Ashbrook football duo, West Lincoln goalie are Gastonia, Shelby-area Athletes of the Week

Following an eventful opening week of action, readers of The Gaston Gazette and Shelby Star have selected high school football offensive and defensive players of the week, as well as fall sports athlete of the week.

Weekly top performers lists and athlete of the week nominees are compiled by information provided to The Gazette and Star by coaches, athletic directors or team statisticians through emails, MaxPreps or mentioning @JoeLHughesII in game results and highlights posted to Twitter.

If a top performer’s name doesn’t appear on the list, encourage their coach to email submissions to jhughes@gastongazette.com or sports@gastongazette.com.

Here are the Week 1 honorees.

Ashbrook, South Point impress in Week 1: North Carolina high school football: Gastonia, Shelby-area Week 1 roundup

Fall sports stars shine: Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln high school fall sports Week 2 top performers

Opening week's best: Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln high school fall sports Week 1 top performers

High school football

Offensive Player of the Week

Ashbrook’s Carmelo Bess carries the flag as Ashbrook runs onto the field Friday night, April 9, 2021, as Ashbrook hosted Hunter Huss in high school football.
Ashbrook’s Carmelo Bess carries the flag as Ashbrook runs onto the field Friday night, April 9, 2021, as Ashbrook hosted Hunter Huss in high school football.

Carmelo Bess, Ashbrook

Receiving 39% of this week’s fan vote, Bess is the Week 1 Gazette and Star Offensive Player of the Week. He outpaced West Lincoln’s Mason Avery and Lamont Littlejohn of Kings Mountain for the honor.

In his team’s Week 1 victory at Concord, Bess rushed for 168 yards on 16 carries and an 85-yard touchdown. He also returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown.

Defensive Player of the Week

Sincere Sanders-Moss, Ashbrook

The Ashbrook defensive back received 43.1% of this week’s fan vote on his way to Gazette and Star Defensive Player of the Week honors. With a late charge, Sanders-Moss distanced himself from Lincolnton’s Easton Dellinger, Curtis Simpson of Kings Mountain and Cherryville’s Collin Huss.

Sanders-Moss finished with two tackles and intercepted two passes in the Green Wave’s 46-12 win over Concord.

Athlete of the Week

Grayson Gilbert, West Lincoln

West Lincoln’s sophomore goalkeeper received 4,304 votes in this week’s fan vote to run away with Gazette and Star Athlete of the Week honors.

In a 2-1 win over Crest on Aug. 16, Gilbert made 10 of 11 saves.

You can reach Joe Hughes at 704-914-8138, email jhughes@gastongazette.com and follow on Twitter @JoeLHughesII.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gastonia, Shelby top athletes: Ashbrook football duo, West Lincoln goalie