Tuesday, September 17, 1996

ARN's high school players of the week
By BILL HART
Senior Staff Writer

Here are the area high school football players of the week as selected by the Reporter-News:
-- Offensive player of the week: Brownwood running back Audey Mitchell. He scored three touchdowns on runs of 1, 31 and 55 yards in the first quarter when Brownwood built up a 21-0 lead. After Tivy cut it to 24-14, he ran four yards for a third quarter touchdown and Brownwood went on to win, 37-21. Mitchell wound up with 192 yards on 27 carries.

-- Honorable mention: Cross Plains quarterback Jarad Richards ran for two touchdowns, passed for two more and had 40 yards in pass receptions in the 42-3 win over Roby. Cooper running back Chris Cherry rushed for three touchdowns and recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for another in the 55-14 win over Wichita Falls Rider. Gary Jones rushed for 240 yards and scored three touchdowns and cousin Bryan Jones had 205 yards and three scores in Hawley's 53-10 win over Miles. Bronte running back Keith Treadaway scored four touchdowns, two in a span of 16 seconds, in the 41-0 win over the Cooper sophomores. One was on a pass interception return. Breckenridge quarterback Cliff Watkins rushed for one touchdown and passed for two others in the 50-24 win over Henrietta.

-- Defensive player of the week: Defensive end Jason Gomez of Sweetwater. He had four quarterback sacks, forced a fumble that led to a field goal, was in on eight other tackles and had three quarterback pressures in the 27-16 win over Snyder.

-- Honorable mention: Breckenridge linebacker Jerad Sanderson, had eight tackles, eight assists, caused one fumble, had one sack and one interception in the win over Henrietta. Abilene High linebacker Spider Bennett was in on 13 tackles, caused two fumbles, broke up three passes and intercepted a pass in the 17-10 win over Stephenville.

Six-Man player of the week: Gustine running back Chris Grimes. He rushed 24 times for 344 yards and scored nine touchdowns, returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and returned a fumble for a touchdown in the 86-80 loss to Brookesmith.

-- Honorable mention: Brookesmith quarterback Eric Clawson passed for seven touchdowns and ran for four in the win over Gustine. Zephyr back Jon Temple rushed for three touchdowns and completed 11 of 16 passes for 217 yards in the 34-26 upset win over Panther Creek.

The Hill brothers had a field day in Westbrook's 62-6 win over Union. Justin completed three passes, all for touchdowns, and returned a kickoff for a touchdown while Casey rushed for two touchdowns, caught a pass for another and returned a punt for his fourth score.

Nathan Hayes of Blackwell ran for three touchdowns and caught two others in the 58-12 win over Hermleigh. Jason Sizemore ran for a touchdown and passed for two others in Gordon's 34-8 win over highly regarded Richland Springs.

Abilene Christian High's John Estes IV completed 28 of 42 passes for 410 yards and five touchdowns, then ran for one in the 46-32 win over Lueders-Avoca, led by Matt Strickland, who scored four touchdowns and rushed for 240 yards. Novice back Nick Rutherford rushed 25 times for 183 yards and two touchdowns and completed three of five passes for 59 yards in the 32-31 loss to Benjamin. He was in on 11 tackles.