Central Texas Player Rankings – Week 1

Welcome to the first Central Texas player rankings for the season. Rankings are done a bit differently in this series as those ranked are based upon their current stat numbers on the season, how tough their opponents have been, and how impressive their tape is (if tape is available). This might explain why the current common big names might be absent from the rankings at the start. Those leading their stat categories will be higher on the rankings, and if they continue to lead in stats or have impressive games, they will rise and rise. That being said, here is a look at the rankings. 1. <strong>Trayvian McCoy-Gay (SR-RB) - Round Rock High School (Round Rock, TX)</strong> 2021 Season: 245 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns Topping off the rankings is McCoy-Gay who showcased arguably the best performance for the first week of high school football. Not only did he light up the stat sheet, but he did so with finesse, going nearly untouched on multiple plays and giving Midway a bad day. 2. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="131360" first="Preston" last="Alford"] (SR-RB) - Dripping Springs High School (Dripping Springs, TX)</strong> 2021 Season: 184 rushing yards, 5 rushing touchdowns, 1 receiving touchdown Not far behind McCoy-Gay is Alford, who just lit up the scoreboard the entire game, accounting for almost every point for the Tigers. Alford was fast, powerful and pretty much perfect in the game against Tivy. He has set himself up for a big season. 3. <strong>Dylan Sanchez (JR-QB) - Lampasas High School (Lampasas, TX)</strong> 2021 Season: 365 passing yards, 7 passing touchdowns, 0 interceptions The first quarterback on the rankings this year, Sanchez pretty much had a perfect game. On top of his stats listed above, he had a 61.9 completion percentage and a 129.5 quarterback rating. Sanchez follows in the footsteps of former Lampasas quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="60543" first="Ace" last="Whitehead"], who also put up big numbers for the Badgers. 4. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="121947" first="Mason" last="Shorb"] (JR-QB) - Rouse High School (Leander, TX)</strong> 2021 Season: 393 passing yards, 5 passing touchdowns, 0 interceptions Shorb also essentially had a perfect game but he did make some risky throws. Still, he was able to make some tight throws and was pretty much unstoppable in Rouse’s win over Burnet. Shorb has emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in Central Texas and it looks like he has perfected his craft over the offseason. 5. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="60845" first="Re’Shaun" last="Sanford"] II (JR-RB) - Harker Heights High School (Harker Heights, TX)</strong> 2021 Season: 238 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns, 4 receptions, 44 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown Sanford displayed his speed and ball-carrying vision in last week’s game against Weiss. Sanford is quickly becoming one of the best running backs in Central Texas and a scary back to try and defend against. He is laser-focused on the endzone on pretty much any play and has enough power to keep himself upright long enough to get over the goaline. 6. <strong>Cameron Cook (JR-ATH) - Stony Point High School (Round Rock, TX)</strong> 2021 Season: 194 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns, 2 receptions, 84 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns While most of the running backs on this list did most of the work on the ground, Cook also displayed his pass-catching ability and his ability to turn receptions into touchdowns. His performance also included an impressive 92-yard touchdown run but he also displayed excellent vision and how much of a danger he is on screen plays. He can kill any opposing defense with his speed if he gets out into the open. 7. <strong>Benjamin McCreary (SR-RB) - Johnson High School (San Antonio, TX)</strong> 2021 Season: 182 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns Speaking of speed, McCreary is a lightning bolt coming out of San Antonio. He can almost go untouched on any play and once he starts to get downhill, he is very difficult to tackle. On one clip from his tape last week, multiple defenders tried to tackle him, but it took a third or fourth attempt before they could succeed. 8. <strong>Diego Quiroz (SO-DB) - Jay High School (San Antonio, TX)</strong> 2021 Season: 2 interceptions 9. <strong>Jesse Leija (JR-RB) - Fredericksburg High School (Fredericksburg, TX)</strong> 2021 Season: 163 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns 10. <strong>Junior Thornton (SO-WR) - Midway High School (Waco, TX)</strong> 2021 Season: 5 receptions, 177 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns One of the biggest highlights, in an otherwise disappointing loss to Round Rock, was Thornton’s 75-yard touchdown reception. Thornton has emerged as one of the receiving leaders in Central Texas after week one and although time will tell if he continues leading the way, Thornton was impressive last week by stats alone. Just Outside the Bubble <strong>Ricky Gonzalez (JR-WR) - Antonian Prep High School (San Antonio, TX)</strong> <strong>Micah Hudson (SO-WR) - Lake Belton High School (Belton, TX)</strong> <strong>Jalani Price (JR-DB) - Jarrell High School (Jarrell, TX)</strong> <strong>Case Brister (SR-RB) - Lampasas High School (Lampasas, TX)</strong> <strong>Ethan Moreno (JR-WR) - Lampasas High School (Lampasas, TX)</strong>