Wilcox senior Tyson Bonilla is SBLive/Sports Illustrated Northern California Athlete of the Week (10/09/2023)

Tyson Bonilla is a tough football player to stop.

The burly 6-foot, 180-pound senior quarterback for Wilcox is expected to be ball-handler first, then carrier, the passer third in the Chargers' split-back veer attack.

Through six games he's completed 61 percent of his 57 passes (less than 10 per game) for 424 yards and just two touchdowns.

Where he's particularly dangerous is faking handoffs and running as he did in a 45-14 win over Mountain View on Sept. 29.

He rushed 11 times for a season-high 208 yards and four touchdowns, giving him 760 yards and 10 TDs on the season.

His big performance landed Bonilla on an SBLive/Sports Illustrated weekly top performance list, where his numbers really soared.

Bonilla piled up more than 4,000 votes to edge Serra quarterback Maealiuaki Smith for 58.1 percent of the tallies to 35.4 for Smith.

That earned Bonilla the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Week for football players competing Sept. 28-30.

Other nominees:

Brison Abbott, a junior running back for Bakersfield, rushed 26 times for 277 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-32 loss to Bakersfield Christian.

Judson Anderson, a senior quarterback for Windsor, completed 20 of 24 for 327 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-0 win over Eureka.

Wes Burford, a sophomore running back for Oakdale, carried the ball 41 times for 279 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-35 win over Sierra.

Jerry Graham, a star two-way player for Kennedy-Richmond, rushed for 243 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-0 win over Millennium-Tracy, and added 11 tackles on defense.

Zach Homan, a senior running back at Cardinal Newman, rushed for 217 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-0 win over St. Mary’s-Berkeley.

Dominic Ingrassia, a senior quarterback at San Marin, completed 11 of 12 passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-0 win over San Rafael.

Carter Jackson, a junior running back at Granite Bay, rushed for 270 yards and four touchdowns in a 53-28 win over Del Oro. Jackson has already committed to Cal.

Dillon Kyle, a running back for North-Bakersfield, rushed for 242 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-19 win over West-Bakersfield.

Ryder Lyons, a sophomore quarterback at Sac-Joaquin Section No. 1 Folsom, completed 23 of 33 for 411 yards and four touchdowns and added a TD rushing in a 42-21 showdown win over Oak Ridge.

Mike Mitchell Jr., a sophomore quarterback at Riordan, continues to shine, completing 21 of 29 passes for 373 yards and a school and WCAL record six touchdowns in a 42-17 win over Valley Christian.

Diego Recio, a senior two-way standout for Central Valley-Shasta Lake, had 15 tackles and an interception in a 30-8 win over Willows. On offense, he rushed 21 times for 177 yards and two touchdowns. He leads the Northern Section in rushing with 922 yards and 13 scores.

Kamarri Robinson, a 5-8, 175-pound junior running back at Livermore, broke his own school record by rushing for 355 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-28 win over Foothill.

Diego Sanchez, a senior quarterback at Hamilton-Hamilton City, threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for a score, in a 52-0 win over Dayton.

Maealiuaki Smith, a senior quarterback at Serra-San Mateo, completed 19 of 28 for 320 and accounted for four touchdowns in a 45-17 win over Saint Francis.

John Stowers, a San Jose State bound two-way standout at Overfelt, rushed 15 times for 223 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-9 win over Pioneer. He also had 12 tackles from his linebacker spot.

Parker Threatt, a dual threat quarterback for Bellarmine, piled up 374 yards of total offense and four touchdowns, including a pair of 80-yard TD runs, in a 31-30 loss to St. Ignatius.

Jewelous Walls, a junior defensive end for Pittsburg, had 12 tackles (four for loss, including two sacks), and caught a touchdown pass in a 37-27 win over Los Gatos.

Landon Wright, a senior receiver and defensive back for Clovis West, had seven catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-7 win at Buchanan. Wright is a Washington State commit.

Braden Young, a senior quarterback at Tamalpais, completed 17 of 19 passes for 363 yards and a school record seven touchdowns in a 63-30 win over Archie Williams.