5A East 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!
Owen Miller's Big Game Leads Harding Academy over Batesville
Starting off the list is Harding Academy's Owen Miller, who we judged to be the best player in the league this week. Miller threw for 416 yards and two touchdowns while completing 78.9% of his passes, and also rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in November of 2023.
Harding Academy's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 3-3. Miller and Harding Academy will welcome Paragould at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 43.03
Harrell Made His Presence Known in Nettleton's 55-23 Victory
Xavier Harrell's big game helped extend Nettleton's winning streak to four on Friday. Harrell was dynamite, rushing for 164 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fifth straight game with at least 106 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Nettleton's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-1. Harrell and Nettleton will challenge Greene County Tech at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 40.40
A Season-Best Performance from Isaac Baker Leads Harding Academy over Batesville
On Friday, Harding Academy got the W thanks in part to Isaac Baker playing the best football he has all season. Baker rushed for 97 yards and three touchdowns, and also picked up 80 receiving yards. The performance marked the most rushing yards he has had since back in October of 2023.
On the season, Baker has averaged 62.8 receiving yards per game. He is looking even better than he did last year: after five games last season, he was only averaging 35.8 receiving yards per game.
Gamescore: 39.57
Talen Foree Delivers Best Effort of Season
On Friday, Batesville had to settle for second even though Talen Foree put up the best numbers he has all season. Foree made 15 total tackles and defended a pass.
Batesville dropped their record down to 1-5 with the defeat, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season. Foree and Batesville will take on Wynne at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 34.95
Cole Bentz Turns in Season-Best Effort
Batesville came up short on Friday despite Cole Bentz delivering his best game to date. Bentz threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns, and also punched in two rushing scores.
For the year, Bentz has thrown 8 touchdowns while averaging 151.3 passing yards per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he was only averaging 64.5 passing yards per game.
Gamescore: 32.47
Other Notable Players
- Drew Gartman: 183 yards passing; 80 yards rushing, 1 TD (Gamescore: 31.70)
- Maddox Hampton: 207 yards passing (Gamescore: 27.60)
- Cam Austin: 76 yards rushing, 2 TDs (Gamescore: 26.88)
- Endy Mcgalliard: 178 yards receiving, 1 TD (Gamescore: 24.72)
- Rourke Sevier: 1 sack and 13 total tackles (2.5 for loss) (Gamescore: 24.00)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
