Honor Roll
Dylan Lackey, Banks County: 139 rushing yards and a touchdown in a loss to Riverside Military.
Alex Ross, Buford: threw for 152 yards against the Trojans.
Deon Brock, Commerce: rushed for 188 yards against Morgan County.
Connor Shaw, Flowery Branch: 15-for-16 passing for 223 yards and 68 yards on 11 carries against Lumpkin County.
Imani Cross, Flowery Branch: rushed for 91 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.
Rodney Young, Flowery Branch: 77 yards receiving with two touchdowns for the Falcons.
Teryan Rucker, Gainesville: rushed for 101 yards on 15 carries and scored a touchdown against Franklin County.
Blake Sims, Gainesville: threw for 187 yards with three rushing touchdowns.
Kevin Ellison, Habersham Central: rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns against Heritage.
Austin Brown, Habersham Central: 14-for-21 with 141 passing yards.
Alex Crawford, Jackson County: threw for 121 yards against Sonoraville.
Michael Pesaresi, Jackson County: rushed for 89 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown.
Darius Minor, Jefferson: scored on an 84-yard punt return, threw for 51 yards and had 39 yards on the ground against Dawson County.
J.J. Damons, Jefferson: scored on a 56-yard punt return and rushed for 49 yards against Dawson County.
Mantevius Rucker, Johnson: rushed for 72 yards in a loss to North Forsyth on Friday.
Dalton Munday, Lakeview: 101 yards on the ground and two touchdowns against Towns County.
Tom Drury, Lakeview: rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown.
Jake McClure, Lumpkin County: rushed for 95 yards and scored a touchdown in a loss to Flowery Branch on Friday.
Zach Pendley, North Georgia Christian: two interceptions and eight tackles in a loss to Covenant Christian.
Joe Boonstra, North Georgia Christian: rushed for 65 yards for the Chargers.
Alex O’Donnell, Riverside: 9-for-17 for 169 yards and two touchdowns against Banks County.
Brandon McKinney Riverside: five receptions for 149 yards.
Kolt Owenby, Union County: 210 passing yards against Rabun County.
Blake Gowder, Union County: rushed for 48 yards and received for 152 yards.
Shunquez Stephens, West Hall: 206 passing yards in a loss to Pickens.
Ashely Lowery, White County: rushed for 93 yards and three touchdowns against East Hall.
Cam Segraves, White County: caught four passes for 71 yards.
It seems unthinkable that Flowery Branch senior quarterback Connor Shaw, who threw for 2,200 yards last season and led his team to play for the state title against Cairo in the Georgia Dome, would ever be anxious to step out on the field and play football.
But Shaw himself has talked about nerves and how it affected him early in the season last year saying, “I was so nervous I wanted to throw up” when recalling how he felt before his first starting game as quarterback.But early in the Falcons’ (2-0) season, Shaw is showing his maturity throwing a nearly perfect night completing 15 of 16 passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns for Flowery Branch last week in a win against Lumpkin County.
So, what changed from the beginning of last season? In a word: experience.
“Just a year of experience has really been crucial for us,” Falcons coach Lee Shaw says about quarterback and son, Connor. Going into further detail he explains, “I could see the transformation mentally last year after (the) Creekview game when he decided he really wanted to be a quarterback. (He) flipped that switch in his head and really started improving and started seeing the field. It’s been like night and day.”
Connor, a verbal commit to South Carolina, says the big difference is “mainly the comfort level, last year I was still not too sure how to play the quarterback role and right now I’m feeling pretty comfortable about it."