Freak of the Week: Holden Geriner
"Freak" is a term thrown around too much in the sports world, but sometimes, it's the first phrase that crowds the cranium when a gaudy athletic feat takes place.
What about an entire game's worth of head-turning and gasps?
SI All-American continues its salute to these dominant high school football players in a weekly feature, aptly titled 'Freak of the Week,' going out to a remarkable Friday night performance.
Having scored six total touchdowns in a shootout win over Waycross (Ga.) Ware County, Holden Geriner takes home Week 5 honors.
The Auburn verbal commitment went back-and-forth with Ware County star Thomas Castellanos, a UCF commitment, to lead Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military to a 49-42 win. Geriner completed 31 of 42 passes for 448 yards and three touchdowns in the win. He added three more scores as a runner, and they needed each in the high-scoring affair.
"We had a really great week of practice and just went out on Friday trying to win every single play and just have fun while doing that," Geriner said. "We were clicking on all cylinders whether it was on the ground or through the air and we all had an extreme desire to win the game and we came out on top, which was awesome."
The 6'3", 210-pound Geriner has shown his entire skill set over the last year or so, from impressive camp performances to his Freak of the Week effort on Friday night. Benedictine was 2-2 entering the Ware County game and the future Tiger put the team on his back for his best performance of the 2021 season.
In the win, the senior utilized both his arm and legs to get the job done. He showed anticipation and touch down the field and countered it with velocity up the seam as needed. Geriner was decisive as a runner without much wasted movement when he decided to tuck and run. Efficient all evening long, even moving to his left, there was a control with the signal-caller in a must-win, potentially season-changing game.
The skill set validated the samples SI All-American had seen with Geriner in the offseason, where he was quite comfortable off platform as well as outside the pocket. With enough athleticism to keep defenses honest, he presents a unique threat to defenses at the game's most important position.
Geriner at the Elite 11 Finals
John Garcia, Jr.
Watch Geriner's Freak of the Week performance:
2021 Freak of the Week Archive
Week 0 - Pike Road (Ala.) Quarterback Iverson Hooks
Week 1 - Port St. Lucie (Fla.) Running Back Eden James
Week 2 - Gautier (Miss.) High School Quarterback Kaden Irving
Week 3 - Millville (N.J.) High School Running Back LeQuint Allen
Week 4 - Santa Rosa Beach (Fla.) South Walton Tight End Pearce Spurlin III
Have a Freak of the Week nominee? Tweet @SIAllAmerican each weekend for a chance to be featured!