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LaGrange senior Malachi Fannin-Render is enjoying a season for the record books. The Liberty commit continues to add to his LaGrange legacy, being honored with the GHFD Player of the Week award, given out to just one high school football player in the state of Georgia each week, for his performance against Sandy Creek in the second round of the state playoffs.

“It’s an honor and a privilege,” Fannin-Render said, humbly. “I couldn’t do it without the help of my teammates.”

What a performance it was from the senior running back to lead LaGrange to a 38-22 win over the previously ranked no. 2 team in 3A. Fannin-Render carved the Patriots up with 29 carries for 224 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns while also catching three passes for 16 yards and a touchdown. 

“We had serious talks about picking a player from another team…  but there was one player whose name kept coming up in every discussion and that was senior running back Malachi Fannin-Render,” said Ted Langford of Georgia High School Football Daily. “I don’t need to tell you guys this, but he had a huge game last week in what our editors called the biggest upset of the state playoffs so far.”

This was business as usual for Fannin-Render, who went over 2,000 yards from scrimmage with his showing in last week’s game. The LaGrange senior sits at 2,024 yards from scrimmage with 30 total touchdowns through 12 games and is looking to keep adding to his totals. 

Although Fannin-Render was awarded player of the week for his performance against Sandy Creek, he was equally as impressive in LaGrange’s 48-6 win over Lumpkin County in the first round of the state playoffs, racking up 201 rushing yards with three touchdowns on just 17 carries.

It has been a remarkable journey for Fannin-Render, who missed large swaths of his sophomore and junior seasons with major injuries. Sophomore season, it was a broken collarbone that spoiled a terrific start to that campaign. Last year, Fannin-Render tore his ACL in the offseason and had to once again overcome a huge emotional and physical hurdle. Somehow, someway, Fannin-Render was able to return to the field for the home stretch of the regular season and the Grangers’ playoff run last year. 

Even when he was not on the field Fannin-Render was the ultimate teammate and that carries over onto the field as well.

“Sent him a text this weekend to let him know about this award. And the first thing he says is, ‘couldn’t do it without all of you,’” LaGrange coach Matt Napier said to his team. “That’s the very first thing he said, so that shows the leadership.”

“It’s an honor to see a guy that is humble, that works his tail off, get this award. He deserves it, and it’s an honor to be here and honor him,” Napier added.