Deondre Francois of IMG Academy is establishing himself as a contender for National Football Player of the Year.
File photo by Andrew Bershaw
State records continue to fall for Player of the Year Watch member Jake Browning of Folsom, but he's not the only record-breaker, or potential record-breaker, in this week's edition.
One player to keep on eye on this week is Tucker Israel of Lake Nona, who could become the state's all-time yardage leader while also having an outside chance at tying the state record for career touchdowns. Israel needs nine touchdown passes to tie the touchdown mark, which isn't out of the realm of possibility for the four-year starter who once threw 10 touchdown passes in one game as a freshman.
See pro photo galleries from last week's football gamesNational Football Player of the Year Watch
Sotonye Jamabo, Plano West (Texas)In a 63-49 win over Sachse, Jamabo rushed 31 times for 484 yards and six touchdowns, including scoring runs of 92, 56 and 52 yards. For the season, Jamabo has rushed for 604 yards on 45 carries with 10 touchdowns in two games. He's considering Notre Dame, UCLA and Baylor among others.
Jacques Patrick, Timber Creek (Orlando, Fla.)Ranked as the
No. 2 running back in the nation by 247Sports, Patrick is on a roll after rushing for 307 yards and five touchdowns in a 50-20 win over Boone. He also had 143 yards and a touchdown in a 24-13 loss to Dr. Phillips two weeks ago and has run for 450 yards on 53 carries and six touchdowns in two games.
Tucker Israel, Lake Nona (Orlando, Fla.)Israel is closing in on the all-time touchdown and yardage mark in Florida. While careful research over the summer by the Orlando Sentinel staff and the Lake Nona coaches have adjusted Israel's career totals somewhat, he unnoficially needs just 333 yards to pass John Wolford of Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) for the career yardage mark. Israel has 10,289 yards entering this week's game after throwing for 351 yards and seven touchdowns in last week's 61-0 win over Cypress Creek. With 117 career touchdowns, Israel needs nine to tie Wolford's mark of 126.
Kyler Murray, Allen (Texas)Murray had his most productive day ever as an Allen Eagle as he rushed for 184 yards on 11 carries with five touchdowns and also completed 24 of 40 passes for 381 yards and two scores in a 58-53 win over Dutch Fork (Irmo, S.C.). The combined total of 565 yards is a career high. His five rushing touchdowns were also a personal best.
Jake Browning, Folsom (Calif.)Another week, another state record for Browning, who broke the California mark for most career touchdowns. Browning, who had six touchdown passes in the 49-13 win over Clovis North, now has 151 in his career. The old mark was 146 by Jimmy Clausen of Oaks Christian. Browning completed 20 of 23 passes for 254 yards in the win. The next record to fall for Browning will be career passing attempts. With 1,260 career attempts, Browning needs 19 to pass Michael Herrick of Valencia, who owns the career attempts mark according to the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book.
Austin Kafentzis, Jordan (Sandy, Utah)Kafentzis had a big game in Jordan's wild 55-52 win over Pleasant Grove. Besides rushing 31 times for 243 yards and four touchdowns, he also completed 15 of 25 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. For the season, Kafentzis has rushed 73 times for 597 yards and nine touchdowns and he has completed 31 of 67 passes for 609 yards and six scores.
Deondre Francois, IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)Francois shook off a four-interception game against St. John's (Washington D.C.) to throw four touchdown passes in a 69-36 win over Prestonwood Christian (Plano, Texas) last week. One of the
top-ranked quarterbacks in the country by 247Sports, Francois has thrown for 345 yards in two games this year.
Brett Rypien, Shadle Park (Spokane, Wash.)Rypien tied his own school record and nearly tied the state record for touchdown passes in a game as he threw eight in Shadle Park's season-opening 63-14 win over Fife. Rypien completed 29 of 43 passes for 428 yards. The Boise State commit threw eight touchdown passes in a game last year. The state record is nine by Brian Lindgren of De Sales (Walla Walla). Rypien already holds state records for passing yardage in a game and completions in a season.
Elijah Sindelar, Caldwell County (Princeton, Ky.)Sindelar is on pace to break the record for most career touchdown passes in Kentucky. After throwing for 9,028 yards and 95 touchdowns during his first three seasons, Sindelar is off to a strong start this year with 905 yards passing and 16 touchdowns. With 112 career touchdown passes, Sindelar is just 22 scoring tosses away from breaking the state record of 133 by Tim Couch and Ricky Bowling. Sindelar (9,933 yards) should also go over 10,000 career yards this week, becoming the 8th Kentucky quarterback to achieve the milestone.
Calvin Strong, Omaha North (Neb.)The first Nebraska running back to rush for over 3,000 yards in a season (3,008), Strong is off to a solid start as a senior with 385 yards rushing on just 36 carries in Omaha North's first two games of the season (2-0). Last week in a 42-0 win over Burke, Strong broke the state record for most career yards by a Class A player with 5,285. He's still about 800 yards away from breaking the all-class career yardage mark.
