The stat board shifted in Week 7 — and the Catholic Central–St. Mary’s showdown is the story that connects both races
Most weeks in the Michigan Mr. Football and Anvil Award races, movement is quiet and incremental. Week 7 was not one of those weeks. Three candidates produced measurable stat-board movement, a handful of others stayed invisible in the numbers, and the Friday night collision between Detroit Catholic Central and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s — a game with candidates on both sides of the ball — gave the awards picture its sharpest storyline of the season so far. Here is exactly where the top 20 stand after Week 7, and what to watch next.
Mr. Football movers: Gash climbs, Kish slips
The clearest positive movement on the Mr. Football board belongs to Gideon Gash, the Detroit Catholic Central wide receiver/defensive back. According to the MaxPreps Michigan football stat leaderboards, Gash sits at state rank No. 32 in receiving yards — up three spots from No. 35 a week ago — on season totals of 376 yards, 17 receptions, and 5 touchdowns in six games. His 22.1 yards per catch is the kind of efficiency number that keeps a player relevant on a per-touch award ballot even when raw volume is modest. The trend line is pointing the right direction at exactly the right time of the season.
The week was less kind to Bryce Kish of Howell. The running back/linebacker dropped from No. 20 to No. 28 on the state rushing board. His season totals — 581 yards, 11 touchdowns, and a 9.4 yards-per-carry average in just four games — remain legitimately impressive, and the touchdown rate in particular is worth noting. But the ranking slide is a fact, not a spin, and it means Kish needs to produce in games played to reclaim lost ground.
Colin O’Connor of East Kentwood continues to build a quiet case. The quarterback checks in at state rank No. 23 in passing yards, with 1,006 yards, a 70.5 completion percentage, 14 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions across five games. A 134 passer rating and a 200-plus yards-per-game average put him in the conversation as an underrated name on the board — one whose numbers outrun his current buzz.
The Catholic Central–St. Mary’s game: two races, one field
Friday’s matchup between Catholic Central and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s was the week’s most award-relevant game on paper. Catholic Central’s Gideon Gash (Mr. Football) and Eric Anderson (Anvil) lined up against St. Mary’s Chad Willis (Mr. Football) and Treighjan Gibson (Anvil). MLive reported that the Shamrocks came in riding a 20-game winning streak but were without their starting quarterback, Duke Banta, due to injury. Individual stat lines from this game were not reported in the supplied evidence, so we will not speculate — but the matchup context matters: four award candidates on one field, with St. Mary’s operating under genuine adversity at the most important position on the field. Results from this game will be worth tracking once final numbers surface.
The angle the rankings don’t show: games-played gaps distort everything
Here is the part of this week’s picture that deserves more attention than it gets. Kish’s four games played versus O’Connor’s five versus Gash’s six create a comparison problem that the raw state rankings don’t correct for. A back with 581 yards in four games is producing at a different rate than a back with 700 yards in seven. As the regular season tightens and everyone’s game count normalizes, the per-game and per-touch numbers — yards per carry, yards per reception, touchdowns per opportunity — will matter more to award voters than the cumulative totals that drive the leaderboard rankings. The players whose per-game output stays consistent as schedules get harder are the ones who will separate themselves by the time ballots are cast.
Anvil Award: a quiet week for most, a big game for two
For the Anvil Award linemen and edge rushers on this week’s board, the week was largely silent in the numbers — which is normal for a trophy that rewards players whose contributions rarely show up in a box score. Eric Anderson (Catholic Central, DL) and Treighjan Gibson (St. Mary’s, DL) were in the middle of the biggest game on the Michigan schedule, per MLive, but individual performance details were not available in the supplied reporting. The remaining eight Anvil candidates — Drew Aagesen, Jayden Bell, Louis Esposito, Jameer Henry, Jakari Lipsey, Myles Smith, William Tobin, and Dewey Young — had no new coverage or statistics reported this week.
Quiet week: the rest of the Mr. Football board
Tre Britton III (Belleville), Darryl Flemister (Detroit King), Dakota Guerrant (Harper Woods), Lundon Hampton (Kenowa Hills), Drew Sheridan (Divine Child), and Donald Tabron II (Detroit Cass Tech) generated no new stat lines or coverage in this week’s evidence. That is a reporting note, not a judgment — the rankings from State Champs! Michigan will tell a fuller story when their updated Top 10 posts land.
The race to watch in Week 8
Once results from the Catholic Central–St. Mary’s game are confirmed, Gash and Willis will have head-to-head evidence that voters can weigh directly. That makes Week 8’s stat drop the most consequential single data point left on the Mr. Football board before the playoff push begins. Meanwhile, Kish needs a volume game to stop the rankings slide — his per-carry average is elite, but four games played is not enough runway. The bet here is that the O’Connor and Gash cases both strengthen over the next two weeks as schedule and sample size catch up to their efficiency numbers.
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