Poll results: Highland Bulldogs star high school player of the week in southwest Illinois

Travis Porter of Highland High School is the winner of the latest Belleville News-Democrat Player of the Week high school poll, as selected by readers of bnd.com.

Porter, a senior running back/linebacker, rushed for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns on 19 carries in a 35-0 victory against Triad on Sept. 19.

Porter — who secured 43% of the votes in being selected Player of the Week a second time this fall — entered Friday night’s action with 535 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 85 carries. He’s also caught 11 passes for 162 yards and 3 TD on the season. Porter edged out teammate Brenden Gelly, who notched 37% of the votes.

Here were the other candidates for the week of Sept. 19-24

• Jalen Smith, O’Fallon High School, senior, wide receiver. Smith had 6 catches for 96 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 60-21 loss to East St. Louis.

• Zion Taylor, Cahokia High School, sophomore, quarterback/linebacker. Taylor competed 11-of-17 passes for 421 yards and 5 TDs in a 46-6 win against Carbondale.

• Peter Baxtron, Cahokia High School, junior, wide receiver. Baxtron caught 5 passes for 278 yards and 2 touchdowns in the victory against Carbondale.

• Beyrlonte Shegog, Cahokia High School, senior, offensive/defensive line. Shegog had 6 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 fumble recoveries and 5 pancake tackles in the win against Carbondale.

• Taylor Powell, Althoff Catholic High School, junior, wide receiver/defensive back. Powell caught 4 passes for 89 yards and 1 touchdowns in a 16-7 loss to Centralia.

• Robert Battle, East St. Louis High School, junior, quarterback. Battle completed 21-of-28 passes for 250 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win against O’Fallon. He also rushed for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns on 10 carries.

• Dejerrian Miller, East St. Louis High School, sophomore, wide receiver. Miller grabbed six passes for 87 yards and two scores in the victory against O’Fallon.

• Darren Pennell, Collinsville High School, junior, wide receiver/defensive back. Pennell had 1 tackle, returned an interception for a touchdown and had another INT in a 43-3 win against Mattoon.

• Zay Norton, Collinsville High School, junior, running back/linebacker. Norton posted 10 total tackles and notched an interception in the victory against Mattoon.

• Jerry Richardson, Collinsville High School, senior, running back/defensive back. Richardson rushed for 141 yards and 3 touchdowns on 10 carries and also caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in the win against Mattoon.

• Dominic Voegele, Columbia High School, senior, quarterback/defensive back. Voegele threw 1 touchdown pass, ran for 2 others and kicked a field goal in a 24-0 win against Freeburg. He finished with 149 yards rushing on 9 carries.

• Brent Wuebbels, Highland High School, quarterback/free safety, senior. Wuebbels completed 10-of-15 passes for 141 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 35-0 win against Triad. He also ran for 129 yards on 8 carries.

• Brenden Gelly, Highland High School, senior, tight end/linebacker. Gelly caught 3 passes for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns in the win against Triad.

The poll ended at 10 a.m. Friday.

To be clear, this poll is not scientific. In fact, we invite you to vote as many times as you want. It’s all for fun, BND readers.

The next player of the week poll will appear on the BND’s website — www.bnd.com — at 5 a.m. Wednesday. Please email nominations to gvartanian@bnd.com.

Previous poll winners: Travis Porter of Highland High School; Cole Stuart of Freeburg High School; Avery Hesseldenz of Freeburg High School; and Braden Revermann of Breese Central High School.