October 10, 2024

WHITE OAK’S LUDLOW, HENDERSON’S STANDLEY | They’re the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week!

White Oak quarterback Jaxsen Ludlow talks with his coach, and dad, Michael Ludlow on the sidelines during last Friday’s game, an eventual 52-14 win over Quitman. Below: Addison Standley (5, far right, last one on the back row) and the Henderson Lady Lions pictured here after winning their first District 16-4A game this season. Standley and Ludlow are the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week for Sept. 9-13. (Top photo by ASHTYN LUCAS – ETBLITZ.COM; bottom photo courtesy of HENDERSON LADY LION VOLLEYBALL FACEBOOK PAGE)

Addison Standley and the Henderson Lady Lions are on a roll, and she’s now getting hardware to prove it.

And in White Oak, it appears we all owe quarterback Jaxsen Ludlow rent money., because it’s his world this week, and we’re all living in it.

Standley and her Lady Lions are off to a fantastic start in District 16-4A. Addi is a big reason why. And Ludlow? He’s not only one of the key members of the ETBlitz.com Team of the Week last week – that son of a gun has his team at 3-0, and he’s driving the truck.

Read on and you’ll see why Addison Standley of Henderson High School and Jaxsen Ludlow of White Oak High School are the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week for the week of Sept. 9-13.

Standley and the Lady Lions, coached by Keasa Bonds, are like every hard-working high school volleyball program in the East Texas region: they play a grueling schedule and by the time the district portion of it hits, they’ve already played 22, 23 games.

Henderson opened 16-4A in one of the most intense ways they could have: on the road at one of their biggest rivals, in Kilgore, on Friday the 13th, no less.

And Standley rose to the occasion, racking up 18 kills, five blocks and six digs in a 25-17, 25-21, 25-14 win.

She also recently helped Henderson to the championship bracket in the Van tournament and the White Oak Tournament. And at this writing, Henderson is 2-0 in district play, looking to make a road trip to Chapel Hill on Friday for a third district matchup.

Congratulations, Addison, on being the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com girls Player of the Week!

Other ETBlitz.com-area athletes who were considered for the girls award: White Oak’s Addi McClanahan and Tatum’s Kamdyn Scott.

Now, to Mr. Ludlow…

We’re quite sure it was not easy walking around the halls of the school last year when the Roughnecks weren’t doing well. They weren’t doing well at all.

This year, it’s a 180-degree turnaround.

Through three games, the Roughnecks are 3-0, look pretty balanced, and would seem to be a threat to anyone on their schedule.

And one of their leaders is quarterback Jaxsen Ludlow, who had a fantastic performance in last Friday’s 52-14 homecoming win over Quitman.

Ludlow went 15-of-19 for 202 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 122 yards and two more touchdowns on 15 carries in the win – five touchdowns in all, and 324 total yards.

For his performance in the win over Quitman, congratulations, Jaxsen – you’re the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com boys Player of the Week!

Other ETBlitz.com-area boys athletes considered for the award were Kilgore quarterback Kayson Brooks, Troup running back Brett Wells, and last week’s player of the week winner, Overton quarterback Bryce Still.

Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week come from the 12 high schools in the ETBlitz.com coverage area – that’s (in alphabetical order) Arp, Gilmer, Gladewater, Henderson, Kilgore, Leverett’s Chapel, Overton, Sabine, Tatum, Troup, West Rusk and White Oak – and Kilgore College.

A male and female athlete is recognized each Tuesday, and our criteria is based on statistics and quality of competition. These are awards for athletic achievement.

Nominees are simply pulled from their performances – there is no set number of nominees each week. It’s based solely on the performances of the student athletes. One week, 15 football players might have outstanding numbers. The next, there might be nine. The same with volleyball.

A panel of five ETBlitz staff members vote on the award – an odd number, so that we have no ties.

But you can have all the ties you want at Whataburger.

Just break ‘em – by ordering all you want.

They’re open 24-7, and order ahead right here: Whataburger | Order Online with Curbside and Delivery.

Right now, it’s the WhataWings. And they’re GOOOOOOOOOD, all the time. Get ‘em plain, or add sauce: Buffalo, honey barbecue, honey butter, sweet & spicy, or Mitch’s favorite, Nashville hot.

The ETBlitz.com crew sometimes hits Whataburger after 11 p.m., after games, and if you do that, you also have the option of ordering breakfast – they serve breakfast, remember, from 11 p.m. until 11 a.m.

And so you can read about all of our Whataburger / ETBlitz Players of the Week so far this year, here are our first two weeks of award-winners:

Congratulations again to Addison Standley and Jaxsen Ludlow. Great job, you guys.

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