Week One: Brian Santry, Swampscott High  First games of the season can be tough. Every player, well almost every player, is nervous, excited and mistakes are made. Not so with Brian Santry of Swampscott High School. Game 1 Swampscott vs Somerville. This is Brian’s first game as starting quarterback for Swampscott and he handled it like someone with 3 dozen games of experience. Against Somerville High, Brian scored 3 touchdowns, including runs of 60 and 33 yards before scoring the game winner on a 1 yard run. He gained a total of 142 yards on just 16 carries. Through the air, he completed 10 of 17 passes for an additional 134 yards. For a team hit hard by graduation, Brian’s brilliant performance led Swampscott to a thrilling 34-32 opening season victory. Other players in consideration were Brendan Flaherty of Beverly, Alex Moore of St. John’s Prep., and Trevor Lyons of Hamilton Wenham.
		Week Two: Anthony Garron, Danvers High    Danvers High School desperately wants to return to being one of the elite teams on the North Shore. They won both of their first two games of the season, but it was their win over Peabody that was most impressive, as they scored 61 points, the most in one game in the school's history.  Anthony Garron played a huge role in the victory, scoring on touchdown runs of 53 and 62 yards and on just 4 carries, gained 126 yards, which averages out to 31.5 yards per carry.  Additionally, Garron kicked 7 extra points to complete his day by scoring 19 points.  Other players in contention for this award were St.John's Prep quarterback Jackie Sharro, Chris Sudak of North Shore Tech, and Jonathan Thomas of St. John's Prep. All three played huge roles in their teams' wins over the second weekend of the football season.
	Week Three: Kyle Barber, Ipswich High  As Coach Ted Flaherty was quoted in a Salem News Story, “We needed this win inthe worst way, we made the plays we needed to make and played with confidence all day.” With that being said, the Ipswich Tigers led by Kyle Barber, who ran for 124 yards on 24  carries, scored two touchdowns and also had an interception, is this week's Sylvan Street Grille Player of the Week as Ipswich improved to 1-2 with a comeback 19-7 win over the Triton Vikings.    Barber opened the scoring for the Tigers as he plunged 1 yard into the end zone in the 1st quarter after the Tigers drove  75 yards on 15 plays. Trailing 7-6 in the 3rd quarter Barber scored again on a 3 yard run and also kicked the extra point after giving the Tigers a 13-7 lead. A Nate Glaster TD with 5:50 to play sealed the win for Ipswich as its defense also tightened up and pressured the Viking in much of the 4th quarter.  The Tigers, who've had a tough go over the past two seasons, showed in this rare early 9:30 am start at Jack Welch Stadium that they can compete with any team in the NEC/ CAL. Congratulations to Ipswich Tiger Kyle Barber, this weeks Sylvan Street Grille Player of the Week.
	Week Four: Jonathan Thomas, St. John's Prep  Playing football in the pouring rain can be challenging. Playing Brockton High in Brockton, in the pouring rain a week after losing a tough game to Everett makes it even more difficult. For as long as we can remember, Brockton High football has been as popular in that city as Rocky Marciano is. Fortunately, Jon Thomas isn't intimidated by Brockton football traditions. So on this rainy night in September, he rushed for 221 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead St. Johns Prep to their 3rd win in 4 games. As of October 4th SJP has now moved up to #3 in the Globe and Herald's top 10 poll. Others in consideration included Fred Hannon of Bishop Fenwick, Brendan Flaherty of Beverly, and Ian Magg of Marblehead.
	Week Five: Rufus Rushins, Bishop Fenwick  Bishop Fenwick has not started out 5-0 since 1999, a year they won the Super Bowl. In 2012 the Crusaders have won their first 5 games, matching that championship start on the back of Rufus Rushins. Against Weston, Rushins carried the ball 22 times and gained 48 yards, scoring 3 first half touchdowns, enough to give Fenwick a 34-14 win. In this contest, Rushins never broke a long run (his biggest gain was for 16 yards) but continually pounded the defensive line for positive yards, averaging over 6 and a half yards a carry. We'll hopefully be seeing more of sophomore Rufus Rushins. Others considered were Alex Moore of St. John's Prep, Ian Magg of Marblehead and Dylan Mann of Masco.
