Here were southwest Missouri's top high school football performers of Week 6

Here were our top performers from the sixth week of the 2022 high school football season.

The best way to get nominated in these weekly articles is by tweeting your stats at sports reporter Wyatt Wheeler at @WyattWheeler_NL or by emailing him at wwheeler@news-leader.com on the night of the game or before noon on Saturdays. We will update this as more come along.

Shaun Campbell, Kickapoo

It has to be a pretty unbelievable catch if you're going to get Odell Beckham Jr. references but Campbell got that high of praise with one of the balls he somehow brought in during Kickapoo's win over West Plains on Friday night.

A 30-yard reception in the second quarter saw Campbell go up with one hand and bring it in while being slightly interfered with. He showed off a high vertical, snagged the ball with one hand and fell to his back. It was his second highlight snag of the night while also jumping over a pair of defenders to haul in a 32-yard reception earlier in the half.

More:How Kickapoo football's defense proved it's among Missouri's elite in win over West Plains

The Chiefs have some weapons offensively and a really good quarterback to get them the ball. Campbell's never going to forget this one.

Andrew Link, Kickapoo

Missouri State fans can start daydreaming about Link coming off the edge in a Bears uniform. He's a monster and is someone who should have an impact on the Bears' defense for years to come.

Link made multiple plays behind the line of scrimmage which included his area-leading eighth sack of the season. He saw consistent double teams but showcased his great motor along with speed for a 6-foot-4, 240-pounder off the edge. No one wants to be tackled by this guy.

More:Southwest Missouri high school football takeaways and scores from Sept. 30

Link and Reeds Spring standout Caden Wiest are going to be a heck of a Springfield area duo for the Bears sooner rather than later.

Connor Knatcal, Nixa

The orchestrator of the best offense in southwest Missouri had his time to shine in Nixa's 56-8 win over Carl Junction on Friday night.

Knatcal was 20-of-24 for 350 yards and five touchdowns in the game. He's now up to 16 passing touchdowns this season and showed that the Eagles aren't just a team that's led by star running back Ramone Green.

More:Meet the arsenal of weapons that made Nixa football's offense unstoppable in win over Joplin

There are so many different ways the Eagles can beat you. If Knatcal is this good through the air, there isn't a team in the state that will slow them down.

Bear Shore, Camdenton

The Lakers are rolling and it's mainly because their starting quarterback has gone from a very good high school player to one of the area's elite.

Shore added on to what's already been an incredible season by throwing for 274 yards and six touchdowns in the Lakers' 56-14 win over Bolivar.

More:5 midseason frontrunners for the News-Leader's 2022 high school football player of the year

Brett Schwanke, Buffalo

There wasn't a more thrilling game in the area this week than Buffalo's overtime victory over Butler. There's no way the Bison would have won if it wasn't for their star quarterback.

Schwanke scored his fifth touchdown of the game on the first play of overtime before the Bison defense forced Butler to turn the ball over on downs during its possession.

Schwanke finished the game with 193 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown. He now has 26 touchdowns this season.

More:Here is the 2022 Dominant Dozen high school football midseason watchlist

Antonio Starks-Fewell, Central

Central is two games above .500 for the first time since it won the first three games of the 2011 season. The play from its quarterback is a reason why this is the best Central team we've seen in a long, long time.

Starks-Fwell finished Friday night 12-of-24 through the air with 304 yards and three touchdowns. He also carried the ball four times for 67 yards in a 35-0 blowout win over Lighthouse.

More:Here's how Strafford ended its losing streak to rival Fair Grove

Ricky Woodhouse, Skyline

When you have around 350 yards of total offense and score five touchdowns, you're going to make this list.

When you do it all in the first three quarters while sitting out the fourth, we'll almost consider writing a whole additional article just about you.

Woodhouse, one of the area's top backs, was phenomenal in the Tigers' 44-7 win over Clever.

More:These 7 Springfield area high school football teams have our attention at midseason

Bryant Bull, Marshfield

Aurora should know that if you mess with the Bull, you're going to get his horns.

Bull had probably his best game of the season by going for over 300 yards of total offense while scoring four rushing touchdowns and throwing for two... all in the first half of a 55-21 win.

Bull has the Marshfield offense playing well heading into a critical conference matchup with Logan-Rogersville next week.

More:Here are 10 must-see Springfield area high school football games in the second half of the season

Kael Combs, Nixa

The numbers for Combs might have dropped off from his breakout season in 2021 but he's still one of the elite players in southwest Missouri. Some of the dropoff is because of the many great weapons around him on the best offense the Ozarks has to offer.

In Friday's win over Carl Junction, he reminded everyone why he should still be considered the area's best wide receiver.

Combs had six catches for 140 yards and three touchdowns. The night doubled his touchdown output for the season while nearly doubling his total yardage for the season. He's still really good.

More:Here are southwest Missouri's high school football breakout performers at midseason

Luke Gall, Carthage

You knew this was coming.

Gall went for 182 rushing yards and four touchdowns on just 12 carries in Carthage's 49-7 win over Ozark. He had scoring runs of 58, 54, 10 and two. He's now, unofficially, at 1,173 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns this season.

To put it in perspective, Gall rushed for 1,902 yards and 29 touchdowns last season in 11 games last season.

If he plays 11 games this season and keeps this pace, he'll rush for 2,150 yards and about 46 touchdowns.

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Ozarks high school football top performers in week 6