Honorable mention
Brandon Rudd, Sequatchie County: He ran for 278 yards and five touchdowns as the Indians moved to 4-0.Jalyn Shelton, Ridgeland: He scored only one touchdown but rushed for 263 yards in the Panthers’ victory over Dade County.Omar Brown, North Jackson: Although the Chiefs fell to Priceville, Brown did his part, rushing for 259 yards and three scores.Coaches are invited to nominate players by emailing Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com by 2 p.m. each Saturday.
A year ago, Logan Walters was slinging pass after pass for North Jackson High School, helping the Chiefs into the Alabama state playoffs.
He moved back to Jasper - and Marion County - during the school year and was an immediate hit on the Warriors' baseball team. But he languished through spring football practice and most of the summer as Marion's backup quarterback behind Bryce Massengale.
Walters' promotion into the starting role to replace Massengale came only weeks before the season opener against Hixson, but Marion coach Ricky Ross was determined Massengale wouldn't be wasted.
"Part of the reason that our team has been as successful as it has comes from what Bryce does for us," said Ross, whose Warriors, the top-ranked team in Class 2A, are undefeated through four games.
"The move actually gave us two players in Massengale. Defensively, we picked up an unbelievable football player, and at 6-foot-2, he's a great target at wide receiver."
With the door open, Walters made the most of his opportunity and stepped to the front in a big way Friday in the Warriors' major rivalry game against South Pittsburg. For his performance in the 62-21 victory over the Pirates - the most points ever scored by Marion in the 91-year history of the series - he has been selected by the Times Free Press sports staff as the Waffle House All-Star player of the week.
"As a defensive coordinator, I had to scheme a lot of quarterbacks in my time - guys that can run and throw as well, and I finally have one on my team," Ross said. "I know well what issues a guy like that can cause for defenses."
Playing basically three quarters, the senior scored the opening touchdown, then passed to Jacob Saylors to regain the lead. In the second quarter, the 6-3, 190-pound Walters further initiated the Warriors' overwhelming offensive onslaught, breaking free from a dropback and sprinting 71 yards for his second rushing touchdown.
"When things broke down, he turned a negative into a positive," Ross said. "If you look at the film, he was in the game in the fourth quarter, but he was doing little more than directing traffic and handing off."
While he was needed, though, Walters contributed 195 yards on 10 carries (including two touchdowns), and on a night when the passing game wasn't needed, he was 5-of-6 for 69 yards and another touchdown.
"He's a player. There's no doubt," Ross said. "He has done what we asked him to do, and when things break down, he's the type that can turn a potential negative into a positive. And when a team can avoid negatives, its chances (to win) go exponentially higher."
Walters is making the move from gunslinger to thinking man's quarterback.
"He has done a great job of working within our system, and we're a system offense," Ross said. "He has adapted and progressed. He's learned what we want and how that works for us."
Walters has also benefited from a positive attitude and lengthy skull sessions with offensive coordinator Joe Mathis.
"Logan endured the discipline and structure, and all spring and all through the summer he worked with the (No. 2 offense), which was only fair to Bryce," Ross said. "I know Logan is stronger and more durable than he was last spring, and all those things factor into his development as a quarterback, but I think he also has benefited from the meetings with coach Mathis."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.