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 Turns in Season-Best Performance
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 win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 4-3. Saylor and Cherokee will square off against Hayesville at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 30.23
Graves Posts Huge Game in 12-7 Win
Winning always takes teamwork, but on Friday Tre Graves stepped things up a notch to give Hayesville the 'W'. Graves was unstoppable, rushing for 83 yards and a touchdown. He showed off some serious burst, cutting through the defense on one rush that went for 61 yards.
This year, 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 was no stranger to the big play, lighting up the secondary with a catch that went for 66 yards.
This season, Mauney has caught those 1 touchdown while averaging 37.4 receiving yards per game. It gets even more impressive: after seven games last season, he was only averaging 3.29 rushing yards per game. This year he is averaging 24.14 rushing yards.
Gamescore: 25.25
Another Cherokee player making an appearance on this list is Brandon Santiago. 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 season, 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: 17.80
A Constellation of Stars for Hayesville
Another Hayesville player making an appearance on this list is Will Brown. He made 12 total tackles.
On the year, Brown has averaged 6.2 total tackles per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he was only averaging three total tackles per game.
Gamescore: 15.75
Other Notable Players
- Javin Garcia: 89 yards receiving, 1 TD (Gamescore: 15.40)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
