Top performances from Week 7: Bigsby thriving as ‘feature 3-down back’

ajc.com

Tank Bigsby was a valuable running back for Callaway as a freshman and sophomore but split carries with D.J. Atkins, who rushed for more than 3,500 yards. Atkins is now at Western Carolina.

Now, it's Bigsby's turn. A top-50 national prospect among juniors, Bigsby had perhaps his biggest game yet last week, when he rushed for 309 yards and scored on runs of 80, 80 and 58 yards against Bremen.

"Tank is just a special talent," Callaway running backs coach Matt Neighbors said. "He can really do it all, which makes him a feature three-down back. He truly has breakaway speed to go along with a physical running style and great ball skills to catch it out of the backfield and make guys miss. I don't think I've ever seen the first defender tackle him. He's so hard to tackle."

Bigsby got his nickname in youth leagues because he was so tough to bring down. He's 5 feet, 11 inches, 175 pounds. His latest efforts are among the Top Performances from last week.

Top five 

*Callaway RB Tank Bigsby rushed for 309 yards and three touchdowns and caught a 30-yard passing in a 37-25 victory over Bremen in a game between top-10 teams in Region 5-AA.

*Cherokee LB McKinley Hunter had 13 tackles, five sacks and three other tackles for losses and blocked a kick in a 17-15 victory over Etowah.

*Dooly County QB Bo Lawson was 9-of-11 passing for 320 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 141 yards and a touchdown on seven carries in a 46-40 victory over Macon County. Reggie Smith had three receptions - all for touchdowns - totaling 187 yards.

*Crisp County freshman RB Marquise Palmer rushed for 230 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries in a 42-38 victory over Thomasville.

*Eagle's Landing Christian RB Keaton Mitchell rushed for 311 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries in a 63-0 victory over Wesleyan.

Best of the rest 

*Athens Academy RB Len'Neth Whitehead rushed for 243 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-27 victory over arch-rival Prince Avenue Christian.

*Aquinas RB/LB Kam Brinson rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns, threw a 26-yard pass and had six tackles and an interception on defense in a 48-21 victory over Georgia Military.

*Brantley County RB/LB Bryson Flowers rushed for 101 yards on nine carries and scored two touchdowns in a 21-7 victory over McIntosh County Academy. On defense, Flowers had 8.5 tackles and an interception.

*Calvary Day LB Quadarris Green had three tackles for losses in a 52-0 victory over St. John's (S.C.), which was held to 82 total yards.

*Cambridge sophomore RB Philip Michael Collins rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries in a 21-20 victory over Chattahoochee.

*Camden County LB Jalen Davis had 11 tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble in a 20-9 victory over Glynn Academy. Freshman RB Jamie Felix had 169 yards from scrimmage on 15 touches.

*Carver (Atlanta) RB Tony Jones rushed for 253 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries in a 21-6 victory over Grady.

*Cedar Grove DE Dante Walker had seven solo tackles, 3.5 for losses, and 1.5 sacks in a 52-0 victory over Redan.

*Centennial QB Max Brosmer was 20-of-26 passing for 308 yards and two touchdowns in a 14-6 victory over Alpharetta.

*Christian Heritage RB/LB Ethan Smith rushed for 107 yards, caught a 20-yard TD pass and had eight tackles and five QB pressures in a 24-21 loss to Darlington.

*Coosa ATH Kenon Dixon had 302 yards passing with five touchdowns, 67 yards rushing and 110 yards on kickoff returns in a 51-29 victory over Armuchee.

*Creekside LB Khatavian Franks had five solo tackles, seven assists, one sack and a tackle for a loss in a 17-14 victory over Hughes, which was held to 59 total yards and four first downs.

*Dalton RB Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 230 yards and scored four touchdowns in a 49-20 victory over River Ridge. Gibbs had 297 all-purpose yards.

*East Paulding RB Tyrell Robinson rushed for 258 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries in a 27-26 victory over Hiram.

*Flowery Branch QB Elijah Gainey was 20-of-35 passing for 334 yards, almost all of that in the first half, in a 42-0 victory over White County.

*Harris County RB Cal'von Harris rushed for 208 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries in a 35-14 victory over Russell County (Ala.).

*Jones County QB Hunter Costlow was 13-of-23 passing for 302 yards and four touchdowns in a 50-14 victory over Locust Grove. Jontavis Robertson had five catches for 152 yards and touchdowns of 61, 45 and 22 yards.

*Jordan WR Cam Greene had nine receptions for 331 yards and three touchdowns in a 50-41 victory over Temple. Emmanuel Mann was 19-of-35 passing for 397 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 104 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries.

*Lovejoy WR Dayton Wade had eight receptions for 192 yards in a 34-18 loss to Tucker.

*Lowndes freshman QB Jacarri Brown rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries in a 37-16 victory over Ware County.

*Marion County DT Andrew Craig had seven total tackles and two blocked punts in a 65-14 victory over Greenville.

*Marist WR/DB Kyle Hamilton scored on a 28-yard fumble return, 23-yard reception and 66-yard punt return in a 59-7 victory over Chestatee.

