Familiar name earns Hollis Wright Player of the Week honors in Week 9

Only one team has had more than one student-athlete earn Hollis Wright Player of the Week honors this season. That team and player have now finished at the top of the poll three times.

Leeds quarterback Conner Nelson finished with 78 percent of the 41,346 votes in the Week 9 poll, finishing well ahead of second place.

Nelson was the consecutive Player of the Week for Week 4 and Week 5, receiving 32,265 votes last week. The three-star recruit ran 18 times for 161 yards and 4 touchdowns and returned an interception 25 yards for another TD as eighth-ranked Class 5A Green Wave defeated Center Point 49-24.

Leeds (7-2, 5-1 in Region 6 and the second-place playoff qualifier) ​​will host 6A Pelham on Friday to close the regular season.

Oak Grove running back Braxton Yocom came in second in the voting with 8 percent of the total. The 6-foot-4, 175-pound senior ran for 171 yards on just 12 carries (14.25 yards per attempt) with 3 touchdowns as the Tigers defeated American Christian 34-6.

Yocom also had 7 tackles with a pass breakup for the 6-2 Tigers, improved to 4-2 in Class 4A, Region 4 play.

Oak Grove travels to Fairfield (6-2, 4-2) on Thursday for the final region match of the season.

Ramsay’s Jayden Martin received 7 percent of the vote and finished third in the voting. The 5-9, 170-pound junior gained 185 yards on 18 carries with a TD as the Rams won their fourth straight and pushed their record to 5-3 and 4-1 in Class 5A, Region 5, by beating Carver-Birmingham with 41 to beat. 8 last week.

The Rams conclude their season on Thursday with a region match against Wenonah (7-1, 4-1).

This fall, look out for the weekly nominees on Sunday and cast your vote each week.