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 2025 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.
Patrick Connors of
Bellows Falls is the 2025 MaxPreps Vermont High School Football Player of the Year. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior running back led the Terriers to a 10-1 record and Division 3 state championship, the school's first since 2021.
For the season, Connors ran 131 times for 1,502 yards and 18 touchdowns
to go with six receptions for 59 yards and another score. Defensively, he posted 38 tackles, three interceptions, one sack, one tackle for loss and returned a fumble for a TD.
Connors ran for 264 yards and four scores to help Bellows Falls blow past Woodstock 54-20 in the title game, helping his school become the state's first to win 13 championships. He also had an interception on Woodstock's opening drive. The Terriers avenged their only loss of the season as they lost 60-52 in double overtime to the Wasps to close out the regular season.
Each state's MaxPreps Player of the Year will be considered for inclusion in the MaxPreps All-America Team.
Past MaxPreps Vermont Players of the Year
2021 — Oliver Orvis, RB, Essex
2022 — Jackson Sumner, WR/DB, Champlain Valley Union (Hinesburg)
2023 — Jack McCoy, QB, Burr & Burton (Manchester)
2024 — Orion Yates, QB, Champlain Valley Union (Hinesburg)
