Each year since 2006, MaxPreps has recognized outstanding performers in high school football. America's source for high school sports continues the tradition to close out the 2022 season by naming the top player in each state. Selections are based on team success and individual excellence in addition to local and state accolades.
Blainey Dowling of
Mount Carmel (Chicago) is the 2022 MaxPreps Illinois High School Football Player of the Year. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior quarterback led the Caravan to a perfect 14-0 record and a Class 7A state title.
With its star signal caller leading the way, the Mount Carmel offense averaged over 40 points per game. Dowling threw for 2,960 yards and 43 touchdowns while completing 70 percent of his attempts. He added 260 yards on the ground and five more scores. Those totals could have been much higher if not for early exits in 10 games due to lopsided scores.
In Mount Carmel's 44-20 win over Batavia in the championship game, Dowling completed 25 of 40 passes for 262 yards and four touchdowns. That helped cap the Caravan's dominant five-game run in the playoffs that saw them outscore opponents 185-50.
In the season opener against St. Rita, Dowling connected on 18 of 20 attempts for 318 yards and five TDs as Mount Carmel rolled to a 35-3 win. Another notable performance came in the state quarterfinals as he threw for 319 yards and five scores – all in the first half – as the Caravan advanced with a 48-12 victory.
Dowling broke the school record for passing yards and touchdowns in a single season, surpassing Jeff Walsh's 1996 mark for TD throws by the eighth game of the season.
Each state's MaxPreps Player of the Year will be considered for inclusion in the MaxPreps All-America Team, which will be released January 10.
Past MaxPreps Illinois Players of the Year2021 – Luther Burden III, WR, East St. Louis
Illinois Player of the Year Blainey Dowling escapes from pressure during an October win over Loyola Academy. (Photo Dean Reid)
