Week 3 Upper State Game Balls

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Week 3 was big for teams across the Upstate, Catawba River Region and Midlands as the non-region schedule rolled on. Whether it was players stepping up in the clutch offensively and defensively, here's a look at 25 players who made their presence known in wins for their teams this past Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at who was nominated for Game Balls for Week 3 in the Upper State:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820350' first='Owen' last='Wilson'] </strong>| LB | Fairfield Central&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wilson was a name that we wrote down multiple times from his ability to string out run plays and diagnose plays quickly to get into the backfield and affect the Lions' ability to run the ball at times <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/09/late-defensive-stand-lifts-fairfield-central-over-lewisville/">in their tight win on Friday.</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Casey Fikis </strong>| LB | Catawba Ridge</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Copperheads clung to a 10-3 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter in <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/09/what-we-saw-catawba-ridge-24-spring-valley-3/">their win against Spring Valley</a>. And it was the play of Fikis who turned the game with three interceptions, including a pick six.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819627' first='J'Zavien' last='Currence'] </strong>| ATH | South Pointe</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The play of the No. 1 player in the Class of 2026 rankings was vital in the Stallions' 27-23 win over Northwestern. He connected with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165128' first='RJ' last='Brown'] </strong>for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds remaining in the game, and it was one that you just had to be there to believe. He finished 16-of-21 for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns, while rushing for 81 yards and one touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592629' first='Taveon' last='Moore'] </strong>| WR | Central&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Moore was effective in the quick game from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1664364' first='Dwayne' last='Louallen'] </strong>as he showed great speed and shiftiness in space, particularly on a reverse like we saw on his film in the Eagles 35-14 win over North Stanly.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/18198133/68c4e89e82621b48608d833c' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-68c7412105c0e"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823372' first='Mack' last='Rambo'] </strong>| RB | St. Joseph's</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rambo ran wild, rushing for 170 yards on 32 carries and four touchdowns in a shootout 49-41 win over Pickens. The Knights ran for <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/09/rambo-knights-run-wild-against-pickens/">148 yards on the ground in the win as well.</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1730056' first='Noah' last='Thomas']</strong> | QB | Belton Honea Path</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thomas had an efficient night, going 13-of-17 for 114 yards and two touchdowns in their 42-6 rout of Westside on Friday. The Bears were also effective in the run game, rushing for 201 yards with scores from <strong>MJ Earle, [player_tooltip player_id='779428' first='Tajeh' last='Watson-Martin'] </strong>and Thomas as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1639712' first='Triston' last='Lewis'] </strong>| QB | Greenwood</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The University of South Carolina commit had a huge night for the Eagles in their 36-30 win over Lexington. He ran for 100 yards on 17 carries for one touchdown, averaging 5.9 yards per carry. He was also excellent in the passing game, finishing 22-of-38 for 287 yards and one touchdown. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822754' first='Desiray' last='Christian'] </strong>had six catches for 198 yards and one touchdown and was a frequent target for Lewis.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1099127' first='Jamere' last='Crooks']</strong> | WR/DB | Newberry</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Crooks caught three touchdown passes from [player_tooltip player_id='1850165' first='Kenton' last='Caldwell'] to help push the Bulldogs to a convincing win over Chapin. He also played defensive back and helped limit the Eagles offensively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jahcory Sumpter</strong> ATH and <strong>Kyle Walker</strong> ATH | Eau Claire</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sumpter and Walker each scored two touchdowns to help the Shamrocks improve to 3-1 on the season. Sumpter scored twice on offense with Walker scoring once on offense and also returning an interception for a score.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='402503' first='Mike' last='Doe'] </strong>| RB | North Augusta</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Doe ran wild in the Yellow Jackets 37-13 win over Strom Thurmond. The senior carried it 17 times for 222 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 13 yards per carry and scored on runs of 19 and 71 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Demaurice James </strong>| Cheraw</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>James was one of the leaders for the Braves <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/09/cheraw-defense-flexes-again-in-win-at-darlington/">defensively in their close win over Darlington</a> with 8 tackles. <strong>Kam Bridges </strong>had seven tackles, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822673' first='Brendan' last='Pace'] </strong>had seven tackles and an interception. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1422635' first='Anthony' last='Strong'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1172365' first='Crawford' last='Poole'] </strong>had 2 tackles for loss, respectively. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1271257' first='Nick' last='Gordon'] </strong>had one interception, four tackles and 3 pass breakups. <strong>Slick Isaac </strong>had four tackles and six pass breakups.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1821310' first='Patience' last='Andrews'] </strong>| RB | Nation Ford</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Andrews was a big contributor for the Falcons as they beat Richland Northeast 56-27 on Thursday. He had 222 all-purpose yards and 3 touchdowns. He also had 115 yards rushing. In the receiving game, he had 77 yards and 30 yards in kickoff return yardage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1165108' first='Zori' last='Pierce'] </strong>| QB | Lamar</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pierce had a solid night in their 62-36 win over Lake City on Friday, running for 170 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. He had a solid stat line in the pass game, going 6-for-11 for 115 yards and one touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1161156' first='Javen' last='Cook'] </strong>| RB | Clinton</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cook (pictured above) had a strong night in the Red Devils 40-34 overtime win over Chapman, rushing for 215 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1601913' first='Paul' last='Norman'] </strong>| WR/DB | St. Joseph's</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Norman was active in <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/09/rambo-knights-run-wild-against-pickens/">their win over Pickens on Friday</a>. He had two catches for 73 yards and a touchdown to go along with an interception that set up a touchdown to put the Knights up 14-0, a strip sack fumble recovery that erased a successful onside kick.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->