When Nansemond-Suffolk Academy senior running back Noah Giles takes to the gridiron on Friday nights, piling up yardage and touchdowns, his focus is not on being the star.

“I want to be the best teammate I can be and just help my team succeed,” he said. “I want my teammates to succeed as much as I want to succeed.”

He apparently wants his teammates to succeed at an incredibly high level, because that is where his desire for personal success has taken him.

Giles earned the title of Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week after his sizable offensive contribution to NSA’s monstrous 84-12 home victory over Fredericksburg Christian School on Sept. 11.

He had only six carries for the game but used them to gain 188 yards, four touchdowns and two 2-point conversions. He also had a kickoff return for 43 yards.

“I don’t mean this to denigrate Fredericksburg, but it was a man amongst boys,” Saints coach Lew Johnston said. “He is amazing.”

Giles’ stats help leave that impression with frequency.

In Nansemond-Suffolk’s season opener at North Cross School on Aug. 29, he carried the ball 24 times for 278 yards, three touchdowns and two 2-point conversions.

Last season, he gave a strong preview of what he would be capable of once he became the team’s primary ball-carrier. With just 92 carries, he led the Saints with 1,277 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Johnston said NSA’s linemen are realizing that if they can simply maintain their blocks for a brief period of time, they will probably be key contributors to a highlight reel play.

“All it takes is him getting to the second level,” the coach said. “I don’t think there’s anybody in the state that can catch him once he gets to the secondary.”

Giles’ connection to football extends back to his elementary school years.

He first became interested in the sport as a fourth-grader, watching his older brother, Anthony Giles, play for King’s Fork High School.

He noted he later began playing in fifth or sixth grade with Pop Warner.

“I played for the Suffolk Titans and back then, I was actually a little bit afraid to play football,” he said. “But as the years went by, I started to get a little bit more confidence.”

Anthony Giles recalled his younger brother playing for the Titans and later for the Nansemond Suffolk Pop Warner Football league.

“He had quite a bit of success,” the elder Giles said. “I could tell at a young age that he really had passion for the game.”

Fueling Noah Giles’ success are traits that Johnston highlighted, including tremendous field vision, strength, durability and speed that helped him claim the 2015 Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II state championship in the 100-meter dash.

He plans to play college football and has offers from the University of Richmond, the College of William & Mary, the United States Naval Academy, the United States Air Force Academy and Cornell University.