Weekly Game Balls

<p class="text-gray-700">Since taking over midway through week 2, freshman quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1788531' first='Anthony' last='Mallory'] has taken the bull by the horns for the Patriot Pioneers. Coach Finnerty made a couple of changes to his offense after the Pioneers starting the season 0-2. One major move was inserting Mallory as his full time starting quarterback despite his inexperience and that has paid off! The young man has yet to loose a start under center and his accuracy is improving as we approach the playoffs. Against Gar Field who had been on their own winning streak, Mallory had 3 total touchdowns to help stop the Red Wolves momentum. You are going to be hearing a lot about this young man for the next couple of years in the PWC, trust me. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Inserting himself into the Lake Braddock has nothing but all stars conversation is junior running back [player_tooltip player_id='1663713' first='Samuel' last='Rhye']. Watch List no more this young man will be in included in our 2027 post season rankings, Rhye gashed Fairfax defense Friday night with 95 yards rushing and three touchdowns. He has stepped up in recent weeks and the Bruins may be relying on him more come playoff time. The status of all conference back [player_tooltip player_id='853848' first='Payton' last='Holmes'] is unknown so they'll most likely be relying on Rhye to be the lead back against West Springfield this week.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">[player_tooltip player_id='2002759' first='Tyler' last='Brown'] quietly has broken out for the Bobcats, he was key in their win over Osbourn with 136 rushing yards and 2 scores. Battlefield loves to use him on jet sweeps and any type of gadget plays, whenever he is called upon all he seems to do is reward them. A senior laden group at most of their skill positions, Brown could see a bigger role next year. For the rest of 2025, he will just be another weapon opposing defenses have to worry about.</p>   <p></p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Going out in style on senior night was [player_tooltip player_id='1298519' first='Derron' last='Danquah'] for the Osbourn Park Yellowjackets. Matching their highest win total in over 8 seasons, Danquah was a big reason why OP notched their third victory on the season. He hauled in 6 receptions and 1 score and had close to 100 total yards. Danquah has one more game in his remaining in his excellent career against Osbourn next Friday, can he lead his team to their highest win total in over a decade?</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">One thing I have come to understand in the past few years of covering Northern Virginia football is that South County does not rebuild they reload! Case in point receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1740695' first='Thomas' last='Powell'] is a junior who we have yet to profile and he was a star in their victory against West Potomac. Powell had 10 receptions for 200 yards with 1 score. He is building a nice repo ire with [player_tooltip player_id='1954248' first='Dylan' last='Miller'] and you can see the chemistry they have on tape. This could be a scary combination come 2026, [player_tooltip player_id='1740695' first='Thomas' last='Powell'] can fly. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">[player_tooltip player_id='1298258' first='Jourdan' last='Simpson'] has been one of the best receivers in Virginia this fall and he helped Centreville claim district gold last week. As predicted here a few weeks back, Simpson exceeded the 1,000 yards receiving in the win with a ridiculous 12 receptions for 300 yards! The Wildcats claimed their first District title since 2013 thanks to the efforts of Simpson and many others. This young man has put himself in great position to get Division 2 and 3 offers before seasons end. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/simpson_jourdan/status/1984355439253873136 </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">Rutgers commit and long time playmaker for Yorktown [player_tooltip player_id='855053' first='Brady' last='Owens'] dominated Washington-Liberty to put the Patriots in prime position for the playoffs. Owens had 5 receptions for over 100 yards and 1 score to put their long time rival to bed. He is having a great senior season and looks ready to play for the Scarlet Knights as a freshman. I would not want to be covering him come playoff time, he looks to have the Patriots on a mission.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Brady_owens84/status/1984354050230333734 </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">I'm sorry but when you rush for over 300 yards in one game I have got to include him for the Weekly Game Balls. [player_tooltip player_id='1337962' first='Zayden' last='Burks'] came into his junior season with a lot of hype and I think it is safe to say to that he has exceeded expectations. Poised to hit the 2K rushing mark, Burks had an absurd evening (once again) in Skyline's 6th win in a row. 26 carries for 345 yards puts him on a ridiculous 13.26 yards per carry average. Meridian will probably have nightmares about Burks for weeks with his 430 all purpose yards. One week out from the playoffs the question going around the region seems to be, how do you stop or possibly slow down this superstar?</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Burks_Zayden6/status/1984664793203274200 </div></figure>