Week 10 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 10 Players of the Game selected by the Conolly Cup committee.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RB [player_tooltip player_id='1811603' first='Thandon' last='Bensink'] (Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton) - Had a monster game in the biggest upset of the weekend. Bensink had 22 carries for 112 yards and a rushing TD. He also contributed with 12 tackles on defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1241972' first='Chase' last='Bonta'] (Jamestown) - Bonta has been a one man wrecking crew for the Red &amp; Green and the main reason for them going back to Highmark Stadium for the second consecutive season. Against Orchard Park, Chase carried the ball an astonishing 42 times for 228 yards and 3 scores. He also had 10 tackles from his LB position.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>QB [player_tooltip player_id='1624567' first='Mac' last='Capen'] (Newfane) - Capen is quickly establishing himself as a player that may end up with the Conolly Cup at the end of the year. To continue with the Panthers' undefeated season, Mac ran for 134 yards and a pair of TDs. He also had 6 tackles and two pass defenses.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RB Naseem Dhali (Lackawanna) - Dhali is secretly having a big season as the Steelers workhorse back. Naseem carried the ball 33 times against Will South for 163 yards and a TD.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1513357' first='Dontre' last='Hampton'] (Bennett) - Hampton had his breakout game against the Lancaster Legends. Dontre only had 12 carries but he turned that into 211 yards and 4 scores while leading the Tigers in tackles with 13.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>QB [player_tooltip player_id='473979' first='Justus' last='Kleitz'] (Iroquois) - Iroquois came up short in heading to the Sectional Finals but Kleitz did all he could to make it. In their 34-29 loss to West Seneca East, Justus completed 24 of 37 pass attempts for 365 yards and 4 TDs. That ends a remarkable High School career as Kleitz graduates as New York State's 3rd all time leader in passing yards and passing TDs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>LB [player_tooltip player_id='1344751' first='Brock' last='Lepsch'] (Wilson) - Lepsch is one of the top rated LBs in small schools but he made his presence known on offense in the Class D semi-finals. Wilson punched their ticked to Highmark Stadium as he ran for 138 yards and a TD while making 12 tackles on defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>QB Trent Lewis (Southwestern/Frewsburg) - The breakout player of the year is Trent Lewis. Lewis ran for 134 yards and two scores and threw another TD as Southwestern advances to the Section VI championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>ATH Asher Olson (Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton) - A surprise top target for the Eagles, Olson had 5 receptions for 119 yards and two TDs. He also made 6 tackles on defense (1 for loss).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RB [player_tooltip player_id='1212763' first='Kaivohn' last='Pitts'] (Health Sciences) - Pitts has been the leader of the RB by Committee for the Falcons in the latter part of the season. In their semi-finals win, Kaivohn had 22 carries for 155 yards and 1 TD.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>WR [player_tooltip player_id='735840' first='Nick' last='Skutnik'] (Iroquois) - Kleitz's top target for two straight years, Skutnik had a monstrous game against West Seneca East. Nick recorded 13 receptions for 187 yards and 3 TDs. His 86 catches on the year ties his own total from 2024 as he is 5th on the all time New York State list for receptions in a season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1238563' first='Cardel' last='Staples'] (McKinley) - Staples, one of the top ATHs in all of NYS, eclipsed both 100 yards on the ground and 100 yards receiving while scoring two TDs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>ATH Josh Urban (West Seneca East) - Urban had a breakout performance leading the Trojans' 5-headed rushing attack with 237 yards. He also scored a TD on the ground while registering 9 tackles on defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>RB [player_tooltip player_id='747256' first='Jimmy' last='Valentine'] (Bennett) - Valentine has been the Tigers leading rusher all year and in their big semi-finals win, he had 23 carries for 153 yards and 3 TDs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>WR Arnette Williams (Health Sciences) - Williams will not have earth shattering numbers on a weekly basis because of the way the Falcons run the ball but he will be a top class of 2027 WR with his excellent size and catch radius. Arnette brought in 5 catches vs Williamsville East for 106 yards and 3 TDs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->