Vote: Who should be Missouri High School Football Player of the Week? – Sept. 30, 2025

Check out the candidates from Week 5 games and vote for the best!

Levi Payton | Sep 30, 2025

Vote for who should be considered Missouri's High School on SI Football Player of the Week. / SBLive Sports

There were some big games across Missouri last week and plenty of big-time players stepped up in those games.

High School on SI’s candidates for Missouri High School Football Player of the Week features 26 players who all stood out with key performances in Week 5 games.

Congratulations to Logan-Rogersville’s Sam Frieze, who won last week’s poll with 52.25 percent of the vote. The quarterback went 26-for-32 passing with 283 yards and three touchdowns and had four carries for 38 yards in a 41-34 win at Carl Junction.

Voting for this week's candidates will remain open until Monday, Oct. 6, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Be sure to read up on each of this week's candidates, listed in alphabetical order below, and then vote as many times as you’d like for your favorite player in the poll that is located beneath the candidates.

You may vote as many times as you'd like.

Missouri High School Football Player of the Week candidates – Sept. 30, 2025

Tyler Bax, Blair Oaks

It’s difficult to quantify just how good the Falcons are with Bax steering the ship. He was nearly perfect for the third week in a row, completing 16-of-17 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown and carried the ball eight times for 69 yards and two TDs in a 49-6 blowout against Boonville.

Drew Benassi, Lee’s Summit

The Tigers rolled past Lee’s Summit West 33-15 on Friday and Benassi was one of two Tigers to have a big day running the ball. The junior running back ran the ball 23 times for 149 yards – including a long of 23 yards – and scored three touchdowns.

Jackson Cantwell, Nixa

Dominant yet again, the five-star offensive tackle racked up 14 pancake blocks in a 49-14 win over Lebanon before bowing to the backups. It was Cantwell’s third-highest pancake total of the season, as he had a season-high 18 against Republic in Week 1 and 17 in Week 2 against Webb City.

Zemar Cheatam, Liberty North

Cheatam wasn’t getting cheated on any of the 12 rushes he had in Friday’s 42-3 blowout against Raymore-Peculiar. The senior running back averaged 11.4 yards per carry, racking up 137 yards and four touchdowns – including a long of 67 yards. He also had one catch for six yards.

Collin Cleary, Savannah

Passing wasn’t much of an option for the Savages on Friday. They only went 1-of-10 in that department, but Cleary was more than happy to pick up the slack. Savannah rushed for 453 yards and seven touchdowns and Cleary led the way with 10 carries for 137 yards and two TDs.

Jett Easley, Ozark

Moving the football came rather easily for Easley and Ozark. Racking up more than 430 yards of total offense Friday, the Tigers rolled to a 71-0 victory against Waynesville with the running back racking up 157 yards and two touchdowns on only 10 carries.

Karsten Fiene, Lee’s Summit

One of two Tigers running backs among our candidates, Fiene rushed 19 times for 132 yards and two touchdowns in Lee’s Summit’s 33-15 win against Lee’s Summit West – helping the Tigers finish with 402 rushing yards as a team.

Caleb Green, Lee’s Summit North

A junior linebacker, Green had a monster night in a 49-14 victory Friday against Blue Springs. Seemingly everywhere on the field, he racked up 15 tackles, including a whopping 13 solo stops.

Gage Hale, Logan-Rogersville

West Plains had no answers for this breakout sophomore. Hale torched the Zizzers to the tune of 23.9 yards per catch – hauling in eight receptions for 191 yards and two touchdowns in the high-scoring affair.

Jace Hicks, Liberty

The Blue Jays ran for 443 yards as a team in a win against St. Joseph Central and Hicks, a sophomore, led the team in rushing. He carried eight times for 136 yards and three touchdowns – including a long of 65 yards.

Rocco Marriott, Platte County

The three-star James Madison commit only played the first two quarters of Friday’s 69-14 win against Belton, but the right hander was nearly perfect. He went 15-for-16 passing with 348 yards and five touchdowns and rushed once for 12 yards.

