ALL-STATE FOOTBALL: Class 8A Award Fan Polls

For the first time ever, FloridaHSFootball.com is giving fans a chance to vote for Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Coach of the Year in each classification as part of our 2021 All-State honors.

From now until 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, Feb. 17, you can vote once per hour, per device to keep the integrity of the poll legitimate and fair for everyone.

Here are the nominees for each category and polls for you to vote in for Class 8A. Please remember to click the share buttons above to share this with your friends and family so they can participate in the fan polls as well.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

QB Ryan Browne, Sr., Venice
Went 175-of-290 passing in 15 games throwing for 2,636 yards, 31 TDs and only having 7 passes intercepted. Also rushed 106 times for 534 yards and 8 more touchdowns leading the Indians to the Class 8A State Championship.

WR Ephraim Floyd, Sr., Vero Beach
Hauled in an amazing 70 catches for 1,017 yards and 15 touchdowns while helping lead the Indians to the Class 8A Regional Finals.

QB Collin Hurst, Jr., Davie Western
Had an impressive junior year campaign for the Wildcats, going 223-of-317 passing for 3,267 yards, throwing 35 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions while leading Western to the Class 8A Regional Finals. Hurst also had 32 carries for 325 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

RB Eden James, Sr., Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast
One of the most explosive playmakers seen on the Treasure Coast, James rushed 216 times for 2,021 yards and 28 touchdowns while helping lead the Titans to their first-ever Class 8A State Semifinal appearance in school history. James had 5 games over 200 yards rushing during the season.

WR Jayshon Platt, Sr., Venice
A favorite target of QB Ryan Browne, Platt was instrumental in the Indians success in winning the Class 8A State Championship with 1,070 yards receiving on 62 catches and hauling in 12 touchdowns in 14 games played.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

ATH Demari Henderson, Sr., Sanford Seminole
Twin brother of Ja’Cari, Demari missed the first four games of the season due to injury but made up for it big time with 48 tackles, 3 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, 2 defensive touchdowns, returning a kickoff and a punt return each for a touchdown as well as catching 2 receiving touchdowns on offense to help lead the Fighting Seminoles to the Class 8A Regional Finals.

UTL Ja’Cari Henderson, Sr., Sanford Seminole
Twin brother to Demari, Ja’Cari did as just much damage to opponents as his brother did with 47 tackles, 3 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 defensive touchdowns, blocking 3 punts, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns, and catching two touchdowns on offense in helping lead the Fighting Seminole to the Class 8A Regional Finals.
DB Mike Jackson, Sr., Miami Palmetto
One of the top playmakers for the District 8A-16 champions, Jackson collected 56 tackles, deflected 17 passes, intercepted 10 more passes plus recorded 14 receptions for 280 yards and 3 touchdowns on offense. On top of that, he also had a kickoff return and punt return each for a touchdown while helping the Panthers reach the Class 8A Regional Semifinals.

DL Deshawn Willoughby, Sr., Deerfield Beach
Although Deerfield Beach saw some ups and downs this season with a coaching change coming abruptly early in the season, Willoughby was a standout among his teammates racking up 40 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, and amassing 18.5 sacks while leading the Bucks back to the playoffs after playing in the Tri-County Championship series in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

DL Damon Wilson, Jr., Venice
A dominant force for Venice’s nasty defense that led them to the Class 8A State Championship, Wilson collected 90 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, racked up 15 sacks, intercepted a pass, batted down 3 more passes, and recovered 1 fumble in 15 total games played this season.

COACH OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

Dave Dunn, Miami Columbus
After winning the 2019 Class 8A State Championship and last year’s Tri-County Series Gold Bracket Championship, Dunn led his Explorers through a tough schedule and to the state semifinals in 2021 with an overall 9-4 record and exacting revenge on Miami Palmetto twice after losing out on the District 8A-16 Championship to the Panthers.

Mike Granato, Winter Garden West Orange
Granato had his team believing they were head for bigger things in 2021 after the successes they had in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and sure enough that meant the first regional finals trip for the Warriors since 2015 when the Warriors had a run all the way to the Class 8A State Semifinals. The Warriors won 11 of their 13 games played and also won the District 8A-9 Championship and beating Kissimmee Osceola twice in five weeks.

Irvin Jones, Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast
Jones, who has been the head coach at Treasure Coast since 2010 has been transforming the Titans into a perennial powerhouse program to be reckoned with over the last decade and the fruits of the labor are showing now as Jones guided the Titans to the first-ever trip to the Class 8A state semifinals in 2021, Jones led his team to a 10-2 record that included wins over then-defending Class 5A State Champion Plantation American Heritage in Week 1, another win over Vero Beach to clinch the District 8A-6 Championship, and a win over Class 8A-Region 2 No. 1 seed Palm Beach Central in the regional finals.

John Peacock, Venice
Most people knew Venice was the favorite for the 2021 Class 8A State Championship since prior to the start of the season and Peacock didn’t disappoint anyone at all in guiding his team to the school’s third overall state championship and their first in the state highest classification with a 14-1 record and the District 8A-12 Championship. With their only loss coming to back-to-back Class 4A State Champion Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, Peacock kept his team in check after that home loss on a Saturday afternoon in later October and did not look back demolishing every opponent that stood in their way scoring 664 total points and only giving up 155 points total in 15 games.

Jeff Rolson, Apopka
Rolson guided his team Blue Darters back to the Class 8A State Championship game for the second time in three years, rolling through a tough schedule that included a tough win over Winter Garden West Orange while suffering a setback to Orlando Edgewater and Lakeland in the regular season and then knocking off-then defending Class 8A State Champion Sanford Seminole and rising Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast in consecutive weeks to make it to Fort Lauderdale. Apopka finished the 2021 season with a 12-3 overall record and the District 8A-3 Championship.