Div. 2-A Mr. Football race heating up

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In the preseason, the race for Mr. Football in Division 2-A looked like a foregone conclusion. After three weeks, it looks like a real horse race, with the top contenders coming from Shelby County.

Arkansas commitment Chase Hayden of St. George’s won as a junior in 2015 and opened strongly, running for 246 yards against Jackson Trinity Christian in Week 1. But Briarcrest and Lausanne held him to a combined 27 yards, opening the door for others to stake a claim.

Leading the way is Marquavious Moore of Harding, who ran for 363 yards and four scores last week against FACS and leads Shelby County in rushing at 224 yards per game. And Lausanne has two potential finalists in sophomore running back Eric Gray (193.5 yards per game, seven touchdowns) and senior quarterback Mario Nolan-Dillard.

Four semifinalists will be selected in early November, with the two finalists heading to Nashville the week of the TSSAA BlueCross Bowl championship games.

And if things hold, someone from Memphis could very well be taking the title home.

(1) WHITEHAVEN (3-0) VS. (3) RIDGEWAY (3-0) AT HALLE

Time: (4) CBHS (2-1) at Houston (1-2) Germantown (1-2) at (9) Briarcrest (3-0), (10) East (2-1) vs. Mitchell (1-2) at Whitehaven, (11) Covington (2-1) at Brighton (2-1),