Western 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!
Barnett Made His Presence Known in Dodge City's 40-14 Win
Starting off the list is Dodge City's Cade Barnett, who we judged to be the best player in the league this week. Barnett rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries. He is becoming a predictor of Dodge City's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is undefeated (and 1-3 when he doesn't).
For the year, Barnett has run in 5 touchdowns while averaging 44.1 rushing yards per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he was only averaging 10.14 rushing yards per game.
Gamescore: 60.75
Winning always takes teamwork, but on Friday Xavier Tafoya stepped things up a notch to give Liberal the 'W'. Nobody could stop Tafoya as he made eight total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Liberal's victory was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-2. Tafoya and Liberal will square off against Hays at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 54.20
Ayden Juarez Turns in Season-Best Performance
Ayden Juarez produced his most outstanding game to date while leading Liberal to the win on Friday. Juarez rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries.
For the season, Juarez has run in those 1 touchdown while averaging 25.6 rushing yards per game.
Gamescore: 37.80
Daxton Minton's Big Game Leads Great Bend over Hays
Daxton Minton's big game helped extend Great Bend's winning streak to seven on Friday. Minton turned in nothing short of a gem, rushing for 125 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries, while also throwing for 100 yards and a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in November of 2023.
Unfortunately for Hays, this isn't the first big game they've seen from Minton. Minton threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns while completing 75.9% of his passes, and also rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries the last time he and the Indians duked it out back in September of 2023.
Gamescore: 31.77
A Season-Best Performance from James Fieser Leads Liberal over Ulysses
James Fieser produced his most outstanding game to date while leading Liberal to the win on Friday. Fieser picked up 96 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He showed off some serious burst, lighting up the secondary with a catch for 67 yards.
Ulysses's probably not too fond of Fieser given he always seems to get the better of them. Back in October of 2023 (the last time Fieser saw the Tigers), he picked up 90 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Gamescore: 27.93
Other Notable Players
- Ian Premer: 85 yards rushing, 1 TD (Gamescore: 26.27)
- Ryan Gonzalez: 104 yards rushing, 2 TDs (Gamescore: 22.80)
- Giovani Duran: 1 sack and 8 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 20.00)
- Landon Martinez: 8 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 17.50)
- Tevin Cotter: 119 yards passing (Gamescore: 16.93)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
