The term workhorse doesn't go far enough to describe what Adam Byck of Savannah Country Day did last week.
The senior tailback got the ball 51 times and rushed for 226 yards in a 30-20 victory over Johnson County. His longest gain was 17 yards. Consider that Nick Chubb has 59 carries in four games this season for the University of Georgia.
Byck (pronounced BICK) had 33 and 34 carries in his previous two games, but that paled compared to his latest haul. Byck is 5 feet, 9 inches and 200 pounds.
"I would compare him to an Earl Campbell-style back," Savannah Country Day coach Dennis Coyle said. "He is a hard, physical, downhill runner with good speed. Johnson County is a good football team and has a number of explosive players on offense in addition to Coach [Don] Norton's son Brooks at QB who does a great job of reading a defense and finding the open receiver. As a result, we wanted to control the clock, and we felt we could win the battle at the line of scrimmage."
SCD has four seniors and five returning starters on the offense line. Coyle uses as many as five fullbacks in a game as lead blockers for Byck, who lines up behind a shotgun quarterback in the pistol offense.
"Adam is the hardest worker in practice since I came to SCDS nine years ago," Coyle said. "He runs every play in practice at full speed and is always the first in our conditioning drills. Obviously 51 carries is more than we want him to have on a weekly basis, but it was the perfect number on Friday night to help us get the win on the road at Johnson County, who was previously undefeated."
Byck's performance was among the best in Georgia high school football last week.
Top five
*Chestatee RB Nick Lyles had 300 yards from scrimmage - 281 rushing, 19 receiving - in a 41-37 victory over Habersham Central. Lyles also had four solo tackles and five assists on defense, defended 10 passes and forced and recovered a fumble in the end zone that was the game-winning touchdown.
*Lovejoy RB Zion Custis rushed for 303 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries in a 41-33 victory over Drew.
*Meadowcreek RB Chauncey Williams rushed for 314 yards and five touchdowns on 30 carries in a 42-28 victory over Lakeside of Atlanta.
*Savannah Country Day RB Adam Byck rushed for 226 yards and three touchdowns on 51 carries in a 30-20 victory over Johnson County.
*Woodstock WR Louis Hall had 13 catches for 209 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-17 victory over North Forsyth. Hall also converted a fourth down on a 10-yard fake punt and forced a fumble when he stripped the ball from a punt returner.
Best of the rest
*B.E.S.T. Academy DE Rashad Whitehead had six tackles for losses, three sacks and a safety in a 38-28 victory over Washington.
*Banks County RB Clayton Dykehouse rushed for 234 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries in a 35-21 victory over Monticello. He was 3-of-6 passing for 99 yards and a touchdown and scored three two-point conversions.
*Calhoun RB Zack Fuller rushed for 204 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries in a 40-13 victory over North Murray.
*Campbell DB Maceo Price had 5.5 tackles, broke up a pass, blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown in an 18-14 loss to Marietta.
*Carver (Atlanta) QB Octavious Battle was 19-of-23 passing for 355 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 87 yards on seven carries and converted four two-point tries in a 36-29 victory over North Springs.
*Dawson County WR Ethan Cameron had 12 receptions for 181 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-42 loss with White County. QB Coey Watson passed for 323 yards and four touchdowns, and RB SeVaughnClark rushed for 169 yards.
*Dodge County RB R.J. Carr rushed for 202 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries in a 38-14 victory over Southwest.
*Eastside WR/DB Jamari Brown had seven catches for 130 yards in a 20-16 victory over Oconee County. Brown had seven tackles and broke up three passes, one in the end zone on the final play of the game.
*Forsyth Central QB Brad Thiltgen passed for 267 yards and a touchdown and rushed 14 times for 262 yards and three touchdowns in a 49-42 overtime loss to Kennesaw Mountain.
*Glenn Hills RB Shahaun Stewart rushed for 223 yards and a touchdown in an 18-12 victory over Josey.
*Habersham Central QB A.J. Curry was 17-of-34 passing for 394 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 137 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries in a 41-37 loss to Chestatee. WR Donovan Curry had five catches for 201 yards and three touchdowns. Curry and Curry are brothers.
*Hardaway RB Marco Lee rushed for 239 yards on 23 carries and caught a 27-yard pass in a 41-14 win over Columbus. Lee scored four touchdowns.
*Harris County RB Cal'Von Harris rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries in a 28-27 loss to Callaway.
*Heard County RB/DB Aaron Beasley rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries in a 35-14 victory over Temple. He also had 10 tackles, two for losses.
*Hillgrove DB Lance Wise intercepted two passes, one that clinched the win, in a 37-32 victory over South Gwinnett. Wise also had eight tackles, scored a touchdown and blocked an extra point.
*Johns Creek LB John Watson had 15 tackles, three for losses, and intercepted a pass in a 38-21 victory over Northview.
*McIntosh RB Bradley Ector rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-8 victory over Riverdale. McIntosh is 5-0.
*Mill Creek PK/P Matt Campbell punted for a 44.3-yard average, putting three of four punts inside the 20-yard line, and kicked a 53-yard field goal and eight touchbacks in a 45-13 victory over Collins Hill.
*Miller County RB Chris Stovall rushed for 272 yards and five touchdowns on 42 carries in a 42-38 loss to Pelham. Stovall has 829 yards rushing in four games.
*Monroe Area LB Slade Chatham had 10 tackles, three for losses, in a 42-0 victory over Apalachee.
