5A Northeast Valley 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!
Gunner Fagrell Turns in Season-Best Effort
On Friday, Higley got the W thanks in part to Gunner Fagrell playing the best football he has all season. Fagrell threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns while completing 79.4% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground.
Williams Field had to have seen this coming; the last time they saw Fagrell it was a similar story. Fagrell threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns while completing 78.8% of his passes, and also rushed for 62 yards the last time he and the Black Hawks duked it out back in November of 2023.
Gamescore: 42.30
Jaden Taylor's Big Game Leads Higley over Williams Field
Keeping Fagrell company is Jaden Taylor, a fellow Higley player. He picked up 109 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
This season, Taylor has caught 13 touchdowns while averaging 93.6 receiving yards per game. He is looking even better than he did last year: after nine games last season, he was only averaging 60.11 receiving yards per game.
Gamescore: 29.57
C Dixon Came Up Big in Cactus Shadows' 56-6 Win
Donivan C Dixon was a major factor in Cactus Shadows's victory over Agua Fria on Friday. C Dixon was dynamite, throwing for 245 yards and two touchdowns on only 19 passes, while also punching in a touchdown on the ground.
Agua Fria's probably not too fond of C Dixon given he always seems to get the better of them. When C Dixon last faced the Owls back in November of 2023, he threw for 335 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 13.4 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 37 yards and a touchdown.
Gamescore: 29.53
Lucas Blumling was a major factor in Desert Mountain's victory over Notre Dame Prep on Friday. Blumling turned in nothing short of a gem, picking up eight receiving yards and a touchdown.
Desert Mountain pushed their record up to 8-2 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Blumling and Desert Mountain will get to enjoy the win for a while: their next game is against ALA - Queen Creek at 7:00 p.m. on November 22nd.
Gamescore: 26.13
Jayden Rhodes Delivers Best Effort of Season
Higley was led to victory by Jayden Rhodes, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Friday. Rhodes wasn't messing around, picking up two sacks and making ten total tackles (3.0 for loss). The matchup was his third straight with eight or more total tackles.
This season, Rhodes has averaged 7.8 total tackles per game and for the season has 6 sacks. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he was only averaging 1.6 total tackles per game.
Gamescore: 24.50
Other Notable Players
- Cam Shepard: 97 yards receiving, 2 TDs (Gamescore: 22.45)
- Boston Tilton: 1 sack and 12 total tackles (3.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 21.25)
- Jayden Ridley: 1 sack and 8 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 20.00)
- John (Jd) Decausmaker: 149 yards receiving (Gamescore: 15.32)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
