5A Desert West 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!
Donovan Delong Turns in Season-Best Effort
Millennium was led to victory by Donovan Delong, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Friday. Delong rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.1 yards per carry, and also threw for 122 yards and a touchdown, good enough to set a new career-high in rushing yards in the process.
On the season, Delong has thrown 9 touchdowns while averaging 92.1 passing yards per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he had four passing touchdowns.
Gamescore: 49.23
Jack Isidore Sets Career High in Rushing Yards
Sadly, Jack Isidore posting his best game of the season wasn't enough to lead Verrado over Cactus on Thursday. Isidore rushed for 164 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries, and also picked up 54 receiving yards and a touchdown, good enough to set a new career-high in rushing yards in the process. He really tore up the turf during one magnificent 72-yard run.
With the defeat, Verrado broke their five-game winning streak and moved their record to 5-2. Isidore and Verrado will look to defend their home field on Friday against Millennium at 7:00 p.m.
Gamescore: 44.77
Deriece Brown Delivers Best Effort of Season
Verrado came up short on Thursday despite Deriece Brown delivering his best game to date. Brown picked up 137 receiving yards and a touchdown. The bulk of those receiving yards came from one huge play: a catch that gained an incredible 74 yards.
For the year, Brown has caught 8 touchdowns while averaging 61.4 receiving yards per game.
Gamescore: 36.12
Gieszler Made His Presence Known in Verrado's 50-41 Loss
Another Verrado player making an appearance on this list is Chase Gieszler. He threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns on only 17 passes, and also rushed for 34 yards and two touchdowns. He has become a key player for Verrado: the team is undefeated when he posts at least 250 passing yards, but 1-2 otherwise.
On the year, Gieszler has thrown 18 touchdowns while averaging 206.9 passing yards per game. It gets even more impressive: after seven games last season, he was only averaging 92.33 passer rating per game. This year he is averaging 139.3 passer rating.
Gamescore: 35.30
Tristan Varga Makes Top Five
Rounding off our Top Five is Tristan Varga of Cactus. Varga made two total tackles. He also punched in two rushing touchdowns, which is notable because Cactus is undefeated when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise.
The win was the third in a row for Cactus, bringing their record for this year to 5-2. Varga will try to repeat (or improve) on that dominant performance when he faces off against Sunrise Mountain on Friday.
Gamescore: 34.70
Other Notable Players
- Robert Bell Jr: 1 TD ; 80 yards receiving, 1 TD (Gamescore: 28.18)
- Tayejion Player: 115 yards rushing, 2 TDs (Gamescore: 27.78)
- Joshua Hopphaus: 17 total tackles (Gamescore: 24.75)
- Antonio Casias: 317 yards passing; 83 yards rushing (Gamescore: 22.43)
- Gavin Levin: 13 total tackles (3.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 20.25)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
