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 Performance
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.
This year, 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 Has Career-Day on Thursday
On Thursday, Verrado had to settle for second even though Jack Isidore put up the best numbers he has all season. 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 host Millennium at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 44.77
Deriece Brown Delivers Best Performance of Season
Sadly, Deriece Brown posting his best game of the season wasn't enough to lead Verrado over Cactus on Thursday. Brown picked up 137 receiving yards and a touchdown. He got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 74 yards.
On the season, Brown has caught 8 touchdowns while averaging 61.4 receiving yards per game.
Gamescore: 36.12
Verrado Gets a Boost from Gieszler in 50-41 Defeat
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.
This season, 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 and Cactus will welcome Sunrise Mountain at 7:00 p.m. 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
