Eagle Rock QB Axel Ayers and Scripps Ranch RB Nicholas Gardinera voted Southern California football players of the week

Congratulations to Axel Ayers and Nicholas Gardinera for being voted our Southern California football players of the week!

Congratulations to Eagle Rock QB Axel Ayers and Scripps Ranch RB Nicholas Gardinera for being voted our Southern California football players of the week!

Ayers, a junior, threw for 162 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 185 yards and two more TDs in Eagle Rock’s 45-38 win over Franklin.

Axel Ayers

Gardinera, also a junior, went over 100 rushing yards for the seventh consecutive game as he finished with 141 yards and two touchdowns in Scripps Ranch’s 34-6 win over San Diego.

Ayers and Gardinera each received 42% of the vote and were within a handful of total votes of each other. It was an impressive voting effort by both fan bases. If this were an election, we would have a run-off. Because it's high school sports we get to give out swag and awards to two great athletes!

We are currently accepting player of the week nominations for the week of Oct. 21-27. If you would like to nominate an athlete, please email regan@wpsblivest.wpengine.com or tag us on Twitter or Instagram at @sbliveca.

Here are the other athletes who were nominated for Oct. 14-20:

Elijah Thomas, Mira Mesa RB: Thomas had a career night as he carried the ball 27 times for 248 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns in Mira Mesa’s 62-26 win over University City.

Jake Otto, Banning QB: Otto rushed 25 times for 140 yards and three TDs and passed for 105 yards and two touchdowns in Banning’s 36-35 win over Carson. Otto threw a 43-yard TD pass with no time remaining, then ran in the two-point conversion to win the game.

Jayden Max Denegal, Apple Valley QB: Max Denegal was 15-of-16 for 434 yards and six touchdowns through the air in Apple Valley’s 63-0 win over Sultan.

Nicholas Floyd, Corona Centennial RB: Floyd rushed for 105 yards and five touchdowns in Friday’s 61-23 rivalry win over Norco.

Devon Schulte, Coronado RB/LB: Schulte carried 9 times for 195 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. On defense he collected 8 tackles and 2 sacks in a 29-22 win over Crawford.

Micheal Cunningham, Morse QB: Cunningham ran 22 times for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns and was 5-of-5 passing for 117 yards and a touchdown in Morse’s 58-22 win over Christian.

Ian Duarte, Chaminade WR: Duarte, a freshman, had three receptions for 211 yards and two touchdowns in Chaminade’s 35-28 loss to Alemany.

D.J. Harvey, Sierra Canyon WR: Harvey had 4 catches for 215 yards and a touchdown in the Trailblazers’ 40-7 win over San Pedro.

Richard Munoz, La Salle QB: Munoz, a freshman, passed for 300 yards and four touchdowns in La Salle’s 50-32 win over Victor Valley.

A.J. Vazquez, Whittier QB: In his first career start, Vazquez completed 73-percent of his passes and threw for two touchdowns to lead Whittier to a 34-3 victory over California.

Josiah Murray, Los Alamitos RB: Murray had over 200 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns to lead Los Alamitos to a 44-3 victory over previously undefeated Newport Harbor.

Evan Aguon, Mission Bay WR/RB: Aguon racked up 302 total yards and 6 touchdowns (3 rushing, 3 receiving) in Mission Bay’s 44-43 loss to Patrick Henry.

Zavien Watson, Cathedral Catholic RB: Watson ran for 278 yards and scored 4 touchdowns to help the Dons to a come-from-behind 35-14 victory over St. Augustine.