The best game of Eddie Marinaro’s young career turned out to the local fan favorite.

Marinaro was voted the South Atlantic Bank Week 3 East Cooper Player of the Week after rushing for a career-high in Bishop England’s 32-16 win over Philip Simmons.

The sophomore ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 7.4 yards per carry, in his career-best effort that was also a season high for the Bishops running game.

Marinaro entered the game with just 16 carries for 38 yards through the first two weeks of the season, while Bishop England had rushed for just 16 total yards as a team. Marinaro piled up 120 yards with an 11-yard score by halftime. He added another 50 yards with a 3-yard touchdown in the second half to help the Bishops secure their first win of the season.

“He’s very athletic, a good mix of speed, size and power for a kid his age that really allows us to move him all over the place,” Bishop England assistant coach Mike Darnell said. “In that game, though, the running game presented itself. We just went back and forth to either side.

“Eddie runs extremely hard. He’s a tough kid. He’s young but we’re so young as a team that we need our younger guys like him to produce now. So it’s nice for him to see the fruits of his labor early on.”

Wando defensive back Ramsey Turnage landed second in fan voting, less than 40 votes behind Marinaro. Oceanside’s Keegan Williams placed third and Porter-Gaud’s Keesler Lawrence fourth.

All local Week 4 games were postponed due to the threat of Hurricane Florence. Voting for the East Cooper Player of the Week contest will resume with Week 5 on Sept. 26. 

Fans may cast their ballots at moultrienews.com/potw2018 each week to decide the best performance of the area’s local high school football games. Players from Academic Magnet, Bishop England, First Baptist, Oceanside, Palmetto Christian, Philip Simmons, Porter-Gaud and Wando will all be considered. Each week’s winners will earn an automatic bid into the South Atlantic Bank East Cooper Player of the Year contest at the end of the season.

Voting opens each Wednesday at 12 a.m. and will close the following Sunday at midnight. Fans who register and vote will be entered into a random drawing for a $25 gift card each week.