Another high school season is in the books, and with it, our second season of the WATD High School Football Fantasy Draft.
In each of the season’s 13 weeks, the hosts of the Sports Exchange, Quinn Kelly, Johnny Rorke, and Brendan Connolly, selected players from some of our local teams who they expected to have a big week.
With a quarterback, two running backs, and two wide receivers selected each week, in addition to a team defense, there were plenty of opportunity to catch someone during a great game.
In total, 125 different players across the South Shore were chosen to a team over the course of the season, representing 34 different schools.
While our ability to track every player’s stats was limited by teams who do not publish their stats, we were able to collect a majority of box scores and thus, able to compile a list of the top fantasy performers this season.
Here are the top 10 overall performances in the 2023 WATD Fantasy League.
LISTEN: 2023 Super Bowl Recap
1. Alex Barlow, RB, Duxbury (Week 13 vs Scituate) – 57.3 points
Barlow saved his best for last, and took home the top scorer of the year title with an all-time performance at Gillette.
After scoring once on 99 yards in the first half, the Dragons let their workhorse run wild in the second half of their second straight Super Bowl win.
On the day, Barlow finished with 275 yards and five touchdowns on 32 carries. His only blemish was his lone reception which was stopped in the backfield for a loss of two.
Barlow closed his senior season with 570 yards and eight touchdowns in his final two games, while helping the Dragons to add two pieces of hardware to their trophy case.
2. Jordan Depina, QB, Rockland (Week 12 vs East Bridgewater) – 47.3 points
Much like Barlow, Depina’s swan song was his finest performance. The senior captain was a monster on Thanksgiving, rushing for 233 yards and four touchdowns to help the Bulldogs close their season with a win.
The senior stepped in to the starting role for the first time this year, and put together big game after big game for the Dogs.
Neither he nor Barlow will go long before checking in on this list again.
3. Tyler Holmes, RB, West Bridgewater (Week 8 vs Diman RVT) – 44.8 points
The lone sophomore on our Top 10 list figures to be at the center of Coach Justin Kogler’s West Bridgewater offense over the next couple of years after announcing himself this fall.
No performance was better than his efforts in the Cats regular season finally, where he totaled 148 yards of offense with four rushing touchdowns and another score receiving.
Expect Holmes to be a favorite pick in the 2024 WATD Fantasy Draft.
4. Alex Barlow, RB, Duxbury (Week 6 vs Silver Lake) – 40.7 points
Our final 40+ point effort of the year was another Barlow special, after the Bentley commit ran for 158 yards (and tacked on nine more receiving) and four touchdowns in a romp over the Lakers.
Though he’d have the better performance for Johnny during the Super Bowl, his efforts in Week 6 led Brendan to his second win of the season.
5. Jordan Depina, QB, Rockland (Week 2 vs Manchester-Essex) – 37.9 points
After putting the South Shore on notice with his opening night performance against Seekonk, Depina was quickly scooped up by Quinn for his Week 2 game against the Hornets.
It was the Bulldogs QB who would do the stinging on that night, toting the rock for 219 yards and 3 TDs in the win. The point total was even more impressive considering Depina went 0/4 passing with a pick.
6. Davin True, RB, Marshfield (Week 5 vs Silver Lake) – 37.7 points
The junior tailback was one of the area’s top rushers on the season, and did not disappoint for Brendan. With 115 rushing yards, 22 receiving yards, and four total touchdowns, True powered the Rams to their third win of the season.
The performance lifted Marshfield back above .500, and would be the first of many days that True would rule for the Rams on their way to Gillette.
7. Shamus Whiting, QB, Plymouth North (Week 9 vs Marshfield) – 37.4 points
The Eagles faced an uphill battle on the road against the eventual state runner-up Rams, but they had Marshfield on their heels at the half thanks to a dazzling performance from Whiting.
Drafted in back to back weeks by Johnny, it was the opening round of the playoffs in which the senior QB would make his mark.
Whiting threw for an eye-popping 402 yards on 26/39 passing. While he was picked twice, his four touchdown passes bolstered his total, as did a few rushing yards to top it off.
Whiting is the only player on this list to have been on the losing side of the game in which he was picked.
8. Todd Egan, QB, SSVT (Week 6 vs Upper Cape Tech) – 34.4 points
Egan’s dual threat nature was impressive all season long, helping to bring the Vikings back to the MIAA playoffs.
In a 30-16 win over Upper Cape Tech, however, it was largely his legs that paid off for Quinn’s squad.
Egan finished 6/7 passing for 33 yards, with an additional 151 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
9. Ben Scalzi, QB, Hanover (Week 1 vs Duxbury) – 33.6 points
Scalzi was the second player drafted overall this season, and immediately showed why he would become one of the best players on the South Shore this season.
The senior led the way in Hanover’s landmark victory over Duxbury, contributing to every Hawks score and finishing 17/26 for 236 yards with three TDs and one interception, while rushing for 22 yards and another score.
Brendan would later try to tail both Scalzi and his top target John McDonald off of big Round 1 playoff performances, which would’ve put them both on this list with 48.9 and 40.6 points respectively had they been selected.
10. Lawson Foley, WR, Scituate (Week 10 vs Holliston) – 33.0 points
In an oddly great rivalry, Scituate and Holliston met once again in the state quarterfinals this year, and the Sailors’ junior wideout was key to turning this edition in Scituate’s favor.
In the top performance for a wide receiver this year, Foley had 210 receiving yards and two touchdowns on five receptions.
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Best of the Rest
These were just a few of the great performances around the South Shore this season. Here are the next five best at each position from this year’s draft.
Quarterback
1 – 5. Included in Top 10
6. Tor Maas, Marshfield (32.3 points, Week 4)
7. Luke Dunham, Hull (31.8 points, Week 3)
8. Tyler Lennox, Carver (29.3 points, Week 1)
9. Patrick Miller, Milton (28.9 points, Week 6)
10. Henry Hasselbeck, Xaverian (26.7 points, Week 5)
Running Back
1 – 4. Included in Top 10
5. Casious Johnson, Plymouth South (32.1 points, Week 1)
6. Shane Wright, Archbishop Williams (28.7 points, Week 8)
7. AJ Nash, Abington (28.4 points**, Week 12)
8. Nathan Ehui, Milton (27.2 points, Week 11)
9. Liam Appleton, Cohasset (25.0 points, Week 2)
Wide Receivers
1. Included in Top 10
2. Jay Comeau, Cardinal Spellman (30.2 points, Week 2)
3. Logan Zemotel, Plymouth North (25.8 points, Week 9)
4. Mehki Bryan, Hanover (24.7 points, Week 9)
5. Nic Cupples, Marshfield (24.2 points, Week 10)
6. Chris Oman, East Bridgewater (20.7 points, Week 1)
