Sand Rock senior quarterback Justin Mackey got one of his top targets back last week in senior tailback Jake Thompson. Mackey said he was glad to get him back, and it showed.

He completed 17-of-25 passes for 220 yards and a 17-yard touchdown. He also rushed for 92 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns (6 and 1 yards) in the No. 4 Wildcats’ 36-35 overtime win over No. 5 Fyffe.

Mackey and the Wildcats (8-0) look to keep their record unblemished when they entertain Westbrook Christian on Friday.

In other statewide happenings in Week 8, a loss would have dropped North Jackson into a three-way tie for the Class 4A, Region 7 lead.

Tana Patrick’s 17-tackle performance helped the Chiefs avoid that. North Jackson finished with a 27-14 win over Plainview and Patrick earned Alabama Sports Writers Association defensive/special teams player of the week honors.

For the season, Patrick has 91 tackles, surpassing the 72 he had last season in earning Class 4A ASWA All-State honors at linebacker.

He edged out Fort Payne’s Seth Dodd and Edgewood Academy’s Blake Strickland for defensive honors. Strickland picked off four passes – including one for a 33-yard touchdown – in a 42-0 win over Autauga Academy, while Dodd, a sophomore linebacker, had 16 tackles – including seven solo – with a pass break-up in Fort Payne’s 21-10 upset of Madison County.

On offense, Cordova’s Tim Simon had just 10 carries against rival Sumiton Christian. But he scored on five of them and finished with 260 yards rushing as the Blue Devils earned a 50-37 win over the Eagles. Simon had touchdown runs of 41, 48, 16, 39 and 33 yards as the defending Class 3A champions improved to 6-2.

Simon’s selection as ASWA offensive player of the week beat out two other fine performances from T.R. Miller’s Matt Lane and Pike Liberal Arts’ Jerel Foster. Lane had 269 yards rushing and three touchdowns in the first half as No. 1 Miller beat No. 3 Straughn, 49-35, to clinch the Class 3A, Region 1 title. Foster ran for 268 yards with two touchdowns and has a 34-yard TD catch in the Patriots’ 40-28 win over Bessemer Academy.

Some 51 players were nominated by ASWA members in Birmingham, Brewton, Centre, Dothan, Florence, Fort Payne, Gadsden, Huntsville, Montgomery, Oneonta, and Opelika. An ASWA panel selected the finalists from all players nominated.

Other top performances included:

OFFENSE

Michael Chandler, DAR: Rushed 13 times for 257 yards and three touchdowns in the Patriots’ 59-12 rout of Columbia.

Drew Phillips, Boaz: Became the school’s single-season rushing leader with 183 yards in a 38-7 win over Arab. Phillips, who now has 1,558 yards, scored on runs of 68 and 65 yards on two of the game’s first three plays.

Eries Copes, Geneva: The Panthers’ running back rushed for 257 yards on 30 carries in the rain and had touchdown runs of 7 and 69 yards as Geneva beat Wicksburg, 21-0.

Desmond Warren, Houston County: Warren threw for 265 yards and two scores off 17-of-25 passing, had 62 yards rushing and a 1-yard TD and added a 65-yard kickoff return in the Lions’ 28-26 loss to New Brockton. He also had five tackles and an interception on defense.

Conner Bynon, Mountain Brook: The wide receiver had five catches, four for touchdowns – 59, 29, 22, 58 yards – and he finished with 198 yards receiving in a 45-7 win over Homewood.

Derrick Colvin, Jackson-Olin:. Colvin figured in 347 yards of offense in a 37-32 win over Northridge as he threw for 287 yards on 17-of-24 passing with three touchdowns, while rushing for 60 yards and another score.

Judd Golsan, Mountain Brook: Golsan was 14-of-21 passing for 292 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-7 win over Homewood.

Demont Buice, Gaston: Buice helped the clinch the Class 1A, Region 6 title with a 24-14 victory over Cedar Bluff. After missing the last two games with an injury, the junior halfback rushed 26 times for 202 yards and two touchdowns.

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS

Flavio Guerrero, Susan Moore: The junior linebacker helped the Bulldogs (7-1, 6-0) clinch the 3A Region 6 title with 11 tackles, three for loss, a sack, and two pass break-ups in an 8-6 win over Sardis (6-2, 4-2).

Tyrone Bowie, Gardendale: The linebacker had another solid performance on Friday with 16 solo tackles and six assists in a 16-14 loss to Spain Park, that came on the final play of the game.

Arturo Contreras, West Morgan: Kicked a 30-yard field goal in overtime for West Morgan's 24-21 win against Madison Academy.

Zach Brownell, Prattville: The defensive back picked off two passes in less than two quarters of play in a 50-20 win over Sidney Lanier. Brownell and the Prattville defense held Lanier to minus-35 yards on the Poets' first three possessions.

Wesley Warren, Marbury: The defensive back picked off a pass and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown in a 32-8 loss to Trinity.

Anarius White, Reeltown: The two-way player rushed for two scores and returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown as the Rebels clinched the Class 2A, Region 3 championship with a 67-14 win over St. Jude.

Nicholas Brooks, Barbour County: The defender forced one fumble and recovered another in a 20-6 win over Cottonwood. Brooks' fumble recovery at the Cottonwood 10 set up a touchdown to make it 14-6. Brooks' forced fumble was returned for a touchdown and a 20-6 lead.

Josh Taylor, East Memorial: The defender picked off a pass in the end zone and returned it 100 yards for a score in a 37-12 loss to Morgan Academy. Taylor also had 10 tackles.

Keagan Gaither, Pell City: Kicked a 25-yard field goal in overtime to give the Panthers a 10-7 win over Pinson Valley.