Mid-Continent 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!
Tyler Backman Delivers Best Performance of Season
Norton was led to victory by Tyler Backman, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Friday. Backman rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries, good enough to set a new career-high in rushing yards in the process. His longest rush was for an impressive 69 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
If the past is any indication, Backman could be in store for another big game when he takes on Phillipsburg on Friday. Back in September of 2023 (the last time Backman saw the Panthers), he rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries.
Gamescore: 57.85
Liles Posts Huge Game in 28-20 Victory
Winning always takes teamwork, but on Friday Carson Liles stepped things up a notch to give Thomas More Prep-Marian the 'W'. Nobody could stop Liles as he rushed for seven yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 182 yards and a touchdown.
Thomas More Prep-Marian pushed their record up to 4-2 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season. Liles and Thomas More Prep-Marian will square off against Syracuse at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 38.38
Norton Wins Sixth-Straight Thanks to Eli Jones
Norton picked up their sixth consecutive win on Friday thanks in part to Eli Jones. Russell had no answer to Jones as he rushed for 71 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 116 yards on ten of 17 attempts.
Unfortunately for Russell, this isn't the first big game they've seen from Jones. Back in October of 2023 (the last time Jones saw the Broncos), he rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.2 yards per carry, and also threw for 143 yards and a touchdown.
Gamescore: 35.73
Carsen Beal Has Career Rushing Day
Carsen Beal posted a new career-high in rushing yards on Friday. He rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
On the season, Beal has run in 6 touchdowns while averaging 65.8 rushing yards per game. He is looking even better than he did last year: after six games last season, he had one rushing touchdown.
Gamescore: 30.72
Walker Middleton Crosses Big Stat Threshold
Rounding off our Top Five is Walker Middleton of Russell. Middleton picked up 182 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. He's now once again averaging 100+ receiving yards (102.5) per game. He showed off some serious burst, lighting up the secondary with a catch for 66 yards.
This season, Middleton has caught 5 touchdowns while averaging 102.5 receiving yards per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he was only averaging 60.33 receiving yards per game.
Gamescore: 30.15
Other Notable Players
- Jacob Seib: 88 yards receiving, 1 TD (Gamescore: 19.05)
- Mason Rohr: 287 yards passing (Gamescore: 16.63)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
