Oct. 25: Grant Maloney, West Potomac

photo by fletcher condon

West Potomac football coach Chadwick Louisville calls junior wide receiver Grant Maloney “Mister Excitement.”

Maloney, also a standout lacrosse player, has earned the nickname for his ability to make spectacular plays on the football field and this past Friday might have been the biggest example of all.

Maloney caught four passes for 158 yards, including touchdowns of 74 and 57 yards, returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown and a kickoff 72 yards for another score as the Wolverines beat Alexandria City, 35-15.

For his efforts, Maloney was named the Military Bowl DC Touchdown Club High School Football Player of the Week.

“He makes a lot of explosive plays,” Louisville said. “People don’t realize the speed he has. He is a 4.4-4.5 [40-yard] guy, but people won’t believe that. But watch his film and all the explosive plays – no one is going to catch him when he gets a step on them.”

Louisville said that Maloney began making big plays as a freshman on the Alexandria school’s freshman football team. The team’s coach was talking with Louisville about Maloney and how good the player was once he had the ball.

“So I said, ‘Why don’t you just snap it to him?’ ” Louisville recalled. “So they just ran it out of the single wing.”

On the lacrosse field, Maloney plays offensive midfield and attack and was named second-team all-Patriot District last season after scoring 29 goals with 13 assists as a sophomore.

“He puts his speed to good use on the lacrosse field,” Louisville said. “He’s heavy into lacrosse. He just plays football because he’s good at it.”

This week’s DC Touchdown Club Player of the Week High School Football Player of the Week Honor Roll:

ANNE ARUNDEL
Old Mill WR-DB Jordan Penn caught seven passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns as the Patriots beat Glen Burnie, 27-26.

DC
Dunbar RB Michael Clark rushed 23 times for 274 yards and five touchdowns as the Crimson Tide beat Ballou, 62-34.

FREDERICK
Oakdale RB Cole Swinimer, a 5-foot-7, 150-pound senior, rushed 194 yards and four touchdowns as the Bears beat Urbana, 42-22.

HOWARD
Reservoir DE Moses Bailey made eight tackles with five tackles for loss and three sacks and also forced a fumble as the Gators beat Long Reach, 28-27.

LOUDOUN
John Champe QB Dominic Plush completed all 10 of his passes for 297 yards and four touchdowns as the Knights beat Park View, 64-7.

MONTGOMERY
Churchill RB David Avit rushed 27 times for 237 yards and four touchdowns, caught a 25-yard touchdown pass, returned one kickoff for a touchdown and on defense made three tackles as the Bulldogs beat Richard Montgomery, 64-50.

PRINCE GEORGE’S
DuVal RB Ofiubuke Aneke rushed five times for 176 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers beat High Point, 42-0.

PRINCE WILLIAM
Freedom-Woodbridge QB Tristan Evans-Trujillo completed 17 of 19 passes for 378 yards and four touchdowns as the Eagles beat Potomac (Va.), 65-0.

PRIVATE
Georgetown Prep RB Colin Reynolds rushed 32 times for 228 yards and two touchdowns as the Little Hoyas beat Landon, 24-21.

SOUTHERN MARYLAND
Huntingtown WR-DB Brody Wittington caught four passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns, rushed four times for 46 yards and three touchdowns and on defense made four tackles and broke up a pass as the Hurricanes beat St. Charles, 41-7.

WCAC
DeMatha DT Emmett Laws, a Virginia Tech recruit, made six tackles with 2 ½ sacks, and made game-saving tackles on the final two plays of regulation as the Stags made a goal-line stand and beat St. John’s, 14-7 in overtime.