ESPN

In one of the more dramatic, or miraculous endings to a MIAA football game in recent memory, St. John's of Shrewsbury's Mike McGillicuddy delivered his team from a potential upset at the hands of Fitchburg on Saturday.

After a last-minute touchdown gave the Red Raiders a 15-14 at Pioneer Field, McGillicuddy fielded Fitchburg's squib kick and promptly raced 65 yards for the touchdown with no time remaining on the clock in a 20-15 victory.

For his heroics, McGillicuddy was named our ESPN Boston Player of the Week for Week 4.

Editor Brendan Hall caught up with McGillicuddy during Monday's workout:



Along with McGillicuddy, here are our top performers for Week 4, all game-winners:

• Mike McGillicuddy, St. John's (Shrewsbury): Ran for "walk-off" win with 65-yard kickoff return for touchdown with no time remaining vs. Fitchburg.
• Dereck Pacheco, Barnstable: Connected on a 32-yard field goal to lift the Red Raiders to a 15-14 upset win over then No. 1 Xaverian.
• Sal LoBrutto, Wakefield: Kept the Warriors unbeaten with a 22-yard field goal in an overtime victory over Melrose.

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Holy Name running back Quron Wright is ESPNBoston.com's Player of the Week after running for 216 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries in the Naps' 43-6 win over Arlington Catholic.

More than that, Wright's averaged an eye-popping 16.9 yards per carry through the first three weeks of the season.

ESPN Boston High Schools editor Brendan Hall caught up with Wright before Monday's practice:

SHREWSBURY, Mass. -- St. John's of Shrewsbury quarterback Andrew Smiley is ESPNBoston.com's Player of the Week after totaling 342 yards of offense and four touchdowns in the Pioneers' 35-14 win over Longmeadow.

In his first two varsity starts, the 6-foot-3 junior has accumulated nearly 700 yards of offense. ESPN Boston High Schools editor Brendan Hall caught up with Smiley yesterday afternoon before practice at Pioneer Field.

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. -- Alex Jette has been a jack of all trades for North Attleborough football during the last couple of years and he showed off his versatility Friday night against Rhode Island power La Salle Academy.

Jette accounted for 345 all purpose yards, including 236 yards on the ground, and three touchdowns in the Red Rocketeers' 47-27 win over the Rams.

For his efforts, we named Jette our first Player of the Week on the season and caught up with him for this interview on Monday:

BOSTON -- Sure, rushing for 400 yards is nice. So is six receiving touchdowns, over 500 yards of total offense, or shattering the state touchdown pass record (all feats performed this year).

But you'll be hard-pressed to find a stat line more eye-opening than the one turned in this weekend by Boston Cathedral running back Geeavontie Griffith, in a win over a 4-5 Matignon squad that kept the Panthers (9-0, 5-0) in the drivers' seat . The senior from Randolph racked up 377 yards and five touchdowns on just 10 carries -- not 20, not 15, but just 10 -- in a 44-20 victory. That's an average of almost 38 yards per carry -- heck, you can't even do that playing Madden.

For that, Griffith is being honored as ESPN Boston's Player of the Week for Week 9 of the 2011 season. After playing .500 ball a year ago, first-year head coach Duane Sigsbury has sprung life into the program, with Griffith one of the primary benefactors. Through nine games this year, Griffith has 1,720 yards and 22 touchdowns on 124 carries.

Griffith discussed his amazing game and the Panthers' season with ESPN Boston this afternoon, following a workout on the South End campus.

FITCHBURG, Mass. -- Just when you thought things couldn't have gotten any wilder in the first half of the 2011 season, St. Bernard's running back Cody Titus comes out and does something nobody's ever done before.

The senior workhorse ran for a state-record 436 yards on 34 carries and five touchdowns, as the Bernardians rolled to a 33-14 win over Littleton. Titus breaks the previous record of 425 yards set back in 2001 by Lynn English's Brandon Guy (Springfield Putnam's Melquawn Pinkney came within four of the record in Week 3, if you can recall).

That puts an exclamation point on what has been a very nice first half of 2011 for Titus. Through the first six games, the 3-3 Bernardians have been riding their power horse, and the numbers show: 180 carries, 1,465 yards (second-best in state) and 16 rushing touchdowns.

We caught up with Titus prior to Monday's practice at the Bernardian Bow:

DUXBURY, Mass. -- He didn't have a single reception in the first half, but Duxbury wide receiver/safety Reilly Naton finished strong in the Dragon's 31-14 win over Xaverian on Saturday.

Naton, a Yale lacrosse commit, hauled in two touchdown passes (including a huge 63-yard toss from Matt O'Keefe) in addition to a game-sealing interception in the fourth quarter.

For his efforts, Naton was named our Player of the Week for Week 5 and Brendan Hall caught up with the multi-talented athlete on Monday:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- After a record-setting night in last Friday's 66-0 win over Agawam, Springfield Putnam running back Melquawn Pinkney has been named one of our Players of the Week.

Pinkney, a senior, ran for a Western Mass.-record 421 yards on just 17 carries, for six touchdowns. Even more impressive, he had 298 by the half and left by the middle of the third quarter. Pinkney's record comes up just four yards short of the state mark; Lynn English's Brandon Guy ran for 425 yards in a 38-23 win over Swampscott back in 2001.

ESPNBoston.com caught up with Pinkney this afternoon during practice at Blunt Park: