JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
Had a tricky time picking my 3 Stars this week, because so many kids had outstanding individual performances in Week 2.
Ended up having a little fun with it in the end.
So here they are, Reinhart’s 3 Stars for Week 2:
* Ben Guiles, RB, Columbia – Wow, what a whopper of a night for the Crimson Tide’s senior running back du jour, who rushed for 292 yards and scored four TDs in Columbia’s 38-21 non-league win at Garden Spot.
Guiles’ TDs covered 3, 34, 60 and 67 yards, respectively, and his last five carries of the game looked like this on the stat sheet: 67-yard TD, 49-yard run, 8-yard run, 3-yard TD, and 34-yard TD. That’s 161 yards and three TDs on his final five attempts.
* Sean Persch, WR, Pequea Valley – It’s pretty safe to say that the Braves’ junior multi-purpose threat did pretty much everything except sell tickets and sweep out the bleachers after the game. Try these numbers on for size: Persch returned a kick 95 yards for a TD; he carried 12 times for 145 yards; he completed a pair of passes for 35 yards; he hauled in five catches for 114 yards; and he scored all four of PV’s TDs in the Braves’ 53-26 setback to Hamburg. Win or lose, that’s an unbelievable game.
And for the final star, I’m going to split it up three ways for a trio of Manheim Township players: QB Mark Mellinger, WR Nate Pagan and K David Soldner.
* Mark Mellinger, the Streaks’ senior QB, did what Pat Bostick couldn’t do last year: pilot the Streaks to a victory over Governor Mifflin. Despite being picked off four times, Mellinger completed 15-of-24 passes for 300 yards and four TDs, leading Townships to a 34-31 double-OT win.
* Nate Pagan, the Streaks’ senior WR, was off the hook against Mifflin, catching six passes for 158 yards and three TDs. He was the leading returning receiver in the league this season, and hasn’t disappointed, catching 11 passes in the first two games – both Streaks’ victories.
* David Soldner, the Streaks’ All-American senior K, was at his best against Mifflin, drilling a game-tying, OT-forcing 45-yard field late in regulation, then nailing a 28-yarder in the second OT to give Township a thrill-a-minute 34-31 win over Mifflin.
