Mid-State Top Player Performances of the Week
Congratulations to this week's top players! We're covering the best performances from Friday's football action (using all statistics entered as of the time of writing). Enjoy!
Alex Leugers Delivers Best Effort of Season
On Friday, Franklin Community got the W thanks in part to Alex Leugers playing the best football he has all season. Leugers rushed for 338 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 12.5 yards per carry, good enough to set a new career-high in rushing yards in the process. He was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 64 yards.
Unfortunately for Greenwood, this isn't the first big game they've seen from Leugers. When Leugers last faced the Woodmen back in October of 2023, he rushed for 221 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.1 yards per carry.
Gamescore: 82.30
Kasmir Hicks Sets Career High in Rushing Yards
Kasmir Hicks posted a new career-high in rushing yards on Friday. He made two total tackles. He also made an appearance on special teams (luckily for Decatur Central): his a 46-yard strike wound up winning them the game.
The win (which was Decatur Central's fourth in a row) raised their record to 5-2-1. Hicks and Decatur Central will square off against Franklin Community at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 39.53
Sadly, Allen Zupan posting his best game of the season wasn't enough to lead Perry Meridian over Decatur Central on Friday. Zupan threw for 164 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 139 yards, good enough to set a new career-high in rushing yards in the process.
On the season, Zupan has thrown 11 touchdowns while averaging 167.4 passing yards per game. It gets even more impressive: after eight games last season, he was only averaging 0.13 rushing yards per game. This year he is averaging 50.75 rushing yards.
Gamescore: 36.93
Grady Gardner Turns in Another Game with at Least Seven Total Tackles
Martinsville was led to victory by Grady Gardner, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Friday. Gardner wasn't messing around, making seven total tackles (1.0 for loss) and defending three passes in addition to snagging three interceptions which he returned for a touchdown. The game was his third straight with seven or more total tackles dating back to last season.
The victory for Martinsville keeps them at an undefeated 8-0. Gardner and Martinsville will face off against Plainfield at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 34.50
Byron Hon Turns in Season-Best Performance
Sadly, Byron Hon posting his best game of the season wasn't enough to lead Perry Meridian over Decatur Central on Friday. Hon picked up 115 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He is becoming a predictor of Perry Meridian's success: when he posts at least two receiving touchdowns the team is 2-1 (and 1-4 when he doesn't).
This year, Hon has caught 8 touchdowns while averaging 77.8 receiving yards per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he had five receiving touchdowns.
Gamescore: 33.83
Other Notable Players
- Gunner Ruppert: 120 yards rushing, 2 TDs (Gamescore: 33.50)
- Clayton Ratliff: 19 total tackles (1.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 24.50)
- Andre Watson: 2 sacks and 9 total tackles (3.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 23.00)
- Luke Starnes: 111 yards rushing, 1 TD (Gamescore: 21.00)
- Jordan Palmer: 1 sack and 12 total tackles (1.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 21.00)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
