Ballers: Friday night’s top high school football performances

Who showed out during the regional finals round of the Russell Athletic/KHSAA Commonwealth Gridiron playoffs? Here are some of the best individual performances from the week.

James Baker, Franklin-Simpson

Coming into the night, Baker had rushed for 183 yards and four touchdowns through 12 games this season. In a 35-20 win over Hopkinsville on Friday night, he nearly doubled his rushing total with 154 yards on nine carries, and scored two TDs.

Tanner Crawford, Boyle County

Twenty-eight carries netted 267 yards and four TDs for the junior in a 57-15 win over Lexington Catholic. The rushing total was more than the Knights managed as a team (98).

Devonte Cubit, Campbellsville

A 44-8 rout of host Crittenden County was produced with a lot of help from the legs of Cubit, who rushed for five TDs and 183 yards on 18 carries for the Eagles.

Brice Fryman, Scott County

The senior rusher’s had some monster nights, but Friday’s might have been his best performance ever. Fryman rushed 18 times for 284 yards and two TDs in a 45-13 win over Frederick Douglass. He also had two tackles on defense.

JR Lucas and Jacob Phillips, Collins

With 31 seconds left, Phillips picked off Mercer County in the end zone to send Collins to the state semifinals with a 34-28 victory. Lucas was involved in every score for the Titans: he rushed 16 times for 160 yards and three TDs and threw for 87 yards and two TDs on 9-for-19 passing.

Landen Stacy, Madison Southern

The senior quarterback rushed for three TDs — almost as many as he had coming into night (five) — and threw three more in a 61-20 rout of Montgomery County. Stacy rushed 12 times for 106 yards (14 yards shy of matching team leader Carter Smith) and was 6-for-10 for 125 passing yards.

D’mauriae VanCleave, Danville

His speed was felt by Lexington Christian in a 43-7 defeat. The senior stud caught seven passes for 137 yards and two TDs and returned an interception for a 56-yard score late in the game to put an exclamation point on the victory.

Rico White, Central

The Yellow Jackets thrashed four-time defending champion Belfry, 60-21, and White played a big role in that feat. He rushed for two TDs and threw two in the rout, finishing with an almost perfect completion percentage in going 11-for-12 for 148 yards.

This story was originally published November 18, 2017 at 12:25 AM with the headline "Ballers: Friday night’s top high school football performances."