history.

Wegner, a senior from Lodi, Wis., punted four times with a 44.2 average to earn his fourth career MVFC player of the week award and second of this season. He had a long of 48 yards and placed two punts inside the 20 including a 44-yarder to the UNI 2 and a 45-yard punt downed at the UNI 4 with 1:00 left in the game. Wegner also handled all four kickoffs for NDSU averaging 63.8 yards with two touchbacks.

North Dakota State (6-1, 5-1 MVFC) is scheduled to close out the regular season against South Dakota State (4-1, 4-1 MVFC) in the annual Dakota Marker game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.