Railbelt Top Player Performances of the Week
Congratulations to this week's top players! We're covering the best performances across Friday and Saturday's football action (using all statistics entered as of the time of writing). Enjoy!
A Season-Best Effort from Garrett Bird Leads Eagle River over Wasilla
Garrett Bird produced his most outstanding game to date while leading Eagle River to the win on Saturday. Bird rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.1 yards per carry, and also picked up 33 receiving yards. Eagle River is 2-1 when Bird posts two or more rushing touchdowns, but 2-3 otherwise.
The victory got Eagle River back to even at 4-4. Bird and Eagle River will face off against Chugiak at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 51.02
Easaw Posts Huge Game in 35-28 Victory
Oschaun Easaw's rushing tear continued on Saturday as he dropped his eighth-straight game with 115+ rushing yards dating back to last season. He rushed for 196 yards and two touchdowns, and also caught a touchdown. He was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 51 yards.
The victory (which was Lathrop's third in a row) raised their record to 4-4. Easaw and Lathrop are on the road again on Saturday to play West Valley at 4:00 p.m.
Gamescore: 48.35
Nolan Beaty Makes It Two for Eagle River
The second Eagle River player making an appearance here is Nolan Beaty, and for good reason. He rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 55 yards and a touchdown.
For the year, Beaty has thrown 5 touchdowns while averaging 40.9 passing yards per game.
Gamescore: 48.27
North Pole Wins Seventh-Straight Thanks to Patrick Melvin
Patrick Melvin was instrumental in extending North Pole's winning streak to seven on Friday. Melvin was unstoppable, rushing for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
North Pole's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-1. Melvin and North Pole will stay at home for another week and welcome Soldotna at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 33.48
Another Game with at Least Five Total Tackles from Jimmy Runnels
Jimmy Runnels was instrumental in extending North Pole's winning streak to seven on Friday. Runnels wasn't messing around, forcing a fumble and making 15 total tackles (1.0 for loss). The game was his fifth straight with five or more total tackles dating back to last season.
For the year, Runnels has averaged 8.9 total tackles per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he was only averaging 0.25 total tackles per game.
Gamescore: 24.75
Other Notable Players
- Conner Zundel: 1 interception, 9 total tackles (1.0 for loss), and 1 forced fumble (Gamescore: 21.50)
- Tyler "Bandit" Griffin: 11 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 17.50)
- Devin Emmett: 154 yards passing (Gamescore: 16.07)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
