Jacob Drawe and Harper Griffiths named Week 6 Football Athletes of the Week

HILLSDALE COUNTY — Week 6 solidified the early postseason outlooks for four Hillsdale County high school football teams, all of which won important victories that they hope propel them into big rivalry matchups on the horizon.

Week 6 also brought two major wins for local teams in SCAA-B play, which highlight their growth and potential to win more matchups before season's end. But before diving into the full Week 6 high school football review, the Hillsdale Daily News will name its top performer Week 6 football athlete of the week winners.

11-player Athlete of the Week — Harper Griffiths

The Jonesville football team earned its first shut out of the 2025 season in a 20-0 victory over Addison. The victory — on homecoming night — was anchored by another standout performance by junior Harper Griffiths. Griffiths has led the team in tackles each week of the season. He added another seven solo stops against the Panthers to his season totals.

As a key piece on the offensive line, he helped pave the way for a 175-yard rushing day for junior John Milks, who scored two touchdowns. Overall, the rushing attack eclipsed 250 yards, and Griffiths and his fellow linemen held the line to allow for several big pass plays.

8-player Athlete of the Week — Jacob Drawe

Pittsford senior quarterback Jacob Drawe had 210 of his team's 297 rushing yards in the 44-24 defeat of a strong Concord Yellowjackets squad. The win brought crucial playoff points to solidify the team's chances of making the tournament and continued the Wildcats' five-game winning streak and streak of scoring 45-plus points in each matchup.

He carried the ball 23 times, ran for 210 yards and scored three touchdowns. He completed eight of 11 passes for 113 yards and another scoring. Drawe would add seven tackles and two assists from his safety-hybrid position.

Week 6 Top Performers

• Hunter Peiffer hauled in a 29-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Drawe in Pittsford's win over Concord. Peiffer had 42 rushing yards, 29 receiving yards and two total touchdowns. Mondale Kneffler had six tackles on defense and had a big interception. Ethan Pickford had a touchdown catch and contributed seven tackles on defense. Brendan Nave had 41 receiving yards, a 10-yard rushing score and five tackles.
• Reading running back Gavin Wright has come into a prime role for the Rangers who earned another rivalry win over Quincy. Wright had two offensive touchdowns and a 2-point conversion. He had 18 rushes for 92 yards. Markis Tucker added 53 rushing yards and one touchdown. Brayden Wright had a 29-yard reception to go with his 105 rushing yards on nine carries. He converted two 2-point tries. Cameron Wheeler led the way at linebacker with nine tackles.
• Litchfield junior signal caller Brayden Bradley had seven carries for 115 yards and three touchdowns in a massive victory over North Adams-Jerome. Gavin Gutting caught two passes from Bradley for 36 yards and a touchdown. Gutting also had an interception in the game. Quinton Smith led the defensive effort with eight tackles and an interception. Ben Baker had multiple tackles and added 44 rushing yards and a touchdown.
• Waldron athlete Jayden Justice had a breakout game against Tekonsha in a lopsided victory. Justice had four receptions for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Troy Shamplo had another standout night with 14 carries, 110 yards and three touchdowns. Carmen Kurtz had one catch for 43 yards and a score. He also had three carries for 63 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Seth Williams contributed 31 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, and six pass completions for 147 yards and three touchdowns. On defense, Eli Winchell caused four fumbles, while Troy Shamplo had four fumble recoveries. Carmen Kurtz had one interception. Winchel and Aidan Boyd both added fumble recoveries.
• Camden-Frontier's decisive victory over Burr Oak keeps their hopes at a winning season alive and a potential buy-in to the 8-player playoffs. The defensive effort was led by Luis Castro-Thilo with an interception. Eryck Flores had 10 total tackles. Dominic Kurtz had two fumble recoveries. Colt Woodard had 127 rushing yards on 28 carries, scoring one touchodwn. Brayden Bever scored two rushing touchdowns. Flores and Brandon Menchaca both caught touchdown passes from Luis Castro-Thilo. Thilo added 62 rushing yards on seven carries and 66 passing yards.
• Junior quarterback Evan Towne once-again carried the offensive workload in Hillsdale's loss to Clinton. Towne had 14 carries for 133 yards. He threw two touchdown passes and completed eight of 27 attempts for 141 yards. Thayden Welch had five receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Brody Arnold had three tackles, including a sack. Tate Ortiz led the team with four tackles.

Week 6 Scores

• Clinton 69, Hillsdale 14
• Jonesville 20, Addison 0
  • Blake Ryan and Meah Prater were named the Jonesville 2025 Homecoming King and Queen.
• Reading 24, Quincy 16
• Camden-Frontier 34, Burr Oak 22
• Waldron 51, Tekonsha 0
• Pittsford 44, Concord 24
• Litchfield 51, North Adams-Jerome 8

Week 6 Biggest Takeaway

11-man playoff picture becomes clearer

With their big time conference victories, Jonesville and Reading solidified their chances of making the 11-player MHSAA playoffs.

Jonesville stands at 4-2 overall, still right in the fight for the Cascades West — depending on how the next two games go. Jonesville currently stands at 25th overall in the playoff points standings for Division 7, with 25.167 points. Jonesville could conceivably make the playoffs winning just one of its last three games, but the Comets wouldn't want a repeat of last year's overtime loss to Manchester in the Cascades crossover game.

The best case scenario is Jonesville wins both of its next two C-West games — at Columbia Central and home against Vandercook lake — and wins its game against the crossover C-East team. A 7-2 record might be enough to earn home field advantage round one of the postseason.

At 3-3 overall, the 2024 district champion Rangers maintain their status of being a D8 playoff team with their Battle for the Bell win over Quincy. This was the second-straight Bell win for the Rangers, which couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Last year, Reading made it into the postseason with a 5-4 record, but this year might need a better result to secure a spot in the 32-team field. Reading's 21.833 playoff points currently puts them 27th. Winning their last three games against Union City, Bronson and a Soutwest 10 crossover team will be enough to put them into the playoffs. However, the Rangers realistically can only afford one more loss before their hopes of a postseason are shattered.

8-player postseason odds

As expected, Waldrona nd Pittsford remained in the 8-player, Division 2 postseason cutline with their Week 6 wins. Pittsford and Waldron both remain 5-1 and are headed to a Week 8 battle for the SCAA-B title. However, regardless of that game's outcome, both teams will have curcial non-conference matchups that could help their playoff points and solidify them both as playoff bound. Waldron heads to Lenawee Christian (3-3, D1) in Week 7. Pittsford faces 5-1 Climax-Scotts to end its season, a 8-player D1 team.

Camden-Frontier massive victory over Burr Oak to stay at 3-3 overall technically keeps their postseason hopes alive. The RedHawks and first-year coach Kevin Slusher might have to win out, or at least beat one of Pittsford or Deerfield, to have a shot at making the cut.

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This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Drawe and Griffiths earn Week 6 honors in prep football