Atmore’s Stallworth named ASWA Player of the Week

Published 8:48 am Wednesday, September 1, 2010

There are good games and there are statement games.

Escambia County’s Rico Stallworth had a statement game against T.R. Miller on Friday night and it earned him Alabama Sports Writers Association Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Stallworth, a senior quarterback, opened the season with possibly the best game of his career – completing 13-of-20 passes for 201 yards, and rushing 14 times for 196 yards and three touchdowns. In overtime, he scored the touchdown to bring the Blue Devils within one point of T.R. Miller and followed that up with a two-point conversion run to give his team a 35-34 win.

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Stallworth said winning the honor was a great feeling, but added he did not accomplish it alone.

“It feels exciting,” Stallworth said. “Knowing that I am being honored is amazing because they felt my performance was worthy of being chosen. I really couldn’t have done it without my team though.”

It wasn’t just any win: it kept Miller from becoming the first football program in state history to reach the 600-win mark.

Stallworth said on his winning scramble to the end zone all he could think about was getting a victory.

“When I was running for the two-point conversion all I was thinking about was getting a win,” Stallworth said. “I told my team that I would put them on my back and carry them, and I made sure I kept my promise. All I wanted was to put a “W” on the board.”

He topped two fine finalists in Smiths Station running back Lorenzo Betties and Russellville running back Brent Calloway. Betties had 22 carries for 251 yards and six touchdowns — four coming in the first quarter — in a 47-21 win over Russell County. Calloway played less than three quarters, but rushed for a career-high 210 yards on 17 carries in the Class 5A No. 1 Golden Tigers’ 34-13 victory against Class 4A No. 4 Deshler. He scored two touchdowns on runs of 56 yards and 64 yards.

The ASWA Defensive Player of the Week is Charles Henderson’s Quintus Moss. Moss played a major role in four turnovers on defense, including returning an interception 65 yards for a touchdown on the final play of a 27-12 win over Beauregard. Moss also caused two fumbles, had one other interception, recovered a fumble, and had six tackles. Offensively, he rushed for 133 yards on 13 carries and a pair of touchdowns on runs of 72 and 15 yards.

The two defensive finalists were Addison Santiago of Sylvania and Christion Jones of Minor. Santiago, a junior, made an impact in all three phases of the game in Sylvania’s 34-33 overtime victory at Plainview. He punted six times for an average of 40.5 yards, finished with 10 solo tackles and three assists while working at end and linebacker.  On offense, he caught a two-point conversion pass in regulation and caught a 10-yard touchdown pass in overtime.

Jones broke up two passes, punted twice for a 37.5-yard average, bobbled a kickoff return then took it 81 yards for a touchdown, ran for 80 yards on 10 carries, caught three passes for 105 yards. In all, he had 302 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns in a win over Class 6A No. 10 Clay-Chalkville.

In all, 85 players were nominated by ASWA members in Albertville, Atmore, Birmingham, Centre, Cullman, Demopolis, Florence, Fort Payne, Gadsden, Graysville, Grove Hill, Hartselle, Huntsville, Jasper, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, Oneonta, Opelika, Scottsboro, Talladega, and Tuscaloosa.

Other top offensive performances include:

• Jacob Mayfield, Westbrook Christian: Rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns and was 8 of 93 passing for 92 yards – including the game winner with 4:44 to play as Class 2A, No. 6 Westbrook Christian defeated seventh-ranked Fyffe 37-22.

• Jeremy Johnson, Carver-Montgomery: The sophomore quarterback completed 11-of-19 passes for 246 yards and four touchdowns in a 55-34 win over Opelika.

• Josh Taylor, Winterboro: The 5-9, 168-pound quarterback rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries and had a fumble recovery and several tackles on defense to lead the 1A Bulldogs to a 28-13 win over 5A Talladega.

• Kaleb Harris, Pinson Valley: Had a 302-yard performance in a 21-14 loss to Mortimer Jordan with 18-of-27 passing and two touchdown passes.

• Malcom Fossett, Hartselle: Scored  four touchdowns – three rushing (17, 39 5) and one receiving (16) in a 38-13 win over Athens.

• Denzell Charleston, John Essex: The junior had 16 carries for 225 yards and five touchdowns in the Hornets’ 44-2 win over St. Luke’s.

Nathan Humphries, Curry: Rushed  for 235 yards and four touchdowns on 14 carries in a 41-13 victory over Carbon Hill.

• Parker Anderson, Hale County: Threw  for five touchdowns in an 11 of 12, 206-yard passing game in the Wildcats’ 43-8 win against Sunshine.

• Josh Sensor, Pisgah:  Rushed for 258 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries as Pisgah beat Class 3A Region 7 opponent New Hope, 33-10.

• Ben Moore, Cullman: Accounted  for more than 75 percent of the Bearcats’ offensive production in a 24-14 win at Sparkman, amassing 309 yards and two touchdowns on 33 touches. He rushed for 226 yards and two scores on 29 attempts.

• Michael Reeves, Albertville:  Completed 13-of-21 passes for 189 yards with touchdowns of 31 and 33 yards, and rushed 11 times for 91 yards and touchdowns of 2 and 10 yards in a 38-14 win over East Limestone.

• Collin Langley, Boaz: Langley finished with 304 all-purpose yards in a 21-14 victory over Guntersville, rushing 20 times for 213 yards and touchdowns of 70 and 15 yards. On defense, he made five tackles, one tackle for a loss and broke up four passes, including one in the end zone.

•  Mark Lear, Clarke Prep: Rushed 23 times for 283 yards and scored four TDs as Gators beat No. 8 Escambia.

• Cole Claunch, Colbert Heights: Threw for 310 yards and four touchdown passes (82, 21, 11, 72) as Wildcats beat Danville 47-27.

• Nathan Coker, Collinsville: In  his first game back following a car wreck a week prior to the 2009 season, Coker was 7 of 8 passing for 130 yards with a touchdown (71), rushed for a touchdown (18) and had a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown in a 41-20 victory over Coosa Christian.

• Damion Harris, Houston Academy: Rushed for 201 yards on 30 carries with three touchdowns, including a game-winning 5-yard run with 1:08 left in the Raiders’ 27-24 win over Montgomery Academy.

• Ledarrius Bowe, Jackson: Rolled  up 211 yards with two touchdowns and caught a 3-yard TD pass in Jackson’s 33-7 win over Clarke County.

• Jacob Kennedy , Berry: Had 252 all-purpose yards – 101 rushing, 102 on returns and 49 passing – in a 38-30 win over Northside. Kennedy accounted for three 2-point conversions and scored three touchdowns – including a game-winning 65-yard punt return for score.

Advance sports editor Chandler Myers contributed to this story.

Blue Devils quarterback Rico Stallworth was selected as the Alabama Sports Writers Association's Offensive Player of the Week.|Photo by Adam Prestridge