Northwest Crossroads 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!
Big Game from Verrett As Hanover Central Won 48-26
Starting off the list is Hanover Central's Caiden Verrett, who we judged to be the best player in the league this week. Verrett rushed for 134 yards and four touchdowns on only 13 carries, and also picked up 45 receiving yards and a touchdown. His longest rush was for an impressive 61 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total.
Verrett must have Hammond Central's number; he was a force to be reckoned with the last time he faced them too. When Verrett last faced the Wolves back in October of 2023, he rushed for 62 yards and three touchdowns.
Gamescore: 56.18
Marco Castro Goes Supernova in Kankakee Valley Victory
Marco Castro continued his hot streak on Friday by dropping his sixth-straight game with at least 105 rushing yards. He rushed for 173 yards and three touchdowns.
Castro must have Munster's number; he was a force to be reckoned with the last time he faced them too. When Castro last faced the Mustangs back in October of 2023, he rushed for 320 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.7 yards per carry.
Gamescore: 43.35
Tommy Bonner Makes It Two for Hanover Central
Another Hanover Central player making an appearance on this list is Tommy Bonner. He threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 11.4 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 36 yards.
This year, Bonner has thrown 16 touchdowns while averaging 131.2 passing yards per game.
Gamescore: 32.93
Andrean found a leader in James Finley as the squad took down Lowell on Friday. Finley was unstoppable, making 12 total tackles and defending a pass.
On the year, Finley has averaged 7.2 total tackles per game. That doesn't tell the whole story though: at this point last year, he was only averaging 48.56 receiving yards per game. This year he is averaging 78.78 receiving yards.
Gamescore: 30.47
Willy Shearer Makes Top Five
Rounding off our Top Five is Willy Shearer of Hobart. Shearer rushed for 52 yards and two touchdowns. He is becoming a predictor of Hobart's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is 3-1 (and 2-3 when he doesn't).
Shearer is probably looking forward to his next game, a road matchup against Lowell on Friday. When Shearer last faced the Red Devils back in September, he rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry.
Gamescore: 25.70
Other Notable Players
- Lincoln Schneider: 1 sack and 11 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 24.50)
- Colton Scott: 128 yards rushing, 1 TD (Gamescore: 24.00)
- Jaelen Williams: 66 yards rushing, 1 TD (Gamescore: 23.05)
- Max Pickett: 110 yards rushing, 1 TD (Gamescore: 22.40)
- Brady Elish: 124 yards passing; 1 TD rushing (Gamescore: 22.07)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
