You voted and the Sun-Star Football Player of the Week winner for Week 5 is...?

The Merced Sun-Star Football Player of the Week online polls have been closely contested. This week is no different.

All the votes are in and Livingston High sophomore Rocklin Baptista overtook Atwater quarterback Julius Peacock in the final 10 minutes to win the Player of the Week honors for Week 5.

Over 35,000 votes were cast on the final day.

Baptista finished with 42,958, which is a season-high in votes, and captured 48 % of the 88,079 total votes.

Baptista threw for five touchdowns in Livingston 35-27 win over Hughson last week.

Peacock finished with 41,922 votes, which was the second highest total this season.

Merced’s Desmond Thompson, Zane Merrell of Dos Palos and Buhach Colony’s Trey Paster were the other nominees this week.

The Sun-Star caught up with Baptista shortly after the voting closed on Thursday.

Question: What does it mean to see the Livingston staff and community out in force and vote over 42,000 times for you this week?

Baptista: “It means a lot. It show much much support there is for me, the football program and the school. Everyone supports each other.”

Question: How many updates were you getting from friends, teachers on how you were doing?

Baptista: “Throughout the week, (I) was getting updates from classmates and teachers. Today I was getting updates most often. I’m very thankful for the people that took the time to vote.”

Question: So if sports isn’t an option, what would you want to do with your life as far as an occupation?

Baptsta: ”I haven’t figured that out yet. It’s something I always think about. It will probably have something to do with sports, maybe training. I’m not sure yet.”

Question: If you could only eat one thing, like you’re stranded on an island the rest of your life, what would it be?

Baptista: “It would be chicken alfredo. It’s something my family makes a lot and every time we make it. I never get tired of it.”

Question: Crunchy or creamy peanut butter?

Baptista: “Creamy.”

Question: What does football mean to you?

Baptista: “Football has meant a lot to me. It brings out you inner emotions. It’s something I’ve been playing since I was seven and I haven’t gotten tired of it. I think it brings the best and worst out of people in my opinion. It’s something that keeps me on my toes in school and helps me get better at other sports.”

Question: How did you guys celebrate last week’s win over Hughson?

Baptista: “We celebrated it pretty well, but we realized we still have to be focused. We still know what our goals are. We need to take it game by game. It was a big win but we’re not satisfied.”

Question: What is the best part about going to Livingston High?

Baptista: “Everyone knows everyone. It’s the support we get. I live right down the street from all my friends. We’re a small, tight community and in a situation we had today with the voting process you can see all the support.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 6:00 PM.