Lincoln linebacker's long locks honor little brother's cancer battle plus Week 3 leaders, notes, rankings

FOOTBALL TOP PERFORMERS, AUG. 30, 31

Jim Kurasz

RUSHING YARDS
142 - Jim Kurasz, Manchester (12 carries, 1 TD)
116 - Robert Kanitz, Milan (10 carries, 1 TD)
106 - Arthur Dukes, Milan (12 carries, 1 TD)
92 - Justin Aceves, Milan (13 carries, 1 TD)
74 - Ashton Hudley, Gabriel Richard (14 carries, 0 TD)

Jack Clark

RECEIVING YARDS
122 - Jack Clark, Skyline (5 receptions, 2 TD)
121 - Amadou Cisse, Willow Run (4 receptions, 2 TD)
97 - Tyree Waller, Lincoln (3 receptions, 1 TD)
92 - KeSean Hugan, Pioneer (4 receptions, 1 TD)
91 - Devere Pipkins, Willow Run (2 receptions, 0 TD)

Tyler Palka

PASSING YARDS
264 - Marquis Smith, Willow Run (9 of 16, 2 TD, 0 INT)
235 - Askaree Crawford, Skyline (10 of 21, 3 TD, 1 INT)
192 - Tyler Palka, Saline (17 of 23, 4 TDs, 0 INT)
179 - Javin Kilgo, Lincoln (8 of 13, 2 TDs, 0 INT)
161 - Dylan St. Charles, Whitmore Lake (11 of 21, 1 TD, 0 INT)

*Ypsilanti stats not available.

“Look at him, he looks like Samson out there and he plays a very relentless brand of football,” said Lincoln coach Chris Westfall. “He’s one of our lunatics that plays very hard.”

But emulating the aforementioned NFL linebackers - or Biblical strongman - isn’t why Boyle lets his hair grow so long. He’s letting the flow grow for “Locks of Love.”

Locks of Love is a non-profit which provides hairpieces made of real hair to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term hair loss due to medical ailments.

Boyle’s younger brother battled cancer (and won) years ago, which made Boyle sympathetic to the plight suffered by so many.

“I want to do Locks of Love for all the cancer patients that lost their hair during (chemotherapy) treatments,” Boyle said. “My little brother, a long time ago, he actually experienced cancer and had to go through a bunch of chemo treatments, so it’s really cool to me to give back.”

There is one stipulation to Boyle’s charitable effort: It has to be at the end of season, which he hopes is at minimum eight weeks away for the 2-0 Railsplitters.

That would mean a return trip to the playoffs for Lincoln and a delayed trip to barber for Boyle.

“I got a good thing going right now,” said Boyle. “I can’t throw off my game right now.”

Young man’s game

Quarterback is normally a reserved for upperclassmen because of the physical and mental nature of the position.

Don't tell that to Willow Run's 13-year-old freshman Marquis Smith, who is running the show from under center for the Flyers.

It will be more than two years before Smith can drive, but that hasn’t stopped him from driving the Flyers down the football field. In two games, Smith has thrown for 479 yards, a Washtenaw County best.

Skyline quarterback Askaree Crawford, just a sophomore, is second in the county with 476 yards passing through two games.

Sims city

Donald Sims loves watching both of his sons, Demetrius and Dion Sims, play football and usually doesn’t have to decide between which one to watch. Demetrius is a senior wide receiver at Huron. Dion, a junior tight end at Michigan State.

But Donald had to make that tough choice on Friday as Huron’s game against Lincoln overlapped with the Spartans’ game with Boise State.

Donald chose to stay closer to home and watch Demetrius - who led Huron in receiving with eight catches for 55 yards.

Donald was still able to sneak a peak at a live-stream of the game in East Lansing at halftime of Huron’s game. Just as Donald looked at the computer screen, Dion caught a pass on third down to keep the chains moving inside the red zone on the Spartans’ first scoring drive.

Dion led all all receivers in the game with seven catches for 65 yards.

Washtenaw County Power Rankings:

The rankings are still a bit premature because league play in the Southeastern Conference has yet to begin and comparisons to uncommon opponents are basically an exercise in futility. For example Chelsea is 0-2, but have played a pair of state powers in Jackson Lumen Christi and East Lansing, and Lincoln is 2-0 but against a much easier schedule.

So who should be ranked higher?

The most significant drop is to Father Gabriel Richard, and through no fault of their own as starting quarterback Joe Kendzicky injured his non-throwing arm against Whitmore Lake, which could have a major impact on the Fighting Irish season.

Rank, School (Record), Latest result (last week’s rank)

1. Saline (2-0), def. Ypsilanti, 49-14 (1)
2. Pioneer (0-2), lost to Birmingham Brother Rice, 28-7 (3)
3. Chelsea (0-2), lost to East Lansing, 27-0 (2)
4. Lincoln (2-0), def. Huron, 35-14 (4)
5. Skyline (1-1), def. Dexter, 41-14 (7)
6. Milan (2-0), def. Monroe Jefferson, 38-7 (6)
7. Gabriel Richard (2-0), def. Whitmore Lake, 24-8 (5)
8. Dexter (0-2), lost to Skyline, 41-14 (8)
9. Huron (0-2), lost to Lincoln, 35-14 (9)
10. Manchester (1-1), def. Napoleon, 38-6 (10)
11. Willow Run (1-1), lost to Highland Park, 20-13 (11)
12. Ypsilanti (0-2), lost to Saline, 49-14 (12)
13. Whitmore Lake (0-2), lost to Gabriel Richard, 67-20 (13)

Game of the Week

With 12 hours left to vote, the Skyline vs. Lincoln game at Skyline High School on Friday night is still winning the Game of the Week poll by a healthy margin, but the Saline vs. Adrian game is gaining ground fast, more than doubling its votes on Monday.

That was a holiday, so technically Saline fans were working double time and actually quadrupled their vote count.

Ok, I made that last part up, but Saline is nonetheless gaining ground fast.

You have until 6 p.m. to vote and are allowed to continue to vote even if you voted on previous days. In other words, keep voting!