Jayden McCaster, Nixa

Settling in nicely behind Nixa’s dominant offensive line, McCaster averaged 9.6 yards per carry in Friday’s 49-14 win over Lebanon. The senior running back carried 15 times for 144 yards and five touchdowns.

Colby McGehee, Neosho

Linebackers were busy trying to slow Webb City’s dominant running game, and McGehee, a junior, was up for the challenge. He led all defenders with 19 tackles, including 14 solo, and had a tackle for loss in the dominant showing.

Colt Nolin, Liberty

Liberty remained unbeaten with a big win against St. Joseph Central Friday, and Nolin, a senior had a big game. Averaging 13.4 yards per rush, Nolin carried 10 times for 134 yards and scored three touchdowns. His longest run covered 38 yards in the dominant effort.

Kaleb Norman, Republic

The senior middle linebacker went wild in a 45-16 blowout against Joplin. Norman recorded 15 tackles, including 12 solo and three for loss. He had nine more tackles than any other Tigers defender.

Andrew Olson, Liberty

Take your pick as to which Blue Jays running back deserves this week’s honor. One of three Liberty backs to rush for more than 10 yards per carry and over 100 yards against St. Joseph Central, Olson racked up 10.5 per clip, rushing 12 times for 126 yards and a TD in the win.

Joe Roche, Logan-Rogersville

He had a monster game against West Plains on Friday. Roche, a junior, ran the ball 25 times for 231 yards (9.2 YPC) and scored four touchdowns. He also chipped in one catch for 21 yards.

Keisean Rhone, Neosho

Compact, fast and strong at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, the senior running back wowed the home crowd at Bob Anderson Stadium while nearly helping his Wildcats upset ranked Webb City. Rhone averaged 14.5 yards per carry and had a long of 72 yards – rushing 16 times for 232 yards and four touchdowns.

Caylor Schrick, Savannah

He didn’t find much success throwing the ball on Friday, but the sophomore quarterback more than made up for it with his legs. Schrick rushed six times for 111 yards – including a long of 62 yards – and three touchdowns in a 56-18 win over Belton.

Brayden Seitz, Monett

A 79-yard run and 28-yard catch punctuated the junior running back’s night as he averaged 12 yards per carry and finished with 206 total yards. Seitz rushed 12 times for 144 yards and two touchdowns and caught seven passes for 62 yards against McDonald County.

Antoine Smith, Monett

Another multi-threat running back for the Cubs, Smith finished with 108 total yards and three touchdowns against McDonald County. The senior rushed 14 times for 58 yards and three TDs and caught six passes for 50 yards in the 50-40 win.

Stephen Thomas Jr., Lee’s Summit North

Standing at 6-foot-4, the big Broncos senior quarterback completed 15-of-23 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns in Lee’s Summit North’s 41-28 win over Blue Springs. He also carried seven times for 37 yards.

Bryce Thompson, Lee’s Summit North

It was a busy and quite productive night for the Broncos junior running back. Feeding their workhorse a steady diet of carries in a 41-28 win over Blue Springs, Thompson rushed the ball 30 times for 198 yards and a touchdown for an average of 6.6 yards per carry.

Ayden Wilhelm, Blue Springs South

What a weekend it was for the Jaguars senior and Rice commit. On Friday night, he led his No. 4 Jaguars to a 49-7 win over Staley, passing for four touchdowns as Blue Springs South improved to 5-0. On Sunday, he was part of the CBS Sports NFL Today pregame show and beat former NFL quarterback Matt Ryan in a throwing competition.

Mason Williams, Webb City

Back for the second week in a row, Williams helped the Cardinals knock off Neosho on the road by amassing 165 yards and three TDs on 23 carries and caught one pass for 19 yards. His longest rush went for 22 yards. He averaged 7.2 yards per carry.

Nate Winkler, Neosho

Joining fellow linebacker Colby McGehee among these candidates, Winkler was only two stops off his teammate’s pace, finishing with 17 tackles, including 10 solo stops, on a busy night against state-ranked Webb City.

About Our Athlete of the Week Voting High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.