*Montgomery County ATH DaQuan Jackson scored on a 15-yard run, a 71-yard reception and a 15-yard fumble return in a 24-20 victory over Brantley County. The fumble return, off a Brantley kickoff return, was the winning touchdown. Jackson also had seven tackles, two for losses.
*Mount Pisgah Christian WR Kai Williams had four receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown and returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown in a 55-24 victory over Pinecrest Academy.
*Murray County WR/DB Preston Vanmeter had five catches for 99 yards and a touchdown, threw a 45-yard TD pass, made five tackles and intercepted a pass in a 49-30 loss to Adairsville.
*Newton RB Nuru Tinch rushed for 204 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-17 victory over Heritage of Conyers.
*North Hall WR/DB Noah Holman had a team-leading five solo tackles, intercepted two passes and led a secondary that saw 18 of 31 passes fall incomplete in a 13-0 victory over Fannin County. Holman caught two passes for 40 yards.
*North Oconee WR/RB Jermaine Browner had seven catches for 138 yards in a 17-14 loss to Winder-Barrow.
*North Paulding DE Jaylen Parks had four tackles for losses, two sacks, a safety and one fumble recovery and return for a touchdown in a 32-0 victory over Cherokee. LB/TE Tyler Bird had two sacks and forced two fumbles. The shutout was North Paulding's fourth in five games. North Paulding is 5-0.
*Northside (Warner Robins) PK/P Cory Munson kicked field goals of 51, 44 and 49 yards, averaged 38.3 yards per punt, placed two punts inside the 20-yard line and kicked three touchbacks in a 23-14 victory over Ware County.
*Prince Avenue Christian WR/DB Christian Parrish scored three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving, had 138 yards from scrimmage on seven touches and intercepted a pass in a 28-14 victory over George Walton Academy.
*Southeast Whitfield RB Christian Gillespie rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries in a 48-26 victory over LaFayette. WR Landon Eaton had five catches for 135 yards and a touchdown.
*St. Pius RG Connor Brown graded 97 percent and helped block for 352 yards in total offense in a 36-33 loss to Lanier. Michael Benefieldrushed for 167 yards.
*Thomasville DB Charlie Thomas had 10 tackles, a TD reception and the fumble recovery that set up the winning touchdown in a 40-34 victory over Cook.
*Troup WR Jamari Thrash had four catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns in a 48-12 victory over Chapel Hill.
*Walker QB Joseph Vose rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries in a 29-14 victory over St. Francis.
*Walton QB Austin Kirksey was 16-of-27 passing for 355 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-20 victory over Dacula. Kirksey scored Walton's other two touchdowns and rushed for 41 yards.
*Washington-Wilkes sophomore QB Donovan Anthony was 21-of-33 passing for 303 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-30 loss to Tattnall Square.
*Wayne County QB Garrett Overholt passed for 398 yards and four touchdowns in a 30-8 victory over Pierce County.
*Winder-Barrow DE Logan Cash had four sacks, two tackles for losses and 13 tackles overall in a 17-14 victory over North Oconee.
Lines of distinction
*The Central (Carrollton) offensive line of Ethan Caldwell, Ross Helton, Josh Wood, Kaden Taylor and Sam Sauls opened running lanes for 368 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in a 32-6 win over LaGrange. Central had three backs over 90 yards - Malcolm Brown (93 on 11 carries), Braden Dunson (93 on 12 carries) and Jamarcus Strange (92 on six carries).
*Kennesaw Mountain's offensive line of Trenton Townsend, D.J. Jenkins, Seth Branan, DeCarlos Alford and Marquez Partee-Crump led the way to 427 rushing yards on 58 attempts in a 42-34 victory over Forsyth Central. The Mustangs (4-1) average 323.8 yards rushing per game.
*Manchester's offense line of Qua Mahone, Raeshawn Walton, Joey Kempson, J.T. Waller, Darius Jackson and Jontavious Ferguson, all seniors, and sophomore Wesley Keith helped the Blue Devils grind out 390 rushing yards on 52 attempts in a 30-0 victory over previously unbeaten Marion County.
*Ridgeland's offensive line of Austin Garner, Logan Halenar, Ethan Hunt, Logan Godfrey, Fred Norman, Jordan Tucker and Elijah Foshay helped their team put up 19 first downs and 567 total yards - 344 rushing, 223 passing - in a 48-7 victory over Northwest Whitfield. Ridgeland did not allow a sack.
*South Forsyth's offensive line of Jake Nitowski, Gabe Cleveland, Briggs Hutcheson, Chris Biba and Jordan Nelson paved the way for a 311-yard rushing effort in a 37-20 victory over Lassiter in a game between undefeated Class AAAAAAA teams. RB Jared Honey rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries. South Forsyth is 5-0.
*Swainsboro's offensive line of Jacob Ellis, Shamar Littles, KeSean Easterling, Ka'yun Davis, Jamichael Murphy and Logan Gay helped their team rush for 360 yards in a 66-20 victory over Bryan County. Swainsboro also had 113 yards passing.
*Upson-Lee's offensive line of Alec Rogers, Bo Harrison, Hayden Marks, Tylan Wellmaker, Jeydakes Ellison and Travon Walker paved the way for 412 yards rushing in a 31-29 victory over Jordan. They helped RB Daymon Thomas to a school-record 291 rushing yards.
*Whitewater's offensive line of Jake Burns, Parker Pridgen, Jacob Rosser, Zach Outhavong and Miles Langston paved the way for a 349-yard rushing effort and 436 total yards in a 40-16 victory over Griffin. It produced 100-yard rushers Maddox Mueller (180 with four touchdowns), Kyris Barnett (102) and Miles Montgomery (147, two touchdowns).
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