Times Free Press Player of the Week: McConkey has dream game for North Murray

photo Hinton McConkey, North Murray quarterback, is player of week.

Player of the Week honorable mention(Coaches are invited to nominate players by emailing Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com by 2 p.m. each Saturday.)Octavius Matthews, North Jackson: He ran for 281 yards (20 carries) and scored four TDs in the Chiefs' big region win over Oneonta.Blake Smith, Soddy-Daisy: He had seven catches for 245 yards and two TDs in the team's loss to East Hamilton.Cody Ingrassia, Whitwell: He ran just nine times but picked up 166 yards and scored three touchdowns in little more than a half in the Tigers' 42-0 win over Sale Creek.

Hinton McConkey played less than two full quarters Friday in North Murray's win over Coahulla Creek but the senior put up numbers most quarterbacks only dream about.

He passed for 390 yards and five touchdowns while completing 18 of 27 passes. In earning Times Free Press Player of the Week honors, he set school records for most TDs in a game, most yards in a game and longest touchdown pass (96 yards).

"It's the best performance he's ever had and as good a performance as I've seen," North Murray coach David Gann said. "One of his TD passes was 96 yards and another was 84. Every read he made was right, and if not for a couple of drops he would've had another 60 yards."

The Mountaineers improved to 3-2 in 6-AAA and 4-3 overall with the 48-7 win over Colts.

A 6-foot-2, 190-pounder, McConkey is likely to join his North Murray quarterbacking predecessor, Brady Swilling as a college football quarterback. Swilling is currently running the scout team at Georgia Tech.

"Robert Morris in Pennsylvania has offered along with West Georgia and Florida International. He's getting a lot of interest from Georgia State, Middle Tennessee and Troy, and he continues to get calls from (the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga)," Gann said. "He's a smaller version of Coach (Russ) Huesman's son (Jacob). He'll play college football somewhere."

Playing in a Pro-I offense much like that utilized by Nebraska when Tommy Frazier was the quarterback, McConkey has put his arm and his legs to good use. Earlier this season -- the night he was named homecoming king -- McConkey ran for 202 yards and threw for 94, totaling four scores in a victory over Murray County.

"He's been in our system for three years, and it really is almost like having a coach on the field, and he's extremely athletic," Gann said. "Last year he had almost 1,500 yards passing and 1,000 rushing. There aren't many quarterbacks in high school that end a season with those kinds of numbers"

Yet McConkey may fill the bill as an ideal quarterback because he is a total package.

Beyond the athletic ability, he's a 4.0 student and is a popular leader with his classmates.

"He's a great kid with great grades. The's the leader on our football team, and he's a leader on the basketball team," Gann said.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.

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