5A District 9 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!
A Season-Best Performance from Keishawn Smith Leads Manatee over Pinellas Park
KeiShawn Smith produced his most outstanding game to date while leading Manatee to the win on Friday. Smith rushed for 179 yards and four touchdowns, good enough to set a new career-high in rushing yards in the process.
The victory (which was Manatee's sixth in a row) raised their record to 8-1. Smith and Manatee will welcome Immokalee at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 49.68
Andrew Heidel Turns in Another Game with at Least Four Passing Touchdowns
Manatee was led to victory by Andrew Heidel, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Friday. Heidel threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 17.0 yards per attempt. The effort also marked the most rushing yards (29) he has had since back in October of 2023. He has been hot recently, having posted four or more passing touchdowns the last four times he's played.
On the year, Heidel has thrown 26 touchdowns while averaging 220.6 passing yards per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he had 15 passing touchdowns.
Gamescore: 44.47
Jalen Bryant Delivers Best Effort of Season
On Friday, Manatee got the W thanks in part to Jalen Bryant playing the best football he has all season. Bryant picked up 191 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
For the year, Bryant has caught 9 touchdowns while averaging 52.8 receiving yards per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he was only averaging 5.78 receiving yards per game.
Gamescore: 37.60
Amari Caro's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Pinellas Park over Manatee
Pinellas Park had to settle for second on Friday, but Amari Caro sure wasn't going down easily. Caro was unstoppable, picking up 162 receiving yards and a touchdown. His longest reception was for an incredible 78 yards.
This season, Caro has caught 6 touchdowns while averaging 52.5 receiving yards per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he had one receiving touchdown.
Gamescore: 33.17
Jaden Casanova Makes It Two for Pinellas Park
Another Pinellas Park player making an appearance on this list is Jaden Casanova. He threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 11.3 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 36 yards. He has become a key player for Pinellas Park: the team is 6-2 when he posts at least three passing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise.
On the season, Casanova has thrown 16 touchdowns (and and only 3 picks) while averaging 142.7 passing yards per game. It gets even more impressive: after 11 games last season, he was only averaging 13.82 rushing yards per game. This year he is averaging 29.64 rushing yards.
Gamescore: 29.17
Other Notable Players
- Ronin Dangler: 13 total tackles (6.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 28.50)
- Alvoid Kennon Jr.: 2 sacks and 6 total tackles (6.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 26.75)
- Ean Johnson-Kelley: 2 sacks and 7 total tackles (5.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 26.25)
- Julius Livingston: 18 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 20.50)
- Caleb Matelau: 1 sack, 5 total tackles (2.0 for loss), and 1 forced fumble (Gamescore: 18.75)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
