Western 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!
Barnett Posts Huge Game in 40-14 Win
Starting off the list is Dodge City's Cade Barnett, who we judged to be the best player in the league this week. Barnett rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries. He has become a key player for Dodge City: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 1-3 otherwise.
This year, Barnett has run in 5 touchdowns while averaging 44.1 rushing yards per game. He's made a big improvement compared to last season: at this point last year, he was only averaging 10.14 rushing yards per game.
Gamescore: 60.75
Liberal found a leader in Xavier Tafoya as the team took down Ulysses on Friday. Tafoya was dynamite, making eight total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Liberal pushed their record up to 5-2 with the win, which was their sixth straight on the road dating back to last season. Tafoya and Liberal will square off against Hays at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Gamescore: 54.20
Ayden Juarez Turns in Season-Best Performance
Liberal was led to victory by Ayden Juarez, who turned in his biggest game of the season on Friday. Juarez rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries.
On the year, Juarez has run in those 1 touchdown while averaging 25.6 rushing yards per game.
Gamescore: 37.80
Daxton Minton's Big Game Leads Great Bend over Hays
Daxton Minton was instrumental in extending Great Bend's winning streak to seven on Friday. Minton was dynamite, rushing for 125 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries, while also throwing for 100 yards and a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in November of 2023.
Unfortunately for Hays, this isn't the first big game they've seen from Minton. Minton threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns while completing 75.9% of his passes, and also rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries the last time he and the Indians duked it out back in September of 2023.
Gamescore: 31.77
James Fieser Delivers Best Effort of Season
James Fieser produced his most outstanding game to date while leading Liberal to the win on Friday. Fieser picked up 96 receiving yards and three touchdowns. The bulk of those receiving yards came from one huge play: a catch that gained an incredible 67 yards.
Ulysses had to have seen this coming; the last time they saw Fieser it was a similar story. Back in October of 2023 (the last time Fieser saw the Tigers), he picked up 90 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Gamescore: 27.93
Other Notable Players
- Ian Premer: 85 yards rushing, 1 TD (Gamescore: 26.27)
- Ryan Gonzalez: 104 yards rushing, 2 TDs (Gamescore: 22.80)
- Giovani Duran: 1 sack and 8 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 20.00)
- Landon Martinez: 8 total tackles (2.0 for loss) (Gamescore: 17.50)
- Tevin Cotter: 119 yards passing (Gamescore: 16.93)
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
