Honorable Mention
Kolten Gibson, Walker Valley: He passed for 301 yards and ran for 112 as the Mustangs upset Oak Ridge 35-27 in the first round of the state Class 5A playoffs.Cole Copeland, Bradley Central: After missing a handful of games due to injury, he returned to the lineup and passed for 411 yards and four TDs in a playof win over Cookeville.Kyree Pryor, South Pittsburg: He averaged 24 yards per carry (240 on 10) and scored three times as the Pirates defeated Cornersville.
By skill and instinct Notre Dame's Andrew Banks was a receiver, and that's where he played through the Fighting Irish's first five games this season. He had a total of eight carries entering the game against the East Ridge Pioneers.
He now has 66 carries for 794 yards, and close to a third of that total came last week as the Irish broke from a 14-6 halftime lead to a 49-15 victory over Smith County.
In his team's first game of the Tennessee Class 3A playoffs, Banks ran 12 times for 256 yards and scored five touchdowns. He was the Waffle House All-Star player of the week as selected by the Times Free Press.
"He played incredibly well," Notre Dame coach Charles Fant said.
There was a transition period, a time when Banks, whose brother now plays at Alabama-Birmingham, moved from receiver to full-time running back alongside Akil Sledge.
"Ever since we moved him we've tried to get him to run like a running back," Fant said. "He moves well in space, and the first thing on his mind was that he had to score on every play."
Fant had Banks spending more and more time with Gerald Riggs, the assistant who went to Tennessee following an amazing prep career as a running back and linebacker at Red Bank.
"Friday was 100 percent him running the ball like a running back. Where he had been missing cuts because he was trying to do too much, he took what was given to him," Fant said. "We kept trying to get him to do it our way through the first level and then do his thing when he reached the second level."
It all came together Friday for the 5-foot-8, 160-pounder and his teammates.
"The thing about Andrew is that he goes hard no matter what. It's almost like he runs angry, and in practice he goes at one speed - all out," Fant said.
Banks has committed to Mesa Junior College in Arizona.
"They're looking at him as a receiver, but when they see his latest video it's going to be hard not to give him the ball with some running-back style plays," Fant said.
The Irish (7-4) take their show on the road this week to play undefeated and second-ranked Sequatchie County (11-0).
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.