1A Region 8 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!
Braden Gilliland Crosses Big Stat Threshold
Appalachian was led to victory by Braden Gilliland, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Friday. Gilliland rushed for 366 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 13.1 yards per carry. Thanks to that strong showing, he's now averaging 2.1 rushing touchdowns per game. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Gilliland is probably looking forward to his next game, a home matchup against Woodville on Friday. When Gilliland last faced the Panthers back in September of 2023, he rushed for 211 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 10.6 yards per carry.
Gamescore: 89.88
A'ron Lee Goes Supernova in Ragland Defeat
A'Ron Lee continued his hot streak on Friday by dropping his fourth-straight game (dating back to last season) with at least 169 rushing yards. He rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 9.4 yards per carry. He really tore up the turf during one magnificent 70-yard run.
With the loss, Ragland broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 3-4. Lee and Ragland will have a little extra prep time after the defeat as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on Ider at 7:00 p.m. on October 25th.
Gamescore: 52.73
Mcelrath Posts Huge Game in 53-0 Victory
Valley Head found a leader in Cayson McElrath as the squad took down Woodville on Friday. McElrath was dynamite, rushing for 98 yards and two touchdowns, while also picking up 53 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Valley Head's victory bumped their record up to 6-2. McElrath and Valley Head will get to enjoy the win for a while: their next game is against Appalachian at 7:00 p.m. on October 25th.
Gamescore: 52.03
Tytan Blevins Turns in Season-Best Effort
Valley Head was led to victory by Tytan Blevins, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Friday. Blevins rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries, and also threw for 60 yards and a touchdown on only five passes. He didn't just play on offense: he also forced a fumble and made four total tackles.
If history really does repeat itself, Blevins might just drop another big game when he faces off against Appalachian on Friday. Back in October of 2023 (the last time Blevins saw the Eagles), he rushed for 205 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 9.8 yards per carry.
Gamescore: 48.20
Layne Hawkins Makes It Three for Valley Head
Another Valley Head player making an appearance on this list is Layne Hawkins. He picked up seven receiving yards.
This year, Hawkins has averaged 10.9 total tackles per game.
Gamescore: 43.53
Other Notable Players
- Ben Johnson: 80 yards rushing, 1 TD (Gamescore: 42.45)
- Luke Brewer: 16 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 24.25)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
