Week 5: Five players to watch on the gridiron tonight

Week 5 marks the halfway point of the season and conference races are heating up. There are plenty of players who will impact these races. 

Here are five players to watch this week:

Isaac Nagy, Heritage vs. Adams Central

The Patriots and Flying Jets are the last two unbeatens in the ACAC, so the winner tonight is in the driver seat to win the conference. Heritage hasn’t won the conference title since 2012, and Adams Central has claimed the championship three times in the last five years. Outside of quarterback Kobe Meyer, Nagy is the team’s leading rusher with 48 carries for 256 yards and three touchdowns. The Jets will focus a lot of their attention on Meyer, so it will be imperative that Nagy has a productive evening if the Patriots want to pull off the upset.

Josh Arntz, Columbia City vs. DeKalb

The Eagles schedule gets increasingly difficult as the weeks pass by, starting with the Barons this week. Arntz has been a big disruptor for Columbia City, leading the team with 29 tackles, five for loss, and a pair of sacks. He has really good range and loves to come up and lay the boom. He’s also a viable option in the backfield. For the Eagles to keep momentum rolling and prove it’s a legitimate challenger to the likes of Norwell, Arntz will have to play a large part on both sides of the ball. 

Alex Holcomb, Leo vs. East Noble

Holcomb played a huge role in the Lions win over New Haven last week. The senior linebacker was all over the field, tallying up eight tackles, including 2.5 for loss, and 1.5 sacks. The Knights offense has started to find its footing and racked up 56 points against rival DeKalb last week. Holcomb has to create disruption up in the trenches to slow down East Noble.

Brayden Holbrook, Lakeland vs. Angola

The Laker freshman came into this season with some hype and has delivered. He’s had his freshman moments, which is why he has five interceptions to his five touchdowns. However, his biggest touchdown of the season came against Garrett last week. He threw an 84-yard bomb to Owen Troyer over the middle for the game-winning score. Holbrook has the tools and the frame to be a really good quarterback and will only get better. Taking on a team like the Hornets this week will challenge Holbrook and the entire Laker squad.

Davon Doughty, North Side vs. Bishop Luers

Doughty has lived in opposing team’s backfields this season. He has 11 tackles for loss already this season. Some take all season to reach that number. Doughty only has 22 total tackles, so 50 percent of the time he’s making a tackle, it’s behind the line of scrimmage. The Legends are out of the SAC race, so the next five weeks are preparation for sectionals. This gives the defense the chance to improve and be a threat in the postseason.