Notable Week 1 Performances

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>High school football was finally delivered to the state of Illinois this past weekend. It was jam packed with great match ups and great individual performances. Week 1 has set the bar high for the rest of the season, personally I can't wait to see what the upcoming weeks have in store. As we take a look back at this past weekend, these are a few notable performances that stood out to me. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Christian Benning - Quarterback - Streator HS</strong>: Streator defeated East Peoria 74-29. Benning was in full control of the offense on Friday night for the Bulldog offense. He was able to lead his team back from being down early in the game and never looking back. He accounted for 177 yards on the ground and 4 rushing touchdowns. He also threw 4 touchdown passes and had a pick 6 himself on defense. Accounting for 9 total touchdowns on the night is stuff of legends! Truly an amazing night for the senior QB. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Nasir Mckenzie - Running back - Hersey HS</strong>: Hersey opened the season up defeating New Trier 30-12. The Huskies are loaded this year with top talent and should be an offensive juggernaut. Friday night Hersey was able to lean on the run game with McKenzie. He had a solid night with 121 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. I don't see too many teams being able to slow down this top tier offense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tyson Binion - Linebacker - Rochester HS: </strong>On paper the Rochester/Peoria game looked to be one of the better match ups in week 1. It turned out to be one sided with Rochester running away with it from the start. No surprise the Rocket's offense got off to a quick start and didn't slow down. However, Binion made some big plays in the first half for the defenseive side of the ball to steal any momentum for Peoria. Binon ended the night with 2 interceptions in Rochester commanding 40-14 victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='899317' first='Ethan' last='Kohl'] - Quarterback - Bradley Bourbonnais HS</strong>: Kohl had the reigns of the offense leading Bradley Bourbonnais to a season opening victory over Plainfield East. He was in mid-season form throwing the ball for 240 yards and 4 touchdowns with an impressive 70% completion rate. Kohl should be someone college coaches keep an eye in 2023. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Nick Rhoades - Quarterback - Metamora HS</strong>: Metamora came away with a big upset defeating Sterling on Friday 28-17. Rhoades showed up making plays when it mattered the most to lead his team to victory. He had 134 yards passing with 2 touchdowns and 82 yards rushing. He is a playmaker and teams will have to account for his ability to extend plays this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Blake Gelly - Quarterback - Highland HS</strong>: The 5'7 sophomore QB looked composed in his first varsity start on Friday night. Highland's offense had 483 yards on offense against Breese Central. Gelly led the offensive efforts carrying the ball 24 times for 102 yards on the ground and threw for 182 yards. I love the way Gelly runs the ball with low pads and always falling forward. This Bulldog rushing attack is going to be hard to slow down for opposing teams! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->