Shenandoah's Dylan Ayres named The Star Press' ECI football Player of the Week
Gus MartinMUNCIE, Ind. — The Star Press' third East Central Indiana football Player of the Week is Dylan "Bob" Ayres.
Shenandoah's two-way senior leader enjoyed another notable performance this week despite his team's 33-21 loss to Lapel. He tallied 91 rushing yards and one touchdown on 12 carries, caught three passes for 53 yards, and defensively added five tackles, two TFL's and two sacks.
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Ayres is one half of the Raiders' dynamic backfield duo alongside senior Mayson Lewis. Ayres has tallied 333 rushing yards and three scores on 35 carries, a superb 9.5 yards per carry average, while also leading the team with five catches for 104 yards so far this season. He's an impactful defender as well, totaling 14 tackles, three TFL's, one forced fumble and is tied with Lewis for the team lead in sacks (two).
Coming in second place was Yorktown's do-it-all senior Kolton Nanko. As a receiver in his team's 50-13 loss to New Palestine, he was the Tigers' most effective offensive weapon and caught nine passes for 111 yards. He was also dangerous in both facets of special teams, adding 172 yards on just four kickoff returns while making two field goals and a PAT.
The top two candidates dominated the voting this week, with Ayres receiving 42.7% (5,886 votes) and Nanko 34.1% (4,697) of the 13,767 total votes cast. Jay County's Sean Bailey came in third place with 9.9% (1,372), followed by Delta's Marquel Bond (6.9%, 943), Muncie Central's Josiah Ullom (4.9%, 671), and finally Winchester's Jorge Vasquez (1.4%, 197).
More:Your one-stop shop for everything East Central Indiana football in 2022
Disclaimer: The football Player of the Week poll conducted by The Star Press is an unscientific poll intended for fun, to give readers a voice and to recognize outstanding athletic achievement among local athletes.
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Gus Martin is a sports reporter at The Star Press. Follow him on Twitter @GusMartin_SP, and contact him at gmartin@gannett.com.