Who will be the Storm Works Roofing High School Football Player of the Week? Cast your vote now
Maybe its just that time of year, but it feels like the performances are getting better and better as the season rolls on.
We’re getting to crunch time for the 2023 high school football season, where teams need their best players to come up with big performances to get wins to get them where they want to be come November.
This week saw plenty of good performances, but what stood out were the big games by players who were playing in games their teams needed them most. Picking five names to be the Storm Works Roofing Football Player of the Week hasn’t been easy at any point this season and this week was no exception.
If you don’t see a player from your school you thought should be nominated, there is a chance we didn’t get the necessary information to ensure a nomination. To be nominated we need coaches to email the final score from their and who was involved in their team’s scoring to PJSports@ProvidenceJournal.com that night. If we see a player who we think deserves nomination, we’ll reach out to the coach for specific stats like rushing yards, passing yards or tackles.
What will this week’s winner get? Same as last week’s.
Clout. The award is meant to be an interactive way for the state’s passionate football communities to show just how much they support their players. We want schools, teams and players to create four-day campaigns to try and garner support and as many votes as possible for one of their own. If you win, you earn those bragging rights. If you don’t, there’s always next week.
You can vote as many times as you want for your candidate and now, thanks to the fine folks at Storm Works, voting is open to anyone.
Now that we’ve got all that out of the way, let’s get on to the nominees.
James Branch, West Warwick
Against Johnston in a battle of undefeateds, Branch showed up in a big way. The Wizards lined him up all over the field and Branch did damage with the ball in his hand, finishing the night with 20 carries for 83 yards and three touchdowns. Branch had 10 carries and 99 yards in the second half and scored on runs of 15, 14 and 1 yard that helped West Warwick grab the 33-28 win.
Khamari Brown, St. Raphael
With their backs to the wall in the hunt for a playoff spot out of Division II-A, Brown led the defense to a dominant performance against Mount Pleasant’s explosive offense. The senior linebacker was all over the field, coming up on the pass rush, helping eliminate the run game and even came up with two interceptions, the last that set up a touchdown that led to a running clock situation in an impressive 41-0 win.
Thomas Hurd, Portsmouth
It was an emotional night as the entire Portsmouth community came out to support head coach Keith MacDonald – who was recently diagnosed with cancer – and Hurd made sure the Patriots grabbed the win. Hurd was terrific against a tough Woonsocket defense, throwing for three touchdowns as Portsmouth beat the Villa Novans, 25-14, for its first win of the D-II season.
Chace Roberts, Pilgrim
Trying to stay in contention for the final postseason spot out of Division III-B, Roberts came through when the Patriots needed him most. The senior quarterback completed 15 of 24 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns. His last pass was his most important one of the season, hitting Cole Bigelli in the end zone in overtime that gave the Pilgrim a 26-20 win over Rogers.
Oscar Weah, Hendricken
The senior running back continued to put on a show in the Hawks’ biggest games. Weah carried the offense with his third-quarter performance, rushing for 60 total yards and a score on Hendricken’s first drive that gave it the lead for good and then scored again before the quarter ended. All told Weah finished his night with 12 carries for 113 yards and three touchdowns and, more importantly a 22-12 win over rival La Salle.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence Journal Football Player of the Week for Week 6 October 16
