Who will join recent winners Terrelle Pryor, Garrett Gilbert and Dillon Baxter as the MaxPreps National Player of the Year?
While it's still mid-September, contenders are beginning to emerge.
Pryor, now a Heisman Trophy candidate at Ohio State, took the honor in 2007 while at Jeannette (Pa.) after piling up 3,788 passing and rushing yards to go along with 56 combined touchdowns and a state title.
Grant's Shaq Thompson is the lone junior on this week's watch list.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
A year later it was Gilbert – already the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns – earning POY after throwing for 4,851 yards and 55 touchdowns in a state championship season at Lake Travis (Austin, Texas).
USC freshman Dillon Baxter did it all at Mission Bay (San Diego, Calif.) last fall en route to the award, running for 2,974 yards and 50 touchdowns and throwing for 1,736 yards and 25 TDs.
Here's a look at 10 in contention this season;
Mike Blakely, RB, Manatee (Bradenton, Fla.): The 5-foot-9, 195-pound senior piled up 188 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-36 win over Palmetto on Friday. Blakely has 271 yards and five touchdowns on 31 carries for the season. He also has five receptions for 60 yards as Manatee is out to a 2-0 start.
Malcolm Brown, RB, Steele (Cibolo, Texas): The Knights are 1-2 through three games, but don't fault Brown. The future Texas Longhorn is coming off a monster 357-yard, four-touchdown performance in a loss to Tivy (Kerrville) on Friday. In just three games, Brown has accumulated 732 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground, averaging 10.46 yards per carry.
Jeff Driskel, QB, Hagerty (Oviedo, Fla.): The Huskies improved to 2-0 Friday night with a 41-12 win over Lyman thanks to the arm and legs of this future Florida Gator. Driskel completed 13 of 17 passes for 186 yards and two scores while running for 92 more. It was an impressive performance, but tame compared to Driskel's season opener where he ran for 246 yards and passed for 147 more.
Aaron Green, RB, Madison (San Antonio, Texas): Green turned in a workmanlike 120 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries Friday in a 28-20 win over New Braunfels. Despite battling through a sprained ankle early on this season, Green has managed to produce 516 yards and five touchdowns for the 2-1 Mavericks.
Qyendairs Griffin, RB, South Panola (Batesville, Miss.): Here's a name most wouldn't have expected to see in the National Player of the Year race. The 6-foot, 215-pound senior has been a force for 4-0 South Panola this season, running for 933 yards and 12 touchdowns on just 78 carries (11.9 yards per carry).
Jeremy Hill, RB, Redemptorist (Baton Rouge, La.): Hill outshined fellow LSU running back commitment Kenny Hilliard of Patterson in a head-to-head matchup Friday night, grinding out 282 yards and four touchdowns on 35 carries. Hilliard bowed out in the second half with cramps after running for 125 yards. Hill ran for 177 yards and three TDs two weeks ago in a 34-6 win over Southern Lab.
Johnny Manziel, QB, Tivy (Kerrville, Texas): Nobody has made a bigger splash early on than Manziel, a 5-11, 160-pound dual-threat headed to Oregon. He has already outshined two running backs on this list in head-to-head showdowns (Brown and Green) and is putting up numbers even Chip Kelly would be proud of. Through the air, Manziel has completed 87 of 136 passes for 1,199 yards and 14 touchdowns in three games. On the ground, he has 338 more yards with six scores. Against Green and Madison on Sept. 3, Manziel attempted an incredible 75 passes.
Braxton Miller, QB, Wayne (Huber Heights, Ohio): After a pair of tough losses on national television, Miller and Wayne put it together in a 31-7 win over Seneca (Louisville, Ky.) on Friday. Battling a sprained ankle, the future Ohio State Buckeye stayed in the pocket (not attempting a single rush) and threw for 92 yards on 10 of 23 passing.
Shaq Thompson, RB, Grant (Sacramento, Calif.): Just a junior, Thompson followed his impressive national television opener against Folsom with 243 yards and five touchdowns on 20 carries in a 55-7 win over Burbank (Sacramento). The Pacers (2-0) are ranked No. 3 in this week's Xcellent 25.
Marquise Williams, QB, Mallard Creek (Charlotte, N.C.): Williams and the Mavericks were off last week after outscoring their first three opponents 161-6. Williams led the offensive onslaught by throwing for 760 yards and 17 touchdown passes while rushing for nearly 300 more.
Justin Worley, QB, Northwestern (Rock Hill, S.C.): Ridge View (Columbia) was the latest victim of Worley and nationally-ranked Northwestern. The Tennessee verbal commitment threw for 288 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-2 win. Worley is completing nearly 65 percent of his pass attempts this season with 14 touchdown passes in three games.
