Billerica senior football standout Erik Knight has been selected as the Valley Sports Daily Male Player of the Week, presented by MTM Insurance, for the week of Oct. 11-17.
In last Friday’s 41-18 win over Lowell, Knight erupted for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, and added an interception to help Billerica improve to 5-1.
For the season, Knight has 420 rushing yards and five TDs, and 28 tackles to go with his interception. For his career, he’s racked up 1,230 rushing yards and 11 TDs, and 65 tackles on the other side of the ball.
“He is a great kid, player, and leader-by-example,” said Billerica head coach Shawn Theriault. “He practices as hard as he plays, never complains, always focused on his job and wants to be the best player he can be. One of the most coachable kids I have ever had. He moved his position several times offensively and never a complaint or excuse — just learned the new position as fast as he could. Our offense requires our receivers and backs to block often and he takes pride in that as well, and gets as excited about his teammates success as he does his own.”
Said Knight, “Lowell had a lot of talented players, so this win was big for us. The coaching was amazing all week leading up to it, and a lot of guys stepped up in practice to make the win possible.
“I’m grateful for the recognition and excited to keep working.”
The Player of the Week, presented by MTM Insurance, is selected by the Valley Sports Daily staff. One male and one female student-athlete will be selected as Players of the Week throughout the year. Nominations can be submitted throughout the week up until Saturday night at 8 p.m. There may be a poll posted on Sunday with the nominations. The results of the poll influence the selections but do not strictly dictate the decisions.
