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Sep. 23—The area’s prep football season is flying by as the Show-Me State reaches the midway point in regular season play this week.

And you won’t be hard-pressed to find players making waves on the gridiron this fall.

Here are just a few players who have stood out through the first month of the season.

Luke Gall, Carthage

No surprise here.

Gall, who is one of the area’s most prolific two-way players, has been playing out of his mind since Carthage’s opening snap in Week 1’s 49-14 romping over Ozark. He’s coming off one of his best performances of the season last week in the Tigers’ signature 42-14 win over Webb City.

Gall rushed for 233 yards on 22 carries and tallied four touchdowns.

“Gall, I mean, gosh dang,” Webb City coach John Roderique said after the game. “That kid played like an All-American tonight.”

And could it be argued that Gall is on pace for an All-American type season? In total, he’s amassed 872 yards on the ground in just 66 carries and scored 13 touchdowns.

He’s averaging a whopping 13.2 yards per carry this season, and it’s impossible to think he’s just a junior. The short and long-term future is bright at running back for the Carthage Tigers.

Always Wright, Joplin

The Joplin Eagles haven’t lacked play makers in recent memory.

First you have two of the program’s greatest players in Isaiah Davis and Zach Westmoreland, and then Nathan Glades left his mark on the program with his monstrous season last fall.

Now it’s Wright’s to run the show, and he has not disappointed.

In his senior campaign thus far, Wright has completed 76 of 104 passes for 959 yards and 12 touchdowns while adding 161 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.

And he seems to only get better and better when he scrambles and is forced out of the pocket to make plays downfield. He’s that talented.

Like coach John Perry said after Nixa’s game against Joplin in Week 3, “Always is Wright, if you know what I’m saying.”

With one of the greatest names in Southwest Missouri, he certainly is.

Trace Willhite and Austin Wilkerson, Lamar

The Tigers have seven returning all-state players back from last season’s state championship team, and Willhite and Wilkerson are chief among them.

Not only have they proven to be forces in Lamar’s dynamic running game, but the defensive side of the ball is where they might be scariest.

Willhite, an all-state defensive end, is a dominant presence coming off the edge. He pressures quarterbacks with regularity thanks to his natural athleticism, speed and strength.

Just a junior, Wilkerson is a 6-foot defensive back and was an essential piece in the secondary during the Tigers’ title run last fall. Lamar coach Jared Beshore called Wilkerson a physical defensive back, who has the ability to make big-time plays.

Dupree Jackson, Webb City

Jackson broke out in a big way in the second half of his junior season last year for the Cardinals.

He’s performed well in four games so far as a senior. Jackson leads Webb City’s always-dangerous run game with 476 yards on the ground in 51 attempts.

He’s tallied a team-best seven rushing touchdowns and is making the most of his carries. Jackson is averaging 9.3 yards per carry.

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