Every week this season, Shore Conference football fans will have their chance to vote for the Shore Sports Network Football Player of the Week on our website, with nearly 400,000 votes cast last season.

The first recipient of the 2015 season is Pinelands junior running back Justin Kirkpatrick, who needed just 12 carries to rush for 200 yards and three touchdowns in a 39-33 loss to Donovan Catholic. Kirkpatrick ran for touchdowns of 44, 41 and 27 yards in the back-and-forth battle to lead a Wildcats rushing attack that finished with 450 yards rushing on 10.5 yards per carry.

The Pinelands fans overwhelmingly voted Kirkpatrick the winner, as he received 63.8 percent of the vote to top Donovan Catholic senior running back David Calderon, who ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns, including the eventual game-winning score. Calderon finished just ahead of Central junior running back Mike Bickford, who ran for 207 yards and one touchdown in a 27-20 overtime victory over Southern.

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