Poll results: Waterloo High School star running back Player of the Week in southwest IL
Evan Davis of Waterloo High School is the winner of the latest Belleville News-Democrat Player of the Week high school poll, as selected by readers of bnd.com.
Davis, a senior running back for the Bulldogs, rushed for 317 yards and 3 touchdowns on 23 carries in a 76-28 win against Olney Richland County in the opening round of the IHSA Class 4A postseason Oct. 29. He also caught a touchdown pass in the win.
Davis — who secured 83% of the votes — entered the weekend with 1,579 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 211 carries — good for a 7.5 yard average — while grabbing 14 passes for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns for the 7-3 Bulldogs.
Here were the other candidates for the week of Oct. 24-29:
Braylon Grayson, Althoff Catholic High School, junior, quarterback. Grayson completed 17-of-24 passes for 267 yards and 3 touchdowns in a come-from-behind 38-34 win against Shelbyville in the opening round of the IHSA Class 2A postseason.
Ethan Bagwell, Collinsville High School, junior, quarterback/linebacker. Bagwell completed 15-of-24 passes for 171 yards and also rushed for 115 yards and 1 touchdown — as well as running in a 2-point conversion — in a 14-12 win against Bradley-Bourbonnais in the opening round of the IHSA Class 7A postseason.
Kolby Anderson, Collinsville High School, senior, defensive back/wide receiver. Anderson had 5 tackles and 1 interception while catching 5 passes for 52 yards in the win against Bradley-Bourbonnais.
Darren Pennell, Collinsville High School, junior, defensive back/wide receiver. Pennell notched 8 tackles and 1 interception while catching 5 passes for 36 yards in the victory against Bradley-Bourbonnais.
Armon Vinson, Belleville East High School, junior, quarterback/defensive back. Vinson completed 13-of-21 passes for 171 yards and 3 TD in a 28-20 loss to South Elgin in the opening round of the IHSA Class 8A postseason.
Dominic Voegele, Columbia High School, senior, quarterback/defensive back. Voegele completed 18-of-31 passes for 331 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 41-28 loss to Murphysboro in the opening round of the IHSA Class 4A postseason. Voegele also rushed for 95 yards on 18 carries while booting 4 extra points.
Zach Wetzel, Columbia High School, senior, wide receiver/defensive back. Weztel caught 7 passes for 198 yards and 1 touchdown in the loss to Murphysboro.
Brennan Weik, Columbia High School, senior, wide receiver/linebacker. Weik caught 6 passes for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns in the loss to Murphysboro.
Koby Osterhage, Waterloo High School, junior, running back. Osterhage returned an interception for a touchdown, caught a touchdown pass and rushed for 2 touchdowns in the win against Olney Richland County.
Daion Gaston, Edwardsville High School, senior, wide receiver/free safety. Gaston returned a kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown and caught 3 touchdown passes in a 43-36 win against O’Fallon in the opening round of the IHSA Class 8A postseason.
Colt Michael, O’Fallon High School, senior, quarterback. Michael completed 35-of-46 passes for 363 yards and 2 touchdowns in the loss to Edwardsville.
Jalen Smith, O’Fallon High School, senior, wide receiver. Smith caught 13 passes for 166 yards and 2 touchdowns in the loss to Edwardsville.
Robert Battle, East St. Louis High School, junior, quarterback. Battle completed 8-of-9 passes for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 71-0 win against Oak Lawn Richards in the opening round of the IHSA Class 6A postseason. Battle also rushed for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns on 4 carries.
Thomas Friess, Red Bud High School, senior, quarterback/linebacker. Friess completed 8-of-13 passes for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 34-21 win against Nashville in the opening round of the IHSA Class 2A postseason.
Brent Wuebbels, Highland High School, senior, quarterback/free safety. Wuebbels completed 13-of-16 passes for 132 yards while rushing for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns on 7 carries in a 50-0 win against Dunlap in the opening round of the IHSA Class 5A postseason.
The poll ended at 10 a.m. Friday.
To be clear, this poll is not scientific. In fact, we invite you to vote as many times as you want. It’s all for fun, BND readers.
The next poll will appear on the BND’s website — www.bnd.com — at 5 a.m. Wednesday and will be a vote on next weekend’s quarterfinal games. Please email nominations to gvartanian@bnd.com.
Previous poll winners: Travis Porter of Highland High School; Cole Stuart of Freeburg High School; Avery Hesseldenz of Freeburg High School; Braden Revermann of Breese Central High School; Porter; Drake Rensing of Mater Dei Catholic High School; Chase Lewis of Breese Central High School; Brogan Hartman of O’Fallon High School; and Annalie McWhorter of O’Fallon High School.
