Poll results: Mater Dei star high school player of the week in southwestern Illinois
Drake Rensing of Mater Dei Catholic 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.
Rensing, a senior running back, rushed the ball 29 times for 273 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 27-19 win against Du Quoin on Sept. 26.
Rensing — who secured 44% of the votes — entered Friday’s action with 681 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns on 99 carries this fall. He also had 7 catches for 82 yards and 2 TD.
Here were the other candidates for the week of Sept. 26-Oct. 1:
- Collinsville High School’s offensive line. The Kahok blockers up front helped lead the offense to 396 rushing yards in a 46-0 win against Granite City.
Collinsville High School’s defense. The Kahok defense posted their second shutouf of the season while allowing only 60 yards of total offense against Granite City.
Connor Becker, Breese Central High School, senior, linebacker. Becker had 7 solo tackles, 12 assists, 2.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss in a 49-12 win against Salem.
Andrew Jansen, Breese Central High School, junior, defensive end. Jansen had 3 solo tackles, 5 assists, 3 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, 1 pass defended, 1 punt block, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery against Salem.
Conner Freeze, Breese Central High School, senior, quarterback. Freeze completed 18-of-30 passes for 308 yards and 3 touchdowns against Salem. He also carried the ball 6 times for 28 yards.
Lucious Dones, Althoff Catholic High School, senior, wide receiver/defensive back. Dones had 3 catches for 75 yards and 1 touchdown, returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and returned a fumble 83 yards for another TD in a 31-30 win against Marion. Dones also posted 10 tackles.
Colt Michael, O’Fallon High School, senior, quarterback. Michael completed 20-of-32 passes for 266 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 49-13 win against Belleville East.
Christian Joiner, O’Fallon High School, senior, wide receiver. Joiner caught 8 passes for 132 yards and 3 touchdowns against Belleville East.
Jayden Howard, Belleville East High School, senior, running back/defensive back. Howard collected 12 total tackles, 2 sackes and 3 tackles for loss against O’Fallon.
Brent Wuebbels, Highland High School, senior, quarterback. Wuebbels completed 8-of-10 passes for 135 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 65-0 win against Civic Memorial. He also carried the ball twice for 28 yards.
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 player of the week poll will appear on the BND’s website — www.bnd.com — at 5 a.m. Wednesday. 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; and Porter.
This story was originally published October 8, 2022 at 10:00 AM.