Railbelt Top Player Performances of the Week
Congratulations to this week's top players! We're covering the best performances across Friday and Saturday's football action (using all statistics entered as of the time of writing). Enjoy!
Garrett Bird Turns in Season-Best Effort
Eagle River was led to victory by Garrett Bird, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Saturday. Bird rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.1 yards per carry, and also picked up 33 receiving yards. Eagle River is 2-1 when Bird posts two or more rushing touchdowns, but 2-3 otherwise.
The win got Eagle River back to even at 4-4. Bird and Eagle River will take on Chugiak at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 51.02
Easaw Made His Presence Known in Lathrop's 35-28 Victory
Oschaun Easaw continued his hot streak on Saturday by dropping his eighth-straight game (dating back to last season) with at least 115 rushing yards. He rushed for 196 yards and two touchdowns, and also caught a touchdown. He showed off some serious burst, turning on the afterburners on one carry for 51 yards.
The win was the third in a row for Lathrop, bringing their record for this year to 4-4. Easaw and Lathrop will be staying on the road on Saturday to face off against West Valley at 4:00 p.m.
Gamescore: 48.35
Nolan Beaty Makes It Two for Eagle River
Another Eagle River player making an appearance on this list is Nolan Beaty. He rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 55 yards and a touchdown.
For the year, Beaty has thrown 5 touchdowns while averaging 40.9 passing yards per game.
Gamescore: 48.27
North Pole Wins Seventh-Straight Thanks to Patrick Melvin
Patrick Melvin was instrumental in extending North Pole's winning streak to seven on Friday. Melvin was unstoppable, rushing for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
North Pole's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-1. Melvin and North Pole will play host again on Friday to welcome Soldotna, where kickoff is scheduled at 7:00 p.m.
Gamescore: 33.48
Jimmy Runnels Turns in Another Game with at Least Five Total Tackles
Jimmy Runnels's big game helped extend North Pole's winning streak to seven on Friday. Runnels wasn't messing around, forcing a fumble and making 15 total tackles (1.0 for loss). The match was his fifth straight with five or more total tackles dating back to last season.
For the season, Runnels has averaged 8.9 total tackles per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he was only averaging 0.25 total tackles per game.
Gamescore: 24.75
Other Notable Players
- Tyler "Bandit" Griffin: 11 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 17.50)
- Devin Emmett: 154 yards passing (Gamescore: 16.07)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
