MaxPreps National Football Player of the Year Watch

Records continue to fall for the members of the MaxPreps Player of the Year watchlist and that trend doesn't figure to stop this week.

Derrick Henry of Yulee (Fla.) has already broken several state and national records, but he could add to that list this week. He can obtain the Florida single-season record with 144 yards and the career record with 230 yards.

Max Browne of Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.) is just nine yards away from the state record for career passing yardage. Meanwhile Folsom's Jake Browning could break state records in California for passing yardage and touchdowns in a season.  

MaxPreps National Player of the Year Watch.

Favorite

Derrick Henry, Yulee (Fla.)

Henry was held to his lowest rushing total of the season with 189 yards on 43 carries in a 16-13 win over East Gadsden (Havana, Fla.), however he still leads the nation in rushing with 3,944 yards on 419 carries. He also has 51 touchdowns after being limited to just one score last week. Henry needs 144 yards to break the Florida single-season mark of 4,087 yards, held by Travis Henry (no relation) of Frostproof. Henry could become just the sixth player in high school history to rush for over 4,000 yards in a season. With 11,805 career rushing yards, Henry needs 230 yards to break the Florida career rushing mark of 12,034, set last week by Kelvin Taylor of Glades Day.



Top Contenders

Max Browne, Skyline (Sammamish, Wash.)

Browne had a nearly perfect effort to lift Skyline to a 51-28 win over Camas in the Washington Class 4A semifinals as he completed 29 of 32 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. For the season, Browne has completed 256 of 349 passes for 4,141 yards and 45 touchdowns. He is just nine yards away from the career yardage mark in Washington as he can pass Brian Lindgren this week in the finals against Bellarmine Prep. Lindgren completed his career at DeSales with 12,575 yards. Browne reportedly has 12,566.



Thomas Tyner, Aloha (Beaverton, Ore.)

Tyner finished his senior season with 3415 yards rushing on 299 carries with 42 touchdowns.

Kelvin Taylor, Glades Day (Belle Glade, Fla.)

Taylor concluded his career with 161 yards rushing in a 20-14 loss to Dade Christian. He ends the season with 2,380 yards rushing and 41 touchdowns. He finishes his career with a Florida career rushing record of 12,033 yards. On the official National Federation of High Schools Record Book career rushing list, Taylor has 10,475 yards.

Keep an Eye On

Connor Mitch, Wakefield (Raleigh, N.C.)

Mitch completed the season with 306 completions in 497 attempts for 4,701 yards and 63 touchdowns. He had a single-game high of 667 yards and nine touchdowns this year.

Austin Kafentzis, Jordan (Sandy, Utah)

For the season, Kafentzis completed 200 of 313 passes for 3,018 yards and 32 touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,884 yards on 237 carries with 26 touchdowns. In his first two varsity seasons, Kafentzis has thrown for 6,206 yards and he has run for 3,261 yards.

Shuler Bentley, Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.)

Bentley and his Byrnes teammates fell to Gaffney 21-19 to see their season come to an end. Bentley completed 17 of 33 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown in the game and finishes the season with 299 completions in 462 attempts for 4,718 yards and 59 touchdowns.

Cord Sandberg, Manatee (Bradenton, Fla.)

Manatee handled Venice 56-7 with Sandberg completing 75 percent of his passes (9 of 12) for 125 yards and two touchdowns. The 75 percent completion rate was only Sandberg's 7th best performance of the season. He has completed 80 percent of his passes in six different games this year and he is 29 for 33 (.879) in his last three games. For the season, Sandberg has completed 149 of 203 passes for 2,205 yards, 29 touchdowns and one interception.

Jake Browning, Folsom (Calif.)

Browning completed 14 of 22 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns in a 49-22 playoff win over Buhach Colony. The Bulldog sophomore has at least one more game (as many as three more) to break the state record for yardage and touchdowns in a single season. Browning has 337 completions in 510 attempts for 4,763 yards and 58 touchdowns. He needs 422 yards and seven touchdowns to tie the state records in those respective categories.



Moving up Fast

Cody Thomas, Heritage (Colleyville, Texas)

Thomas was 27 of 54 for 380 yards and four touchdowns, but Heritage was eliminated from the postseason with a 54-44 loss to Midway (Waco). Thomas completes his senior year with 267 completions in 421 attempts for 4,203 yards and 46 touchdowns.

Will Grier, Davidson Day (Davidson, N.C.)

Grier completed his junior year with 324 completions in 414 attempts for 5,785 yards and 69 touchdowns.

Drake Harris, Christian (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

In leading Christian to a 40-37 win over St. Mary's (Orchard Lake, Mich.) in the Michigan Division 3 state championship game, Harris had eight catches for 243 yards and a touchdown. For the season, Harris, a junior, had 91 catches for 2,016 yards and 25 touchdowns.