EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is from the press release from the Florida Dairy Farmer’s announcement of the 2016 Mr. Football for Florida.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior quarterback Nick Tronti of Ponte Vedra High School has been named the 2016 Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Football following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school football coaches and media representatives.
Tronti, who was previously selected as the Class 5A Player of the Year, led his squad to the state championship game by completing 217-of-325 passes for 3,328 yards with 34 touchdown passes and only four interceptions. He also carried the ball 115 times for 615 yards (5.7 average) with 19 rushing touchdowns. He has committed to play college football at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
Tronti scored a convincing victory over the other eight finalists, all Player-of-the-Year in their respective classes, with 12 of the 23 first-place votes and 165 points overall. In the runner-up spot was Class 7A POY Matt Laroche of Venice (136 points) followed in third place by Class 6A POY Michael Carter of Navarre (127). Class 4A POY Bruce Judson of Cocoa (106) finished fourth followed by Class 3A POY Shaun Wade of Trinity Christian (99), Class 8A POY Mike Dean of Vero Beach (92), Class 2A POY Griffin Alstott of Northside Christian (74), Class 1A POY Dentarrius Yon of West Gadsden (67) and Independent POY Jarrett Conkling of International Community School (49).
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers’ commitment to the state’s youth. This marks the 25th year of these unique awards as we honor the state’s top athletes and coaches in all 30 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports. The program also emphasizes to young people the importance of keeping dairy products a primary part of their diet in their overall nutrition plan.
Past Mr. Football Winners:
1992 – Jammi German, Ft. Myers
1993 – Shevin Wiggins, Bradenton Manatee
1994 – Daunte Culpepper, Ocala Vanguard
1995 – Frankie Franklin, Jacksonville Sandalwood
1996 – Travis Henry, Frostproof
1997 – Zain Gilmore, Tampa Robinson
1998 – Anquan Boldin, Pahokee
1999 – Willie Green, Kissimmee Osceola
2000 – Adrian McPherson, Bradenton Southeast
2001 – Leon Washington, Jacksonville Jackson
2002 – Andre Reese, Pierson Taylor
2003 – Xavier Lee, Daytona Seabreeze
2004 – Antone Smith, Pahokee
2005 – Tim Tebow, Ponte Vedra Nease
2006 – Robert Marve, Tampa Plant
2007 – Jacory Harris, Miami Northwestern
2008 – A.J. Graham, Tallahassee Godby
2009 – Matt Elam, William T. Dwyer
2010 – Quentin Williams, Tampa Jefferson
2011 – Randy “Duke” Johnson, Miami Norland
2012 – Derrick Henry, Yulee High School
2013 – Dalvin Cook, Miami Booker T. Washington
2014 – D’Andre Johnson, First Coast
2015 – DeShawn Smith, Nature Coast Tech
