High School Football

North Central defensive back is Midlands high school football player of week

The weekly high school player of the week poll.
The weekly high school player of the week poll. Jeff Blake Photo

The sixth week of the 2021 high school football season is in the books in South Carolina.

North Central defensive back Kaleb Caldwell was voted our Midlands football Player of the Week for games played last weekend. Congrats to Kaleb and all of the nominees.

The nominees are:

Amah-Dre Leaphart, RB/LB, Batesburg-Leesville: In 33-18 win over Dreher, Leaphart carried it 23 times for 171 yards for two touchdowns and caught four passes. On defense, he had six tackles, two for loss.

AJ Reyes, RB, Cardinal Newman: In the 27-21 win over Wilson Hall, Reyes carried it 33 times for 238 yards and three three touchdowns.

Antonio Williams, WR, Dutch Fork: In a 42-13 win over Spartanburg, Williams caught six passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 62 yards on kickoff and punt returns.

Dawan Rice, C.A. Johnson: In the 38-20 win over Great Falls, Rice carried it 16 times for 216 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran it in on three two-point conversions.

Jaquez Frederick, RB, White Knoll: In a 28-21 overtime loss to Lancaster, Frederick carried it 17 times for 211 yards and two touchdowns.

Jayson Tolen, CB, Gilbert: In the 49-6 win over Wagener-Salley, Tolen had nine tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery.

Kaleb Caldwell, DB, North Central: In the 36-14 win over Battery Creek, Caldwell picked off three passes and also blocked a punt that resulted in a North Central touchdown.

KZ Adams, RB, Gray Collegiate: In the 38-35 loss to Gaffney, Adams carried it 41 times for 213 yards and scored three touchdowns. He also caught three passes.

Mark Brown, LB, Hammond: In a 42-0 win over Laurence Manning, Brown had 12 tackles, three for loss, a sack and two quarterback pressures.

Markel Townsend, RB, AC Flora: In the 50-28 win over Chapin, Townsend carried it 14 times for 229 yards and three touchdowns.

Mondell Hutto, DE, Spring Valley: In the 14-7 win over South Pointe, Hutto had 17 tackles, three for loss, five sacks and one quarterback pressure.

Naahzeikial Mays, WR, Brookland-Cayce: In the 35-0 win over Airport, Mays had three touchdown catches of 10, 13 and 31 yards.

Xzavier McLeod, DL, Camden: In an 11-6 win over Lake City, McLeod had four tackles, tackle for loss, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and had two pass break-ups.

This story was originally published September 27, 2021 at 10:41 AM.

Lou Bezjak
The State
Lou Bezjak is the High School Sports Prep Coordinator for The (Columbia) State and (Hilton Head) Island Packet. He previously worked at the Florence Morning News and had covered high school sports in South Carolina since 2002. Lou is a two-time South Carolina Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Support my work with a digital subscription
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