This week's Gateway Football Conference players of the week are RB Herb Donaldson of Western Illinois, LB Brannon Carter of Northern Iowa, Anthony D'Astice, and LT Isaiah Wiggins of Illinois State.  Each played a significant role in his team's victory last week.

OFFENSE
RB Herb Donaldson, Western Illinois
Jr., 5-11, 220, St. Louis (Mo.) CBC High
Donaldson rushed 32 times for 314 yards - the second-most in Gateway history, leading Western Illinois to a 31-10 win over Missouri State. With a long of just 33 yards, Donaldson averaged 9.8 per carry and didn’t lose a single yard. Donaldson reached the 100-yard mark midway through the second quarter and ended the first half with 159 yards and both of his touchdowns. He scored the go-ahead touchdown during a second quarter in which he amassed 101 yards. Donaldson also tied a school record as the fastest player to 1,000 yards, doing so in just the seventh game of the season. He has averaged 252.5 yards over the last two games and is now averaging 147.6 yards on the season.

DEFENSE
LB Brannon Carter, Northern Iowa
LB, 6-3, 233, Sr., St. Charles, Mo. (Francis Howell North HS)
Carter nabbed his third interception of the season and led the Panthers with 12 total tackles (seven solos) in a 30-24 win over Southern Illinois. Carter also notched a tackle-for-loss in the win. Carter’s interception came at the UNI 6-yard line as SIU was driving for a late score with only 27 seconds left in the second quarter. Carter leapt in the air and made an acrobatic grab to snare the ball away from the Salukis and preserve a 20-7 UNI lead at the half.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Anthony D’Astice, Western Illinois
6-2, 220, Fr., Addison, Ill., (Addison Trails High)
Anthony D’Astice blocked a pair of punts against Missouri State, one of which he picked up and returned five yards for a touchdown that gave Western Illinois its final score early in the fourth quarter. Only one other player in school history - Bryan Cox in 1990 - has blocked two kicks in a single game.

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN
LT Isaiah Wiggins, Illinois State
Sr., 6-4, 290, Chicago (Ill.) Prosser High
Senior left tackle Isaiah Wiggins' execution was almost as perfect as the Illinois State running game in Saturday's 69-17 homecoming victory over Indiana State.  Wiggins graded out at 98 percent, while the Redbirds compiled 444 yards of offense on the ground.  In fact, for the first time in Gateway Football Conference history, the Redbirds had three running backs post 100 or more rushing yards apiece in the same game.  Illinois State finished with 598 yards of total offense, while scoring touchdowns on its first 10 possessions, including seven rushing TDs.  Wiggins played 66 snaps without allowing a sack or having a missed assignment.  He also posted eight pancake blocks.