Offensive Player of the Week: Emory Rains’ Luke Sheppard

Published 4:35 pm Monday, September 7, 2020

The Emory Rains Wildcats are off to a 2-0 start and one of the key players has been senior quarterback Luke Sheppard.

Sheppard helped lead the Wildcats to a 58-21 victory over the Edgewood Bulldogs on Friday night at I.T. James Memorial Stadium in Edgewood.

For his efforts, Sheppard was named the UT Health East Texas Sports Medicine Offensive Player of the Week for the second week of the high school football season.

Sheppard, who is also a standout baseball player, contributed 463 yards of the Wildcats’ total of 635. He accounted for five of Rains’ eight touchdowns.

Through the air, Sheppard passed for 226 yards and two touchdowns while hitting on 7 of 15 passing attempts, including tossing to five different receivers. He threw TD passes of 66 yards to Drake Hurley and 15 yards to Kendrick Burns.

On the ground, Sheppard carried the ball 21 times for 237 yards and three touchdowns.

In two games, Sheppard has rushed for 391 yards and five touchdowns on 34 attempts, while hitting on 11 of 19 passing attempts for 310 yards with three TDs and no interceptions.

After trailing 14-3 after the first quarter, Rains scored 35 points in the second period to take a 38-21 halftime lead.

Sheppard will be featured on a poster in Friday’s The Zone special section of the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Fans can see Sheppard and his Wildcats in action on Friday when Rains plays host to the Grand Saline Indians.

Sheppard joins Chapel Hill quarterback Cameron Ford as winners of the award.

To nominate someone for the Offensive Player of the Week, email sports@tylerpaper.com by noon Monday.