Paducah Tilghman’s up-and-coming coming football star, Malachi Rider won WPSD Player of the Week on Aug. 31. Rider has been playing football since third grade and is now the starting varsity running back for Tilghman as a sophomore.

He moved from Rifle, Colo., his seventh-grade year and joined the Paducah Public School System in eighth grade. Rider’s favorite thing about Tilghman Football is how much like family his team is.

“Nothing compares to the feeling when I score a touchdown and the whole team comes and surrounds me and celebrates my victory as their own,” Rider said. He is inspired to be an exceptional athlete by the support of his fans and the successes of all the other athletes he looks up to.

Rider has some advice for the rest of his Tilghman football ‘family.’ He said the key to success is hard work, whether that be staying after practice for a few minutes and running extra drills, getting in an extra lift or simply just having a healthy diet and letting your body recover after a hard practice. It all counts in Rider’s eyes, and that is why the Paducah Tilghman community is so proud to have him be a part of our Tilghman Tornado.