Welcome to the Bay Area News Group (Mercury News & East Bay Times) boys athlete of the week poll.
For the entire academic year, we will provide a list of candidates who stood out over the previous week and allow you, the reader, to vote for the winner. Last week’s poll received the most impassioned response yet, more than 64,000 votes cast between the boys and the girls.
This week, we consider performances between Sept. 13 to Sept. 19.
Polls close at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Vote as many times as you’d like until then. Winners are revealed Friday morning.
MORE: Vote for girls athlete of the week
Candidates for future Athlete of the Week polls can be nominated at highschools@bayareanewsgroup.com. We also review stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches/team statisticians.
On to the nominees:
(Listed in alphabetical order)
Tate Asborno, California football: Forced 3 fumbles and made a team-high 11 tackles in a 41-7 win over Milpitas.
Aryan Gaur, Dougherty Valley football: Ran for 183 yards and three touchdowns, leading a rushing attack that totaled approximately 350 yards in a 65-22 win over Mt. Diablo.
Kevin Green, Gunn football: Two-way star totaled 5 touchdowns between offense and a pick-six on defense. He needed only 10 offensive touches to accumulate 207 yards from scrimmage and 4 TDs; on defense, he made seven tackles, two interceptions (one returned for a TD) and a sack in a 56-6 win over Yerba Buena.
Charles Greer, De La Salle football: Greer’s 230 rushing yards in a 49-21 win over San Diego power Cathedral Catholic were the 17th-most in a single game in De La Salle history. He also ran for touchdowns of 37 and 80 yards.
Dreyan Paul, McClymonds football: Passed for 234 yards and three touchdowns — and ran for another 94 yards and two more scores — in a 33-22 win against a stout Marin Catholic defense. One TD pass was so on-the-money, WR Jay’vion Cole caught it while falling down.
Jayden Petrus, Dublin football: Needed only one half to carry the ball 14 times for 170 yards and three touchdowns in Gaels’ 46-8 win over Irvington.
Devon Rivers, Heritage football: Senior running back turned in his best game of the season — 184 rushing yards and 3 TDs — to knock off James Logan, 41-15. (Older brother Ronnie also got a big win playing for Fresno State this weekend.)
Roland Ruckmann-Barnes, Granada cross country: Turned in the fastest time (15:30.5) on the team that took first place at the De La Salle Nike Invitational.
Preston Tchoi, Gunderson water polo: Freshman played a key role in Gunderson’s two straight wins after a 1-3 start to the season. He totaled 12 goals, seven assists and nine steals in the pair of wins.
