Mid-Season Breakout Players in WNY (Big Schools)

Each week, I have been reporting on individual breakout performances for those given games. But there have been several players that have been having solid performances week in/week out without any one game standing out more than the others. This list features such players. The players are mostly sophomores/juniors and did not get much recognition from their 2023 season. I have also excluded players I have recently tagged in the previous five weeks. With so many schools in the area, I am breaking up the list into two categories; Big Schools & Small Schools. Here are the mid-season breakout performers from the Big Schools (Classes AA, A & MMHSAA A Division).    Last season's two leading runners for the Legends that combined for over 1,200 yards have graduated leaving the door open for Daniel Ahearn to have a breakout season. Ahearn has not disappointed as he has been Lancaster's workhorse RB averaging 95 yards from scrimmage per game and adding 9 total TDs.     The talent of [player_tooltip player_id='648809' first='Damari' last='Yancey'] was never in doubt but he was not high on the Canisius depth chart last season. This year, Yancey transferred to Sweet Home where he has been absolutely electric. He has scored a TD in every game this year - including the first four games, where he scored a receiving TD and Kick Return TD in each. Adding in 2 Punt Returns for scores. Overall in five games, Damari has 833 all-purpose yards and 12 total TDs.     Last year, [player_tooltip player_id='1241972' first='Chase' last='Bonta'] had a solid season as a LB with almost 70 tackles. But this year, he has been dominant on both sides of the ball. As a RB, he is leading Class AA with 799 yards on the ground to go with his 8 offensive TDs. Defensively, he has already amassed career bests with 77 tackles (9 for loss). Just a junior, this is a player to watch for another year and a half.     Jacoby Chambers has been one of the few bright sports on the Williamsville East's defense, leading the team with 40 tackles in the first 5 games. He has also showed a nose for the ball with 2 fumble recoveries and an interception. This is Chambers' first year on varsity so it will be interesting to see how he improves as the season goes along.     St. Francis passing attack has been on fire this year. In just 4 games, the Red Raiders have put up 880 yards through the air and [player_tooltip player_id='747244' first='Damone' last='Allen'] was on the receiving end of almost half those yards. He has also added 4 receiving TDs, an 80 yard rushing attempt for a score and 116 kick return yards.     In the first game of the season, Timon's starting QB went down with a serious injury so the Tigers had to turn to sophomore, [player_tooltip player_id='1815334' first='Ryan' last='Smith'] to take the reins. While his numbers have not been earth shattering in 3 1/2 games (38/67 for 488 yards and 5 TDs), he is still a player to monitor as a lot is expected from Timon as they went up in division this offseason.

Each week, I have been reporting on individual breakout performances for those given games. But there have been several players that have been having solid performances week in/week out without any one game standing out more than the others. This list features such players. The players are mostly sophomores/juniors and did not get much recognition from their 2023 season. I have also excluded players I have recently tagged in the previous five weeks. With so many schools in the area, I am breaking up the list into two categories; Big Schools & Small Schools. Here are the mid-season breakout performers from the Big Schools (Classes AA, A & MMHSAA A Division).