Derrick Henry moves atop MaxPreps National Football Player of the Year Watch

Derrick Henry's continued excellence has resulted in a shift among the favorites in the MaxPreps National Player of the Year Watch.

The Yulee running back posted his fourth 300-yard game of the season and scored six or more touchdowns for the second time this season in a 42-6 win over Glades Day (Belle Glade). Additionally, he outshined Player of the Year Watch colleague Kelvin Taylor, who had 223 yards for Glades Day.

Aloha's Thomas Tyner drops down from the favorite spot after rushing for less than 200 yards for the first time this season.

MaxPreps National Player of the Year Watch



Favorite

Derrick Henry, Yulee (Fla.)
Henry moves into the favorite's position this week after rushing for 362 yards on 35 carries with six touchdowns in a 42-6 win over Glades Day. Not only did Henry, the second all-time leading rusher in Florida, outshine the state's all-time leading rusher Kelvin Taylor, he tied a national record with his 39th-straight game with more than 100 yards rushing. This season, Henry has 1,753 yards rushing on 167 carries with 24 touchdowns and has run for more than 300 yards four times. His 9,617 career yards are 1,615 yards away from the all-time rushing mark of 11,232, set by Ken Hall of Sugar Land (Texas).



Top Contenders

Max Browne, Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.)
Browne moved closer to the all-time passing yardage mark in Washington as he completed 15 of 18 passes for 233 yards and four touchdowns in a 67-16 win over Garfield (Seattle). Browne has more than 10,000 yards in career passing and is about 2,500 away from all-time Washington leader Brian Lindgren of DeSales (12,575 yards). For the season, Browne has completed 99 passes in 137 attempts for 1,607 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Thomas Tyner, Aloha (Beaverton, Ore.)
Carrying the ball just 15 times, Tyner still managed 173 yards with two touchdowns in a 50-28 win over Westview (Portland, Ore.). The yardage total is the lowest of the season for Tyner, who drops down from the favorite spot mainly due to the strong showing of Derrick Henry the past two weeks. Tyner has gained 1,657 yards on 136 carries with 21 touchdowns.





Kelvin Taylor, Glades Day (Belle Glade, Fla.)
Taylor managed 223 yards rushing on 35 carries with one touchdown in Glades Day's 42-6 loss to Yulee. Taylor stands as the state's all-time leading rusher with 10,805 yards (including eighth grade).

Keep an Eye On

Jalen Hurd, Beech (Hendersonville, Tenn.)
Hurd continues to hold the national rushing and scoring lead as he had 216 yards on 33 carries with three touchdowns in a 28-21 win over Hendersonville (Tenn.). Hurd has rushed for 1,890 yards on 166 carries with 27 total touchdowns.

Jake Browning, Folsom (Calif.)
Browning and the Bulldogs had a bye last week, but they will put their 5-0 record to the test this week against 5-0 Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills, Calif.)

Austin Kafentzis, Jordan (Sandy, Utah)
St. John Bosco held Kafentzis somewhat in check as he completed just more than half of his passes (21 of 41) for 194 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. He also ran 17 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-33 loss. Kafentzis surpassed 1,000 yards rushing on the season with 1,009 on 116 carries. He also has 1,685 yards passing (117 of 190) with 21 touchdowns.



Su'a Cravens, Vista Murrieta (Murrieta, Calif.)
Although he didn't have a catch on offense, Cravens did manage two sacks on defense to go along with six tackles in a 42-6 win over Palisades (Pacific Palisades, Calif.).



Moving up Quickly

Conner Manning, El Toro (Lake Forest, Calif.)
Manning had a fairly quiet night as far as his usual numbers are concerned, as he threw the ball just 29 times, a season low, completing 17 for 317 yards in a 49-6 win over Garden Grove (Calif.). He also had three touchdown passes to give him 27 for the season with just one interception. He has completed 199 of 290 passes for 2,572 yards.

Shuler Bentley, Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.)
For the fourth-straight week Bentley threw five touchdown passes as he completed 21 of 35 passes for 375 yards in a 49-7 win over Spartanburg. For the season, Bentley went over the 2,000-yard mark. He has completed 151 passes in 227 attempts for 2,311 yards and 26 touchdowns for the 6-0 Rebels.