Gary Jackson ripped through Calhoun Academy’s defense in the MAIS Class 1A football championship game, and then did the same to the competition in The Vicksburg Post’s Athlete of the Week contest.

Jackson, a senior running back for Sharkey-Issaquena Academy, ran away with this week’s award by receiving 2,124 of 3,037 votes cast in an online poll of The Post’s readers. Both Jackson’s total and the overall number of votes shattered records for the contest. His vote total was more than had even been cast in any of the previous 45 Athlete of the Week contests since it began in September 2022.

Warren Central soccer player Allie Mason won the race for second place, with 381 votes. St. Aloysius basketball player Mallory Hobson was third, with 268 votes, and Vicksburg High basketball player Davian Williams was fourth with 264.

Jackson led Sharkey-Issaquena Academy’s football team to a 32-26 victory over Calhoun Academy in the MAIS Class 1A championship game on Nov. 16. He rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns, including the 35-yard game-winner as time expired, as the Confederates rallied from a 20-0 halftime deficit. Jackson had 210 yards and all three touchdowns — which covered 52, 97 and 35 yards — in the second half.

Jackson also threw a 53-yard TD pass and had nine tackles on defense.

Congratulations to Gary and the other nominees, and thank you to our readers for voting.

The nominees for the Athlete of the Week award are announced each Sunday, and voting is open until midnight Tuesday. Links to the poll will be posted on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, as well as vicksburgpost.com.