Week 9 Connolly Cup Players of the Week

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Connolly Cup is one of the most prestigious awards among Western New York High School Football, given to the area's best skill player annually at the end of the season. Each week the Connolly Cup committee presents a list of players that showcased excellent athletic ability over the previous weekend. Here are the Week 9 Players of the Game selected by the Conolly Cup committee.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RB [player_tooltip player_id='1595095' first='Danny' last='Ahearn'] (Lancaster) - Danny was easily the best player on the field as Lancaster defeated Niagara Falls. In only 3 quarters of play, Ahearn amassed 175 yards from scrimmage and a pair of touchdowns. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>QB DJ Benker (West Seneca East) - Benker is a triple option dual threat QB but in their route of Depew, he showcased his passing abilities. DJ completed 22 of his 26 passing attempts for 245 yards and 6 TDs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1241972' first='Chase' last='Bonta'] (Jamestown) - Bonta is a heavy favorite for the Connolly Cup this year and he displayed why as Jamestown shutout Lockport 56-0. Chase ran for 160 yards and 3 TDs while making 15 tackles on defense and forcing a fumble.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RB [player_tooltip player_id='1742403' first='Amir' last='Ceasar'] (Williamsville South) - A big day on the ground as Will South defeated Olean. Ceasar had 24 carries for 259 yards and two touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RB [player_tooltip player_id='1202404' first='Tyrone' last='Clark Jr'] (St. Francis) - St. Francis clinched the #1 seed in the playoffs in their win over Canisius. When his RB mate went down early in the game, Clark proved why he is one of the best RBs in all of NYS. Tyrone was the workhorse carrying the ball 33 times for 226 yards and scored three touchdowns.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>WR [player_tooltip player_id='1814202' first='Zack' last='Danna'] (Orchard Park) - Danna continues his breakout senior season with 5 catches for 118 yards and a couple TDs as the Quakers head back to the Class AA semifinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>QB [player_tooltip player_id='1742268' first='Kalaugn' last='Ford'] (McKinley) - Arguably the best dual threat QB in WNY, Ford and the Macks are 1 win away from another trip to Highmark Stadium. Kalaugn accounted for 230 of McKinley's yards and ran in a TD. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RB [player_tooltip player_id='1455309' first='Bradyn' last='Fuller'] (Southwestern/Frewsburg) - Southwestern's dominant Cinderella story continues as they scored 48 unanswered points on Medina. Fuller ran the ball 14 times for 110 yards and 2 TDs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>QB [player_tooltip player_id='1344653' first='Brayden' last='Gibbs'] (Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton) - In a blowout win over Akron, CL/W/B advanced to the semifinals in Class C with a remarkable performance by Gibbs. Brayden completed 11 of his 13 pass attempts for 207 yards and 2 TDs. He also added two more scores on the ground.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>WR Devin Hewes (Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton) - The beneficiary of Gibbs big day was Hewes, who caught 6 passes for 124 yards and 1 TD.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>WR Will Kowalski (Williamsville East) - In a big upset win over West Seneca West, the Flames air attack was on fire (no pun intended)! Kowalski had a breakout day catching 11 passes for 124 yards and a TD.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>QB Trent Lewis (Southwestern/Frewsburg) - Lewis has been the catalyst to the Trojans offense all year. In their quarterfinal win, Trent accounted for 236 yards and 3 TDs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>QB [player_tooltip player_id='1864262' first='Anthony' last='Mantione'] (Grand Island) - A first year QB that won his first playoff game in a major upset, Mantione led the Vikings in rushing with 120 yards and a TD while also adding another TD in the air.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>LB Alaric Richards (Jamestown) - You can't mention a shutout without bringing up a top defender from that game. Richards recorded 5 tackles, 4 pass breakups and 2 INTs; with one returned for a TD.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>ATH Josh Urban (West Seneca East) - Urban led the Trojans in rushing and receiving. He caught 8 passes and had 195 yards from scrimmage. He also scored 3 times. On defense, he led the Trojans with 8 tackles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->