Vote for the Week Nine NEOSI High School Football Player of the Week

Friday night was a tough night weather wise in Northeast Ohio with wind and rain hitting many of the top games in the area.

That didn’t stop some great performances from some great players, and this week we celebrate those outings with our week nine edition of the “NEOSI High School Football Player of the Week.”

It’s a week for the running backs, as we’ve got a record-setter from Benedictine, a running back who ran for over 10 yards a carry, a backup who made the most of his outing with Avon, and a Titan who rushed his way to three scores in a big win over Bedford.

As we have done the last eight weeks, you can vote using our automated poll and also follow along until noon on Friday when the voting wraps up.

With that, here are the candidates for this week as we give you our best with the “NEOSI High School Football Player of the Week” for week nine.

Jalen Edwards – Benedictine Bengals

Talk about having a career night, Edwards was all over the field during the Bengals 40-7 beat down of the Padua Bruins on Friday evening.

The senior running back barrelled his way to a career-high 251 yards and four touchdowns in the Bengals victory.

His outing was super impressive based on the wind and rain that made it tough to do anything in week nine.

Daylin Dower – Lorain Titans

It has been an up and down season for the Titans, but Friday they pulled out a big two-point win over Bedford 22-20.

In their win, it was Dower carrying the load, rushing the ball 16 times for 144 yards, crossing the goal-line three times in the win.

The Titans had a 22-0 lead before the Bearcats stormed back, but it was the rushing of Dower that led the way in the win.

Chase Fortkamp – Wickliffe Blue Devils

With the weather being what it was on Friday night with plenty of wind and rain, it was a good night to have a workhorse back, and the Blue Devils of Wickliffe had just that in their35-0 shutout of Orwell Grand Valley.

That bad was Chase Fortkamp, a junior who went off for 203 yards and four touchdowns, rushing the football 20 times in the win.

The back averaged just over 10 yards every time he touched the football, an average that almost always translates to winning, which Wickliffe has done five times this season.

Devon Hunter – Avon Eagles

It’s hard to argue with the success that the Eagles have had over the last four seasons with Mike Elder leading the way as coach, as Friday night in a win over Olmsted Falls they clinched at least a share of their fourth straight Southwestern Conference title.

They did it minus senior running back Nick Perusek, who was injured, but that didn’t stop the Eagles who turned to junior Devon Hunter.

Hunter did an excellent job behind Avon’s very good O-line, rushing for 188 yards rushing and three touchdowns in the Eagles 26-14 win.

It is good to know for the Eagles they have options if Perusek’s injuries keep him from taking the field at any point moving forward.