West Valley Top Player Performances of the Week
Congratulations to this week's top players! We're covering the best performances in games played on Thursday and Friday (using all statistics entered as of the time of writing). Enjoy!
Epifano Montiel Has Career Rushing Day
Starting off the list is Mt. Pleasant's Epifano Montiel, who we judged to be the best player in the league this week. On Thursday Montiel made seven total tackles, good enough to also set a new career-high in rushing yards in the process. His longest rush was for an incredible 80 yards.
On the year, Montiel has averaged 3.7 total tackles per game. That doesn't tell the whole story though: at this point last year, he was only averaging 2.4 rushing yards per game. This year he is averaging 109.1 rushing yards.
Gamescore: 46.10
Andrew Fernandez Delivers Best Effort of Season
Gunderson was led to victory by Andrew Fernandez, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Friday. Fernandez threw for 270 yards and five touchdowns while completing 81.8% of his passes.
Fernandez must have San Jose's number; he was a force to be reckoned with the last time he faced them too. Back in October of 2023 (the last time Fernandez saw the Bulldogs), he threw for 177 yards and three touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground.
Gamescore: 42.80
Mt. Pleasant Gets a Boost from Tafoya in 42-6 Victory
The second Mt. Pleasant player making an appearance here is Andrew Tafoya, and for good reason. He picked up 136 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He is becoming a predictor of Mt. Pleasant's success: when he posts at least two receiving touchdowns the team is 5-2 (and 0-3 when he doesn't).
On the year, Tafoya has caught 10 touchdowns while averaging 81.4 receiving yards per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he was only averaging 6.67 receiving yards per game.
Gamescore: 40.60
Mt. Pleasant Wins Fifth-Straight Thanks to Andrew Salazar
Andrew Salazar was instrumental in extending Mt. Pleasant's winning streak to five on Thursday. Salazar was unstoppable, rushing for 96 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. Mt. Pleasant is undefeated when Salazar posts two or more rushing touchdowns, but 1-5 otherwise.
On the year, Salazar has averaged 16.9 receiving yards per game.
Gamescore: 37.18
A Season-Best Effort from Luis Valdespino Leads Gunderson over San Jose
Gunderson was led to victory by Luis Valdespino, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Friday. Valdespino picked up 149 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He really caught the secondary sleeping when he pulled down a catch that went for 82 yards.
On the year, Valdespino has caught 5 touchdowns while averaging 56.2 receiving yards per game. He is looking even better than he did last year: after ten games last season, he had one receiving touchdown.
Gamescore: 37.07
Other Notable Players
- Miguel Acosta: 2 sacks and 7 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 22.75)
- Greg Darling: 98 yards receiving, 1 TD (Gamescore: 21.98)
- Roberto Sumano: 1 interception and 8 total tackles (Gamescore: 18.50)
- Daniel Henry: 1 sack and 6 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 17.00)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
