A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 7

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 9, 2024 | 7:23 PM

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Player of the week

Trey Coury

Burrell, so., RB/DB

What did the Bucs tailback do for an encore after rushing for 239 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 51 carries in Burrell’s victory over East Allegheny on Sept. 27? He upped those numbers in helping the Bucs win their second in a row after an 0-5 start. In last Friday’s 15-6 triumph over Valley, Coury had 53 carries for 266 yards and two more scores. Of those carries, he was stopped behind the line of scrimmage just two times as the offensive line often got a strong push while he was running with power. His 504 yards the past two weeks put him over 1,000 for the season (220 carries, 1,047 yards). Burrell, squarely in the playoff mix with a 2-1 record in Allegheny 7 Conference play, will attempt to keep it going Friday at Highlands.

Players to watch

Sam Guthrie

Deer Lakes, sr., TE/LB

The heart and soul of the Deer Lakes defense at inside linebacker, Guthrie has been making plays all season. The heavy hitter owns 25 total tackles in six games. Deer Lakes missed his presence on both sides of the ball when he was out of action against Derry because of injury. Guthrie and his Lancers teammates hope to bounce back from a 42-0 nonconference loss to Beaver last week as they take on undefeated Imani Christian.

Nikolas Heakins

Valley, jr., RB/DB

Heakins has impacted several games this season, and he hopes to do it again at home Friday as Valley seeks its first victory of the season against winless East Allegheny. Heakins broke out with nine carries for 140 yards and two rushing TDs and a 99-yard kickoff return for a score in the Vikings’ 38-36 Week 1 loss to Riverview. He scored twice in a loss to Freeport two weeks ago and totaled 68 yards on eight carries last week in the setback to Burrell.

Menage Lucas

Highlands, sr., QB/CB

Lucas hopes to be a factor Friday at home against Burrell as the Golden Rams (2-4, 1-3) seek to snap a three-game losing streak in the Allegheny 7 Conference. Last week, in a 28-7 loss to Freeport, Lucas threw for 151 yards and a touchdown and added 20 rushes for 75 yards as the feature back with fellow rusher Darius Cherry missing the game because of injury. For the season, Lucas is approaching 1,000 yards rushing and passing. He has 872 passing yards and also 798 rushing yards on 92 attempts. He also has accounted for 21 total offensive scores (10 passing, 11 rushing).

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell, Deer Lakes, Highlands, Valley