*Montgomery County ATH DaQuan Jackson had 269 all-purpose yards and scored on a 43-yard run, a 75-yard kickoff return and a 96-yard punt return in a 58-6 victory over Treutlen.

*Mount Paran Christian RB Jack Allen rushed for 218 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries in a 46-21 victory over Mount Pisgah Christian.

*Mount Zion (Jonesboro) QB Ty Rogers was 23-of-35 passing for 342 yards and two touchdowns in a 43-27 loss to Mundy's Mill.

*Northgate RB Cameron Cruver had 152 yards on 28 rushes with two touchdowns and 49 yards receiving and a touchdown in a 24-20 victory over Alexander.

*Pelham Jr ATH/QB Kendrick Patterson passed for three touchdowns and scored four in a 55-14 victory over Stewart County. He was 13-of-20 passing for 170 yards and rushed for 102 yards on 11 carries.

*Pepperell sophomore QB Gage Moses was 14-of-23 passing for 173 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-7 victory over Model. Moses also rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown on four carries.

*Savannah Christian DL Dawson Benton had four solo tackles, one for a loss, caused a fumble and recovered two fumbles in a 45-0 victory over Portal.

*Stockbridge QB Jevon McDonald rushed for 162 yards on nine carries and was 9-of-11 passing for 181 yards in a 49-10 victory over Ola.

*Temple RB Daimar Ivey rushed for 275 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries in a 50-41 loss to Jordan.

*Toombs County QB Trey Cloud was 11-of-16 passing for 272 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-21 victory over Bacon County. Chandler Lynn had six catches for 124 yards.

*Troup QB Kobe Hudson rushed for 251 yards and passed for 136 in a 35-21 victory over Sandy Creek.

*Union County QB Pierson Allison was 26-of-41 passing for 400 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 70 yards on 12 carries in a 29-28 victory over Elbert County. Kanon Hemphill had 122 yards receiving, and Sawyer Drake had 113, each on six receptions.

*Wayne County RB M.J. Fuller rushed for 199 yards on 17 carries in a 31-21 victory over Bradwell Institute.

*West Hall DE Corey Dupree had four solo tackles, two sacks, two QB hurries, an interception and a fumble recovery that he returned for a touchdown in a 48-27 victory over Denmark.

*Woodward Academy DB Jason Moncure had eight tackles, two stops for losses and two sacks in a 49-7 victory over Druid Hills.

Lines of distinction 

*Aquinas' offensive line of Jonathan Bussey, Ryan Colley, Micheal Bowles, Lee Perry, Jordan Wall and Aiden Byrd paved the way for 415 rushing yards on just 34 attempts in a 48-21 victory over Georgia Military.

*Athens Academy's offensive line of Will Hayes, Charles Clark, George Smith, William Mclanahan, Kris Knisely and John Ferguson helped the Spartans put up 415 yards of total offense and blocked for 200-yard rusher Len'Neth Whitehead in a 31-27 victory over then-No. 2 Prince Avenue Christian.

*Eastside's offensive line of Dustin Morgan, Austin King, Pierce Downs, James Amos and Bryant Byrd was the catalyst for a 327-yard rushing performance in a 58-15 victory over Luella. Taylor Carter (10-113-2) and Quincy Cullins (8-125-0) each went over 100 yards rushing.

*Elbert County's offensive line of Corbin Mattox, Seth Capps, Paris Umble, Clayton Donald and Sam Lavender carried the Blue Devils on a 99-yard drive in the final six minutes for a 28-21 lead, although Elbert lost 29-28 to Union County. Elbert had 314 yards rushing and 141 passing and a 200-yard rusher, Shun Allen.

*Irwin County’s offensive line of tackles Luke Morgan, Will Burnam and Harmon Smith, guards Jalen Billingsley and Isaiat Alvarado, center Lochlan Cunningham and tight end Justin Wells blocked for 436 yards rushing on 50 carries in a 46-20 victory over Charlton County in a game between ranked teams in Region 2-A. Most grateful was RB D.J. Lundy, who rushed for 192 yards despite not playing in the fourth quarter. Irwin County, ranked No. 1 among Class A public schools, has rushed for 1,974 yards in six games.

*Jordan's offensive line of Demeris Riggins, Xavier Harvey, Gabe Nesseth, Jerrod Buckner and Thomas Glover helped the Red Jackets to a school-record 593 yards of total offense in 50-41 victory over Temple.

*Pickens' offensive line of Bailey Cannady, Aidan Sanchez, Myles Bramlett, Josh Cook, Chandler Rhodes, Austin Chester and Jay Gold were dominant in a 49-13 victory Southeast Whitfield. Pickens had 456 yards of total offense on 46 plays. Pickens has rushed for 2,018 yards on 232 carries (8.7 ypc) on the season.

*Trinity Christian's offensive line of Stephen Powell, Alex Hardnett, Kevin Feldbauer, Jesse Cox, Carson Beach and Eric Wilkinson opened holes for 435 yards rushing - 256 of those from Zack Jones - in 42-0 victory over Strong Rock Christian.

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