Indian River vs. Highland Springs: 5 to watch on offense

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The VHSL semifinals take place this week, and Indian River vs. Highland Springs is one of the two matchups taking place this weekend. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Check out the top offensive playmakers to watch as Indian River faces Highland Springs; discover which athletes could decide the game!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1290145' first='Lord' last='Malik Heru']  | Quarterback | Indian River | 6-0 | 195 | 2029</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Heru completed 12 of 19 passes for 168 yards and three touchdowns in his team's 20-14 win to capture the Class 5 Region A title. He threw a 10-yard pass to Valentino Shaw, a &nbsp;42-yard touchdown pass to [player_tooltip player_id='1699198' first='Elijah' last='Boggs'], and another 10-yard touchdown pass, the game-winner to [player_tooltip player_id='1313587' first='Donovan' last='Brown']. Heru finished the regular season with 2,065 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns and five interceptions. Keep this is mind: he's only a freshman.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1297719' first='Jason' last='Preston'] | Indian River | 6-1 | 165 | 2026</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Preston finished with three catches for 33 yards last week. Not sure of his exact stats, but regular-season highlights show that he's a nice go-to target in the red zone. He has a few touchdown catches with him running a couple of fade routes and a slant route. Preston is sharp coming out of his breaks and creates space with technique, whether on short or long routes. It looks like he sees a lot of zone coverage, and if you're not going to disrupt his route, Preston will make you pay when given the chance.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1699198' first='Elijah' last='Boggs'] | Indian River | 6-2 | 187 | 2028</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Boggs finished with two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown last week. He's a nice two-way player at both wide receiver and safety. I think once Indian River gets into the red zone, Boggs will be a main passing target due to his height and ability to high-point and catch contested passes in that area. If the weather cooperates, maybe he'll see some downfield targets as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1298245' first='Antoine' last='Richardson'] | Highland Springs | 6-1 | 185 | 2026</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All you need to know is that Richardson was recently named All-Region C offensive and defensive player of the year. After watching some of his offensive highlights (my man has a 14-plus-minute highlight video), I see that he loves to throw the deep ball between the hashes. Several of his touchdowns come on intermediate deep post routes where he catches the receiver in stride. I have to say, I wish he put more of his running plays towards he beginning because he is a truly dangerous runner. A true legit dual-threat quarterback who will put pressure on Indian River's defense this week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1223087' first='Eric' last='Byrd'] |  Highland Springs | 5-8 | 195 | 2026</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bryd was recently named Region 5C first-team running back. He scored two rushing touchdowns in his team's win against Hermitage last week. One of them was a 57-yard touchdown run where he bolted through the line and sprinted down the right sideline for the score.  I watched some mid-season highlights, and I'm impressed with how fast he both hits and gets through the hole, putting immediate pressure on the second level. Byrd consistently beats defenders to the corner. However, that doesn't mean he can't get it done between the tackles, too. Byrd is already low to the ground, so he runs with a low pad level and has a strong lower body, which enables him to run through tackles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->