1A Smoky Mountain 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!
Jonathan Saylor Delivers Best Performance of Season
On Friday, Cherokee got the W thanks in part to Jonathan Saylor playing the best football he has all season. Saylor threw for 161 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 42 yards and a touchdown.
Cherokee's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 4-3. Saylor and Cherokee will take on Hayesville at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 30.23
Big Game from Graves As Hayesville Won 12-7
Hayesville took down Swain County on Friday, a win that might not have happened without Tre Graves's performance. Graves turned in nothing short of a gem, rushing for 83 yards and a touchdown. He was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 61 yards.
On the season, Graves has run in 4 touchdowns while averaging 75.1 rushing yards per game.
Gamescore: 25.75
Michael Mauney Makes It Two for Hayesville
Keeping Graves company is Michael Mauney, a fellow Hayesville player. He picked up 97 receiving yards and a touchdown. He showed off some serious burst, cutting upfield on a catch for 66 yards.
For the season, Mauney has caught those 1 touchdown while averaging 37.4 receiving yards per game. That doesn't tell the whole story though: at this point last year, he was only averaging 3.29 rushing yards per game. This year he is averaging 24.14 rushing yards.
Gamescore: 25.25
Robbinsville was sadly handed a loss on Friday, but Roman Jones did his best to prevent it. Jones was unstoppable, making nine total tackles (1.0 for loss).
For the season, Jones has averaged 2.9 total tackles per game. It gets even more impressive: after seven games last season, he was only averaging 0.71 rushing yards per game. This year he is averaging 66.43 rushing yards.
Gamescore: 22.35
The second Cherokee player making an appearance here is Brandon Santiago, and for good reason. He rushed for 109 yards on only ten carries. His longest rush was for an impressive 60 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
On the year, Santiago has averaged 79.9 rushing yards per game. He is looking even better than he did last year: after seven games last season, he was only averaging 18.29 rushing yards per game.
Gamescore: 21.55
Other Notable Players
- Javin Garcia: 89 yards receiving, 1 TD (Gamescore: 15.40)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
