OVERTON’S STILL, WHITE OAK’S SIMS | Brilliant performances to win Whataburger / ETBlitz Players of the Week Awards

White Oak standout Alli Sims (1) is pictured here with her senior teammates on the Ladynecks’ volleyball team. White Oak (28-17) opens the UIL Class 3A playoffs at Tyler High on Tuesday night, against Eustace (24-6), a 7 p.m. start. But Sims is pictured here because she’s now the reigning, defending Whataburger / ETBlitz.com girls Player of the Week, for the week of Oct. 28-Nov. 2, along with Overton quarterback Bryce Still (below, 10). Still led the Mustangs back from a 24-0 deficit to beat Mount Enterprise, 45-44, in overtime last Friday. (Photo above from WHITE OAK LADYNECK VOLLEYBALL Facebook page; photo below by RONNIE SARTORS – SPORT SHOT PHOTOGRAPHY / ETBLITZ.COM)

There are a few players that could, quite literally, win the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Player of the Week every single week.

There’s at least one at every single football program that we cover, and some schools have a handful.

One of those players is Overton High School quarterback Bryce Still.

And White Oak volleyball standout Alli Sims, a longtime contender for player of the week honors, finally broke through this week.

Alli Sims and Bryce Still – they’re the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week for the week of Oct. 28 through Nov. 2!

Let’s talk about Sims first.

Very few honorees in this space every week do what Alli Sims did this time out, and quite simply, it’s this: her team lost one of the two games they played last week, but her performance was so strong, she won this honor, anyway.

That’s strong, right there.

The White Oak Ladynecks volleyball team played two games last week: their regular season finale against Gladewater, and a warm-up game against Beckville, a volleyball program that, year-in and year-out, is a state title contender.

White Oak, second only to Tatum in their district (and Tatum is ranked second in the state in 3A), swept Gladewater, another ETBlitz.com team, 25-14, 25-13, 25-11 last Tuesday.

**White Oak’s Alli Sims (left), with head coach Morgan High. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – ETBLITZ.COM)**

In that three-set matchup, Sims had 37 assists. On Friday, though, in the warm-up game against Beckville, things got fairly intense, as the game went four sets. White Oak came up short, 23-25, 20-25, 25-19, 23-25.

Now, here’s Sims’ numbers in the loss: 53 ASSISTS (!), four digs, two aces and two kills.

We say this every week, that this is not a season achievement award. But Sims is doing this game-in and game-out. Her statistics for 2024, going into the UIL Class 3A playoffs Tuesday night: 1,031 assists, 53 kills, 274 digs, 29 total blocks, and 44 aces.

Oh, and by the way: she also went over the 2,000 assist mark for her high school career this year.

White Oak gave Tatum – probably the very best team in East Texas, maybe the very best in 3A in the whole state – all it wanted for five sets – TWICE this year. They have a good coach in Morgan High and a very talented team, led by Addison McClanahan, the two-time Whataburger / ETBlitz Player of the Week this year, and by Sims, who is playing her very best volleyball at the very best time.

The Ladynecks open the playoffs tonight (Tuesday) at Tyler High against Eustace (24-6), a 7 p.m. start there in Tyler. And we’ll go out on a limb and say that Sims is going to have another great performance.

That’s why Alli Sims is the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com girls Player of the Week. Congratulations, Alli!

Moving on to Mr. Still.

Unless you were in a cave since last weekend and just walked out of it, you probably heard that Overton pulled off an amazing comeback, going down 24-0 at Mount Enterprise Friday night, and trailed 32-8 at one point as well, before steamrolling back to claim a lead, then win it in overtime, 45-44.

Bryce Still – who like most of Overton’s players, plays both ways – didn’t do a lot in the first quarter but hardly had the ball. Mount Enterprise scored twice and then went for and got an onside kick, getting the ball back. The Wildcats dominated the time of possession in the first half, and the Mustangs couldn’t get their breath.

Well, they started their comeback before halftime, and from the time they trailed 32-8, Overton outscored Mount Enterprise 37-12 the rest of the game. (Our recap of the contest: HOW ‘BOUT THAT COMEBACK?! | Overton goes down 24, roars back for a 45-44 overtime win).

Overton quarterback Bryce Still (10) on the move against Mount Enterprise. Still lost his mind in the 45-44 comeback win for the Mustangs, a brilliant performance that won him a second Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Player of the Week this season. (Photo by RONNIE SARTORS – SPORT SHOT PHOTOGRAPHY / ETBLITZ.COM)

And Overton was named the Goudarzi & Young, LLP Team of The Week on Monday for the comeback. (OVERTON’S COMEBACK MUSTANGS | The Goudarzi & Young, LLP / ETBlitz.com Team of the Week!)

But this was special, a special performance by a special athlete.

Just defensively, Still had eight solo tackles, 10 total tackles, a caused fumble and a fumble recovery.

And then on offense, where Still makes his money, so to speak, as Overton’s quarterback, the senior put the team on his back, completing 24-of-29 passes for three touchdowns – two to Jayden Edwards and one to Rylan Holleman – and an interception.

On the ground, Still had 88 rushing yards, including a huge 27-yarder to set up a touchdown, averaged 8 yards a carry, and had three more scores.

That’s a team leader, a big-time player – someone that you want to have the ball in their hands when the game is on the line.

For that, Bryce Still, who won the award earlier this year, is once again the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com boys Player of the Week! Congratulations, Bryce.

Both Sims and Still will receive a package from Whataburger and ETBlitz.com in the coming days that includes, among other things, what we think is a cool ETBlitz T-shirt, that right now you ONLY get by winning the player of the week award.

We’re going back and giving our past winners this year their shirts, which were a little delayed in getting here (if you’re reading this and you won the award and don’t have your shirt, it’s coming). And this bears repeating: athletes from the ETBlitz.com coverage area are all eligible to win these awards, and that would be athletes at (in alphabetical order) Arp, Gilmer, Gladewater, Henderson, Kilgore, Kilgore College, Leverett’s Chapel, Overton, Sabine, Tatum, Troup, West Rusk, and White Oak.

Here are the stories from our previous winners this school year:

And this award isn’t just special because of its winners – it’s also special because it carries the Whataburger name.

Whataburger is the elite hamburger restaurant, period, but it’s so much more: great chicken products, the best French fries you’ll ever have, and who has a better line of shakes? Nobody!

Not to mention that Whataburger is open 24 hours a day, every bloomin’ day of the year, and serves breakfast every day, beginning at 11 p.m. the night before, through 11 a.m. the following day.

Order something special right here – Whataburger | Order Online with Curbside and Delivery– before you head there, and join the ETBlitz crew. Seriously, we’re there all the time.

And congratulations once again to Bryce Still of Overton High and to Alli Sims of White Oak High for being named the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week!

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