South Walton’s Connor Rooney is our latest Florida Power & Light Athlete of the Week, and deservedly so.
The junior outside linebacker outscored Freeport 16-9 all by himself, delivering a pair of pick-sixes that covered 113 yards, blocking a punt that went for a safety and racking up a team-high nine tackles in a 50-9 District 1-2A win that improved South Walton to 5-2. For his efforts, he earned more than 8,000 votes to edge out Fort Walton Beach running back Carlos White.
Rooney joins Niceville’s Jakobe Gilyard, Freeport’s Emily Doi, FWB’s Diandre Mayes, Crestview’s Trey Hardman, fellow Seahawk Maci Jones and Choctaw’s Tamen Zabetakis and Jordan Figueroa as AOTW winners.
The next poll will drop Monday with another outstanding crop of area athletes, so make sure to vote early and vote often.
AOTW Nominees
Justice Baldwin, Baker: The senior threw for 96 yards and two scores and had 37 rushing yards and a touchdown in Baker’s 49-6 win over Zion Chapel.
Dominic Ferguson, Rocky Bayou: The junior won the Buccaneer Bash 5K in 16:03.90, the nearest competitor more than 20 seconds back.
Chloe Gunter, Choctaw: The junior had a big week for the Big Green, who have won four straight entering district play. Gunter had a combined 38 assists, 24 kills, 18 digs and four aces in a 3-2 win over Niceville and a 3-1 victory at Navarre.
Riley Marise, Niceville: The sophomore dominated the Buccaneer Bask 5k, running a 19:27.10 to defeat the nearest girl by 1 minute and 26.80 seconds.
Connor Rooney, South Walton: The junior single-handedly beat Freeport Friday, accounting for 16 points to Freeport’s nine. His two pick-sixes went for 113 yards and he blocked a punt for a safety, all while totaling a team-best nine tackles.
Carlos White, FWB: White ran all over Arnold in a 14-12 win, the junior turning 26 carries into 168 yards and a score.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Rooney wins Florida Power & Light Athlete of the Week for Oct. 6-11
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
