Semifinal Top 3A Offensive Players
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Taking a look into this past weeks top offensive players that made the most impact for their team. Player Of The Week Ryken Daugaard Ryken Daugaard 6'2" | 175 lbs | QB Lutheran | 2024 State CO , Lutheran Lions…
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Continue ReadingTaking a look into this past weeks top offensive players that made the most impact for their team.
Player Of The Week
Ryken Daugaard Ryken Daugaard 6'2" | 175 lbs | QB Lutheran | 2024 State CO , Lutheran Lions (QB)(JR.)- Daugaard gets my pick for player of the week based on how he was able to command this offense and put his team up early with smart play. Daugaard has great touch on his passes. His long ball is accurate and on time, hitting his receivers in stride to give them the chance to get YAC. Daugaard had a good day going 17-27 207 yards for 4 touchdowns. He could have had an even bigger day but on one of his passes in the first quarter he was not able to connect with a receiver on what could’ve been a 60+ yard touchdown. On a connection Daugaards had later in the game, his linemen gave him time to hit a receiver on a deep curl route that the receiver was able to turn into a touchdown. He has good vision and this is evident from how he leads his receivers and climbs the pocket keeping his eyes down field. He sets the defense up with his eyes and on one of his touchdown passes, he got the safety to bite on the bubble pass and hit a wide open receiver in the endzone. His coaches do a good job of moving the pocket at times using his athleticism to make the throws on the run. On throws into coverage would like to see more zip on the ball but he is constantly throwing in rhythm, throwing as receivers make cuts so they do not have to wait on the ball.
Other Notable Players
Ryan Kenny Ryan Kenny 5'10" | 170 lbs | RB Lutheran | 2023 State CO , Lutheran Lions (RB)(SR.)- Kenny is a bowling balling causing havoc when he gets the ball. He is hard to bring down and breaks arm tackles with ease. Against the Durango Demons you can just see his physicality in his runs and ability to break multiple tackles. Kenny had 23 carries for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns. On the first scoring drive for the Lions Kenny broke one tackle and took a big hit. He got right back up and continued to have an impressive game. He has good vision and follows his blocks. Kenny does have speed and is able to get to the outside at times picking up extra yards. On one of his runs against the Demons, he gets in the hole and finds an opening and bounces it to the outside getting an extra 10 yards of the carry. With his running style he is patient in the way he sets up his blocks and does not over run his blockers. This is something that helps him in the offense because it holds the defenders awhile longer at times. He does help in the passing game picking up blocks and that gives the quarterback more time to scan the field and find the open target.
Jeric Baruch, Durango Demons (RB)(SR.)- After having his best game of the year the week before, Baruch did take a while to get going but was finally able to rip some big runs off in the fourth quarter. The Lutheran Lions got out to an early lead and the defense was playing well all game. The Demons were down 31 when Baruch punched it in on a 20 yard run. He followed his blocks and bounced it to the outside breaking a couple of tackles for his lone score of the night. Baruch made the most of his touches with 14 carries for 153 yards and 1 touchdown. The Lions bottled the Demons up most of the day and Baruch made a great effort in trying to get his team back into the game. He has a physical running style that he uses to break tackles and watching his touchdown as well as his other runs you can see this. He doesn’t catch many passes so you would like to see him add this to his game. He is good in pass blocking and picks up blocks well reading inside out.
Xavier Ramirez Xavier Ramirez RB Roosevelt | 2024 State CO , Roosevelt Roughriders (RB)(JR.)- Ramirez is a player that runs with power and speed. He breaks through most arm tackles and it takes multiple players to take him down. He has the speed to get on the perimeter and make things happen, using explosion when he cuts back or jump cuts. Ramirez had a great day chipping in with 25 carriers for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns. On his first touchdown against Green Mountain Rams he scored on a 1 yard rushing touchdown getting behind his blocks to finish off a strong drive. Ramirez on his second score of the game which came in the second quarter, he lined up as a scat back and took an end around in for the touchdown. He used his speed to burst through the hole and put the Roughriders up 14-0. Ramirez does show patience allowing the hole to develop and making a cut off of that. Will be interesting to see how the Lutheran Lions play the roughriders as their defense just had a good performance against the run.