Ridgeland High School sophomore halfback Jalyn Shelton rushed for 220 yards on 26 carries, including a pair of touchdowns, as the Panthers beat Region 7-AAAA opponent Heritage on Friday.Honorable mention
› Malik Beavers, Brainerd: He had 17 carries for 205 yards as the Panthers maintained their late-season playoff push.› Trace Condra, Whitwell: He accounted for four touchdowns, rushing 10 times for 183 yards and three scores and adding a 44-yard scoring reception.› Traneil Moore, East Ridge: In helping his team clinch a host role for the playoffs, he rushed 11 times for 193 yards and two touchdowns.Coaches and/or statisticians are invited to nominate players by emailing Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com by 2 p.m. each Saturday.
Jalyn Shelton, Ridgeland High School football coaches knew, was pretty good.
Must've been. They had him working at quarterback in spring practice.
The sophomore, though, wound up as one of the halfbacks in Ridgeland's wing-T offense this season. He proved his worth again Friday, this time with an exclamation point, running 26 times for 220 yards and two touchdowns in the Panthers' 35-21 victory over Heritage.
For his performance, Shelton has been selected by the Times Free Press sports staff as the Waffle House All-Star player of the week.
Shelton reached the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season in the Region 7-AAAA win.
"He's a power back. We really have two power backs, to be honest," Ridgeland coach Wesley Tankersley said, referring to Shelton and Markeith Montgomery.
With Montgomery playing both ways - he has 64 tackles, five forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, four passes broken up and three interceptions as a safety this season - Shelton receives the bulk of the carries.
"He has really good vision," Tankersley said. "He does a good job of seeing the cutback lanes, and if the defense is over-pursuing, he finds the creases."
Montgomery carries the surprise factor. Depended on more for his defensive prowess, he still gained 115 yards on five carries - including an 85-yard touchdown - to go with a forced fumble and an interception against Heritage.
Yet the 6-foot, 205-pound Shelton is showing he's more than a finesse runner.
"He does a great job of breaking tackles," Tankersley said. "Even if the play is not blocked correctly or the defense has had a good play, he usually is at least falling forward two to three yards. He doesn't have many negative-yardage plays for us."
No back with the type of performances Shelton has provided come singularly.
"You have to give the offensive line credit all of the time," Tankersley said. "When somebody is having success, it doesn't come from just one person. Our fullback, Chris Henderson, also deserves a lot of credit. He's done a great job blocking, especially on some of our isolation plays."
Though the Panthers don't throw often, Tankersley said Shelton is athletic and can catch the ball.
"He can throw, too, but as the summer went along we could tell he was a lot more comfortable at running back," the coach said. "He's a great athlete - plays baseball, and I think he used to play basketball."
Tankersley said the future is bright for Ridgeland and Sheltony.
"I definitely think he'll be a (college) prospect," Tankersley said. "I think he played sparingly as a freshman, but definitely after this year he's going to get some looks."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.