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.
Dante Torres of
St. Anthony's (Melville) is the 2022 MaxPreps New York High School Football Player of the Year. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior quarterback helped the Friars go 11-1 and rally from a 20-point halftime deficit to win the CHSFL AAA state final.
Torres threw for 3,327 yards and 35 touchdowns against four interceptions on the season, second all-time in Long Island history behind Jack Coan of Sayville (3,431). He also ran for 474 yards and 11 touchdowns on 65 carries.
In the 27-20 state championship win over St. Francis (Hamburg), Torres ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to fuel the largest comeback in finals history in weather conditions that featured snow squalls and 35-40 mile per hour winds. It is the first football state title for a Long Island school.
A week before that, Torres led the Friars to the NYCHSFL AAA title with a 50-18 win over defending champion Iona Prep (New Rochelle). Torres completed 14 of 19 passes for 336 yards and four touchdowns while carrying eight times for 173 yards and two touchdowns In that game that secured a CHSFL-record 15th title for St. Anthony’s and its first in nine years.
As a junior, Torres threw for 2,296 yards and 21 touchdowns. He holds offers from Brown, Fordham and New Hampshire.
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 New York Players of the Year
2021 – Ajani Sheppard, QB, Iona Prep (New Rochelle)
Dante Torres (3) takes the field for the coin flip prior to an October matchup with Fordham Prep. (Photo: Derrick Dingle)
