3A Northern 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!
Keeshawn Love Delivers Best Effort of Season
On Friday, Fernley got the W thanks in part to Keeshawn Love playing the best football he has all season. Love rushed for 526 yards and seven touchdowns while picking up 15.0 yards per carry, good enough to set a new career-high in rushing yards in the process. His longest rush was for an incredible 90 yards.
Love must have Lowry's number; he was a force to be reckoned with the last time he faced them too. Love rushed for 225 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.2 yards per carry the last time he and the Buckaroos duked it out back in October of 2023.
Gamescore: 133.20
Erick Valencia Crosses Big Stat Threshold
Lowry came up short on Friday despite Erick Valencia delivering his best game to date. Valencia rushed for 222 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 10.1 yards per carry, and also threw for 102 yards while completing 83.3% of his passes. The performance once again pushed his average rushing yardage north of 100 yards per game (114). The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Lowry is on a four-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 1-6. Valencia and Lowry will venture away from home to square off against South Tahoe at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 80.80
Truckee Wins 21st-Straight Thanks to Ivan Esparza
Ivan Esparza's big game helped extend Truckee's winning streak to 21 on Friday. Esparza rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries, good enough for us to rate the performance as the best he's had all season long. Those 144 rushing yards gave him a new career-high.
Truckee's victory was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-0. Esparza's next game is against Sparks on Friday, where he'll look to repeat that solid effort.
Gamescore: 35.48
Big Game from Melendy As Churchill County Won 21-14
Rounding off our Top Five is Carson Melendy of Churchill County. Melendy rushed for 52 yards and two touchdowns. He is becoming a predictor of Churchill County's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is 4-1 (and 0-3 when he doesn't).
The win got Churchill County back to even at 4-4. Melendy and Churchill County will look to defend their home field on Friday against Elko at 7:00 p.m.
Gamescore: 27.60
Other Notable Players
- Paul Ronzone: 2 sacks, 9 total tackles (2.0 for loss), and 1 forced fumble (Gamescore: 26.50)
- Luke Lauter: (1TD) and 10 total tackles (3.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 22.75)
- Joey Machado: 14 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 22.75)
- Jake Carsrud: 129 yards rushing, 1 TD (Gamescore: 21.00)
- Calvin Curtis: 2 interception and 5 total tackles (Gamescore: 19.00)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
