A pair of Valparaiso University football players were recognized by the Pioneer Football League on Sunday as the league released its weekly awards following the team’s road 40-35 win at Morehead State on Saturday.

Aaron Dawson (Westbury, N.Y. / W.T. Clarke / Milford Prep [Central Connecticut]) was named the PFL Offensive Player of the Week, while Brian Bartholomew was tabbed PFL Special Teams Player of the Week.

Dawson’s honor came after rushing for 241 yards, the highest single-game rushing effort by a Valpo player since 2012 and just 12 yards shy of the program’s single-game record. He had touchdown runs of 45 and 28 yards, the latter of which came with 5:37 remaining and proved to be the game-winning score.

Dawson delivered the seventh-highest single-game rushing output in the FCS nation this season and highest by a PFL player. This was Dawson’s third straight game with 150 or more rushing yards. He now owns three of the top four single-game rushing outputs by a PFL player in 2022. For the season, Dawson is up to 824 rushing yards. He is on the verge of cracking the top five in program history with four games remaining as Brandon Hall is fifth with 855 in 2014. Jeff Horton rushed for 1,358 yards in 2005 to set the program record.

Bartholomew was 4-for-4 on PATs and 2-for-2 on field goals, accounting for 10 points in the eventual five-point victory. He drilled field goals from 26 and 48 yards and saw two of his eight kickoffs go for touchbacks. The senior’s perfect performance was a redemption effort after he had a rare off week in the previous week’s one-point loss to Butler. This marks the second time this season and third time in his career that Bartholomew has won the PFL Special Teams Player of the Week Award.

Valpo (4-3, 3-1 PFL) will look to keep the success coming with a visit to Dayton this coming Saturday.