Bryce Young, DJ Uiagalelei share MaxPreps High School Football Player of the Year honors

By Zack Poff Jan 6, 2020, 1:10pm

St. John Bosco, Mater Dei stars poised to keep rivalry going in college at Alabama, Clemson.

Video: Bryce Young and DJ Uiagalelei highlights
2019 highlights of the top two rated quarterbacks in high school football.

For this first time in MaxPreps history there are co-National High School Football Players of the Year — St. John Bosco's (Bellflower, Calif.) 5-star quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and Mater Dei's (Santa Ana, Calif.) 5-star gunslinger Bryce Young.

Uiagalelei led the Braves to their first state title since 2016 and a No. 1 spot in the final Top 25 rankings. He threw for 4,225 yards and had 48 touchdowns against two interceptions. He added another 412 yards rushing and eight more scores.

The 2020 Clemson signee saved his best for last. During the section and state championship games he combined for 856 yards passing and had nine touchdowns with no interceptions in wins over No. 2 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) and No. 12 De La Salle (Concord).

Young put up video-game numbers playing against the best teams in the country. He led the Monarchs to a 12-1 record and had notable wins over No. 1 St. John Bosco (Bellflower), No. 5 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore), Centennial (Corona, Calif.), St. John's (Washington, D.C.), Centennial (Peoria, Ariz.) and Mission Viejo (Calif.).



The 2020 Alabama signee threw for 4,528 yards and 58 touchdowns while completing over 70 percent of his passes. He added another 357 yards on the ground and 10 more scores.

Uiagalelei and Young each lost one game in 2019 — against each other — ended their prep careers 2-2 head-to-head. Don't be surprised to see these two face off at the next level.

Young will be competing for the starting quarterback position at Alabama next season with Tua Tagovailoa declaring for the 2020 NFL Draft and Uiagalelei is already helping Clemson prepare for the National Championship game by playing the role of LSU's Joe Burrow for the scout team.

Past MaxPreps National Players of the Year
2006 — Riley Dodge, QB, Southlake Carroll (Texas)
2007 — Terrelle Pryor, QB, Jeannette (Pa.)
2008 — Garrett Gilbert, QB, Lake Travis (Austin, Texas)
2009 — Dillon Baxter, ATH, Mission Bay (San Diego)
2010 — Dano Graves, QB, Folsom (Calif.)
2011 — Johnathan Gray, RB, Aledo (Texas)
2012 — Derrick Henry, RB, Yulee (Fla.)
2013 — Kyler Murray, QB, Allen (Texas)
2014 — Kyler Murray, QB, Allen (Texas)
2015 — Derrick Brown, DL, Lanier (Sugar Hill, Ga.)
2016 — Tate Martell, QB, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas)
2017 — JT Daniels, QB, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
2018 — Bru McCoy, WR, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
Graphic by Ryan Escobar