	Week Six: Brendan Flaherty, Beverly High His “ordinary” games are by all means outstanding and this was a game in which he was very much needed. Brendan Flaherty added to his school record at Beverly High for scoring the most points in the school’s history….scoring 2 more touchdowns, running for 245 yards and leading Beverly to a come from behind win over Masco, 30-14. Beverly is now 6 wins and 0 losses and Brendan is a “3-peat” winner of the Sylvan Street Grille Award. Others in contention were Brian Santry of Swampscott, Alex Moore of SJP, and Rufus Rushins of Bishop Fenwick
	Week Seven: Ian Magg,  Marblehead High Our Player of the Week is Ian Magg of Marblehead High School as he lead his team to their 7th consecutive win of the season against Gloucester High 39-12.  Maag had a hand in all 6 Marblehead touchdowns, including  throwing 5 touchdown passes, for 234 yards, and running for one, which proved to be the game winner. All his efforts in leading Marblehead this Friday night were done under extreme wet and slippery conditions. Magg now leads the North Shore in touchdown passes and Marblehead is off to their best start (7-0) in the school's history. Others nominated this week include Trevor Lyons of Hamilton-Wenham, Ross Murphy of North Shore Tech and Isiah White of Beverly High School.
	Week Eight: Christian Dunston, Salem High  The Marblehead High School football team have won 7 in a row without a loss, so with excited anticipation fans flocked to the high school Friday night to cheer for their team.  They have not lost a home game in 3 seasons.  By midway in the 3rd Quarter, Christian Dunston, the Salem Quarterback, had lead his team to a 27-7 lead.  Then Marblehead came storming back, scoring 4 straight TD’s and taking the lead, 34-27.  But, Dunston wasn’t quite ready to play dead.   He rallied Salem, tossing a TD pass with 55 seconds left…the Witches trailed 34-33.  Going for 2 extra points, Dunston tossed a pass to Ben Kapnis and Salem led 35-34 with 30 seconds left.  Game over? Not by a long shot! Marblehead marched right down the field and attempted a field goal…but this night belonged to the Witches of Salem.  Christian Dunston was responsible for 2 TD passes, tossing the crucial extra point pass, intercepting a Marblehead pass and running it back to the 5 yard line to set up another TD, then went home to celebrate Halloween. Other players in contention: Chris Schleer of Masconomet, Alex Moore of St. John's Prep and Ross Murphy of North Shore Tech.
	Week Nine: Ross Murphy, North Shore Tech/ Essex Aggie Ross Murphy has scored touchdowns before, even had three in one game, but the four TD’s he scored plus the two extra points for a total of 28 points couldn’t have come at a better time for North Shore Tech/ Essex Aggie. The 36-0 win over Greater Lowell locked up the Commonwealth Conference Small championship for the team, a title they’ve had to share for the last two years. There were some injuries in the offensive line, which required some quick changes, but Murphy managed 177 yards rushing on just 26 carries. With this victory, North Shore Tech/ Essex Aggie boasts 7 wins against just 2 losses. Others in contention:  Fred Hanson of Bishop Fenwick, Jon Thomas of SJP, and Christian Dunston of Salem.
	Week Ten: Jordan Pallazola, Gloucester High School Jordan Pallazola of Gloucester High School must really enjoy football. Saturday night against Swampscott he scored 3 touchdowns, gained over 100 yards and was in on a dozen tackles and a couple of sacks. You would think Jordan would have been satisfied, but he wasn’t. Just before the final quarter ended, Swampscott got into the end zone, making the score 41-20 Gloucester. Swampscott lined up to go for the two extra points, but Jordan intercepted the pass attempt and ran 100 yards downfield to Gloucester’s end zone for an additional two points. I’m sure those two extra points were tougher to score than the 18 he had already put on the board. Others in contention: Brendan Flaherty, Beverly High School, Ross Murphy, North Shore Tech and Christian Dunston, Salem High School
		Week Eleven: Trevor Lyons, Hamilton-Wenham  Our player of the week for the Thanksgiving games is Trevor Lyons of Hamilton-Wenham High School. Trevor was also a winner in 2011. In a Thanksgiving victory that secured a winning season, Trevor completed 12 passes in 21 attempts, 2 for touchdowns, ran for another touchdown and lead his team in rushing by gaining 50 yards. He also made a number of good plays on defense. For a single season, Trevor Lyons has thrown more touchdown passes and run for more touchdowns than anyone in the history of Hamilton-Wenham football.