GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a successful 2021 season, FloridaHSFootball.com is happy to announce the award winners for the following awards in Class 5A.
CLASS 5A OVERALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
DL Rueben Bain, Jr., Miami Central
One of the key forces of the Rockets’ championship defense, Bain made his presence felt all season long with 29.5 sacks to go along with 60 tackles and 48.5 tackles for loss. Bain also forced 5 fumbles and recovered 3 fumbles while leading the Rockets to a 12-2 overall record and the Class 5A State Championship, their third straight state championship.
CLASS 5A OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
UTL Brady Denaburg, Sr., Merritt Island
Denaburg was truly a Utility player for the Mustangs not only serving as the starting quarterback but also showing his strength with his kicking and punting game. As the quarterback, he threw for 3,220 yards, tossing 30 touchdowns while rushing for 277 more yards and a touchdown. As the team’s kicker, he went 19-of-26 on field goals made, his longest of the season coming from 57 yards out. On punting duties, Denaburg averaged 38.9 yards per punt with his longest punt being 60 yards. Of all his kicks, he totaled 55 touchbacks. All that helped lead the Mustangs to a Class 5A State Runner-Up finish and a 13-2 overall record.
CLASS 5A CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
EDITOR’S NOTE: This was a tough decision given how well Miami Central’s defense played this year, but also the fact that Baker County’s Holland played as well racking up numbers unheard of especially with seven sacks in the Region 1 championship against Wakulla. With that, we are naming two players as Co-Defensive Players of the Year
LB Wesley Bassainthe, Sr., Miami Central
Another key force for the Rockets’ championship defense, Bassainthe was all over the field like a magnet racking up over 80 tackles with 15 tackles for loss, collecting 6 sacks, forcing 4 fumbles while recovering 3 fumbles, and intercepting 2 passes. His efforts were part of the reason Miami Central came out on top as the Class 5A State Champions for the 2021 season.
DL Orlando Holland, Jr., Glen St. Mary Baker County
When talking about a sack machine, Orlando Holland was one name that got mentioned after having a record performance of 7 sacks against Crawfordville Wakulla in the Class 5A-Region 1 Championship, getting the town of Macclenny where the Wildcats’ stadium is in dubbed “Sack-clenny” by Florida Times-Union reporter Clayton Freedman. Overall, Holland finished the season with a whopping 28 total sacks and racked up 74 total tackles in helping the Wildcats reach the Class 5A State Semifinals for the second time in school history.
CLASS 5A CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR
EDITOR’S NOTE: This was a tough decision to make given both Merritt Island and Sebring were not teams that were talked about making deep playoff runs at the start of the season. Both teams excelled and performed way above expectations and both coaches are equally deserving of the recognition.
Hurlie Brown, Merritt Island
In his fourth season as head coach of his alma mater, Brown returned the Mustangs to the state championship game for the first time since 1989. The Mustangs had a combination of weapons that allowed them to take advantage of things to reach the Class 5A State Championship game where they fell to the hands of Miami Central and Brown’s former friend, teammate, and roommate from their days at Miami, Roland Smith. The Mustangs finished the 2021 campaign with a 13-2 overall record.
LaVaar Scott, Sebring
Scott has been building a program in the middle section of Highlands County for the last decade since being promoted as head coach at his alma mater where he was a standout linebacker in the mid-to-late 1990s for the Blue Streaks. In 2021, the Blue Streaks accomplished their best season since 1967 when the Blue Streaks reached what was called the Semifinal round in Class B which was then the game before a state championship game. However, in the modern era of FHSAA football, no Sebring team had been past the Regional Semifinals round, but that changed this year when they reached the Class 5A State Semifinals before falling to eventual State Runner-Up Merritt Island. Scott and his Blue Streaks finished the season with a 9-4 overall record, the District 5A-12 Championship, and the Class 5A-Region 3 Championship.
FAN VOTE RESULTS
Denaburg runs away with fan vote poll for Offensive Player of the Year
Merritt Island utility player Brady Denaburg ran away with the fan poll for Offensive Player of the Year with 60.2% of the vote while Crawfordville Wakulla running back Zamarion Smith, finished the season with 1,912 yards on 192 carries and 18 touchdowns. He also added 19 receptions for 484 yards and 3 more touchdowns, took in second with 19.4% of the vote. Clearwater teammates Censere “C.J.” Lee, a wide receiver, and quarterback Aiden MacLean finished third and fourth with 7.7% and 7.2% of the vote respectively. Merritt Island wide receiver Dallas Donahue finished the voting overall with 5.4% of the vote.
Close race between Graham and Holland for Defensive Player of the Year fan vote
Fort Lauderdale Stranahan linebacker Omar Graham Jr. racked up 102 total tackles while having 29 tackles for loss. He also collected up 17.5 sacks, forcing two fumbles and recovering fumbles, and Glen St. Mary Baker County defensive lineman Orlando Holland who had a whopping 28 total sacks and racked up 74 total tackles during the 2021 season finished with 42.6% and 32.9% of the vote respectively in the fan poll. Miami Killian linebacker Stanquan Clark came in third place with 10.2% of the vote while Miami Central teammates, linebacker Wesley Bassainthe and defensive lineman Rueben Bain finished with 7.3% and 7% of the vote respectively.
Sebring’s Scott wins in the fan vote for Coach of the Year
Sebring legend LaVaar Scott cleared the way in the fan poll vote for Coach of the Year honors with 46.6% of the vote after the successful year the Blue Streaks had. Glen St. Mary Baker County head coach Kevin Mays came in second with 30.9% of the overall fan vote. Miami Central head coach Roland Smith came in third place with 17.2% of the fan vote while Merritt Island head coach Hurlie Brown finished fourth with 4.7% of the vote. Satellite’s Tim Kimmey finished the voting last with less than one percent of the vote.
