10 MaxPreps National Football Player of the Year contenders still playing for state titles

This week's National Player of the Watch focuses solely on those possible candidates who are still participating in the state playoffs this weekend.

So you while you won't see Will Grier of Davidson Day, DeShaun Watson of Gainesville, Shuler Bentley of Byrnes or Elijah Hood of Charlotte Catholic on this week's list, they still remain very much in the running for National Player of the Year honors, which will be announced in early January.

Here's a look at the top Player of the Year candidates who are still playing.


Jake Browning, Folsom (Calif.)
Browning and the Bulldogs will try to avenge last year's loss to De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) in the CIF Open Division Northern California Regionals. Browning is three touchdown passes away from the national lead in that category and about 600 yards away from the national lead in yards passing. He enters the game with 402 completions in 523 attempts for 5,393 yards and 74 touchdowns.

Tre Watson, Centennial (Corona, Calif.)
Watson has rushed for 1,111 yards in four playoff games alone, including a 519-yard effort in the Inland Division semifinals against Upland when his team set a national record for offensive yardage in a game. He'll go up against St. John Bosco in the CIF Open Division Southern California Regional with 3,498 yards and 48 touchdowns on 371 carries under his belt.

Arkeel Newsome, Ansonia (Conn.)
Newsome became the ninth running back in high school history to surpass 10,000 yards rushing in a career when he ran for 492 yards in a quarterfinal win over Coginchaug Regional. He added 258 yards in a semifinal win over Rocky Hill and heads into the Connecticut Class S state championship game against Woodland Regional with 10,426 yards rushing, good for seventh place on the all-time national list. For the season, Newsome has 3,608 yards on 299 carries with 60 rushing touchdowns.

Desmon White, DeSoto (Texas)
White was limited to just 109 yards passing in the quarterfinal win over Trinity (Euless, Texas), but he rushed for 186 yards on 23 carries. For the season, White has 3,736 yards passing with 239 completions in 347 attempts and 38 touchdowns. He has also run 170 times for 1,609 yards and 15 scores. DeSoto has a titanic matchup with Allen this weekend in a game featuring the No. 2 and 3 team in the country according to the MaxPreps Computer Rankings.

Dalvin Cook, Central (Miami)
The leading rusher in Dade County, Cook has gained 1,717 yards on 158 carries with 30 touchdowns. He leads Central into the Class 6A state finals against Armwood. He's scored eight touchdowns in the playoffs and had 244 yards rushing in the quarterfinals against Palm Bay Heritage.

Lorenzo Carter, Norcross (Ga.)
Dominating defensive lineman has 114 tackles, including 37 for loss, in leading Norcross in to the Class 6A state championship game against North Gwinnett.

Andrew Brown, Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, Va.)
Already named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, Brown has Oscar Smith in the Class 6A state championship game in Virginia thanks to a dominating presence on defense. He has 93 tackles and 18 sacks heading into the championship game against Centerville.

Travis Quintanilla, Refugio (Texas)
Already the all-time leading touchdown and yardage passer in Texas history, Quintanilla has had other impressive feats as well, including throwing for 10 touchdowns in a game last year and over 700 yards in a game two weeks ago. Last week he led Refugio past defending state 2A champion East Bernard. He enters this week's semifinal game against Waskom with 4,604 yards passing and 60 touchdowns.

Rocky Reid, Concord (N.C.)
Concord plays in the Class 3A title game in North Carolina and will rely on the running abilities of Rocky Reid, who is eighth in the nation with 3,131 yards rushing on 391 carries with 38 touchdowns. He has a pair of games over 300 yards this year.

Chandler Leniu, St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.)
St. John Bosco is ranked No. 1 in the country by the MaxPreps Computer Rankings and Leniu is a big reason why, as he is one of the leaders of the defense. He leads the team with 205 tackles, including nine for loss. He averages 14.6 tackles per game.