A day after beating rival Butler for the Hoosier Helmet at Brown Field, the Valparaiso University football team has recorded its first Pioneer Football League weekly honor of the season.

Junior return specialist Bailey Gessinger (Napanee, Ind. / Northwood) was named the PFL Special Teams Player of the Week on Sunday. Gessinger displayed his lightning-quick speed on the first play of the second half on Saturday, snapping a 14-14 tie with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. That play swung the momentum, as Valpo led Butler for the game’s duration.  

Gessinger’s kickoff return for a touchdown was the third of his Valpo career after he became the first player in program history with two kickoff returns for touchdowns in a single season by doing so as a freshman in 2016. This season, Gessinger is one of 15 players in the nation with a kickoff return for a touchdown of 97 yards or more this season. It was the longest kickoff return for a TD by a PFL player this season.

Valpo will be back in action on Saturday at Morehead State for a 1 p.m. CT kickoff.