GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a successful 2021 season, FloridaHSFootball.com is happy to announce the award winners for the following awards in Class 6A.
CLASS 6A OVERALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
UTL Junior Vandeross, Sr., Tampa Jesuit
Jesuit’s Mr. Do-It-All on offense and special teams, really did do it all for the Tigers in their perfect 2021 season that was capped off with the Class 6A State Championship. So, where do we start about Vandeross? Let’s start with his 932 yards receiving on 53 catches, scoring 10 touchdowns. From there he had 14 punt returns for 366 yards, returning 3 of those punts for touchdowns. He also amassed 427 yards on 17 kick returns. Oh, and he did carry the ball on the ground as well rushing for 251 yards and 41 attempts, scoring twice. And finally, to put this all in a bow, Vandeross was also the Tigers’ punter averaging 38.0 yards per punt on 27 punts during the season.
CLASS 6A OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
QB Taron Dickens, Jr., Miami Northwestern
An electrifying quarterback for the 2021 season, Dickens led Florida in passing yards with 3,743 yards completing 223-of-320 pass attempts, tossing 42 touchdowns while only seeing 8 passes intercepted in 14 games played while leading the Bulls to the Class 6A State Semifinals. Dickens also carried the ball 53 times for 487 yards rushing and scoring 9 more touchdowns.
CLASS 6A DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LB Troy Bowles, Jr., Tampa Jesuit
Projected to be one of the top linebacker prospects for the Class of 2023, Bowles showed dominance for the 2021 season with the Tigers racking up 103 tackles, of which 71 were solo tackles, intercepting a pass, batting down 4 passes, forcing 2 fumbles, and recovering one fumble. He also added 9 quarterback hurries, 6 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and blocked 2 kicks en route to helping the Tigers win the Class 6A State Championship.
CLASS 6A CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR
EDITOR’S NOTE: This was a tough decision to make given both that Pensacola Pine Forest was not even projected to make the playoffs this year by anyone and the fact that Tampa Jesuit finally broke a 53-year drought of not winning the state championship. Each team went through mightily different paths to get to the State Championship game that produced one of the best contests of the entire 2021 season. Thus with that in mind, we have decided to name Co-Coaches of the year.
Ronnie Douglas, Pensacola Pine Forest
The Eagles suffered a lopsided 4-5 season in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic which was Douglas’ first year and was predicted to finish last in the Pensacola region, surprised everyone, including us in the state this year. That surprise came with a 12-game winning streak that took the Eagles all the way to the Class 6A State Championship Game in Fort Lauderdale, marking the first state championship appearance for Pine Forest since 2006. The Eagles finished the season as the Class 6A State Runner-Up with a 12-2 overall record.
Matt Thompson, Tampa Jesuit
Over the years Thompson has found him so close, yet so far from the state championship game, something that had haunted the Tigers six times including the previous three seasons before the 2021 season. However, a change in scenery with a bump up to the Class 6A changed the dynamics with one of the most talented rosters that Thompson has had as a head coach finally saw the Tigers win their first State Championship in 53 years, going a perfect 15-0 that included a huge victory over Class 7A State Champion Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas and finishing with a No. 5 overall ranking in High School Football America’s Top 100 rankings.
FAN VOTE RESULTS
Close three-way race with fan vote poll for Offensive Player of the Year
It was a close three-way race for the fan vote on Offensive Player of the Year between Orland Jones quarterback Julian Calvez, Pensacola Pine Forest athlete Donielle Hayes, and Miami Northwestern quarterback Taron Dickens. Calvez, who went 186-of-305 passing for 3,131 yards throwing 26 touchdowns and only having 8 passes intercepted took 31.4 % of the fan vote while Hayes who had 30 catches for 722 yards and 10 touchdowns while returning 12 kickoff returns for 468 yards with two of those kickoff returns resulting in a score while adding one more touchdown with a punt return took second with 29.8% of the vote. Dickens took 24.5% of the vote to finish third overall. Tampa Jesuit teammates, running back Joquez Smith, and utility/athlete Junior Vaneross rounded out the poll with 9.2% and 5.2% of the fan vote respectively.
Close race three-way race also for Defensive Player of the Year fan vote
Like the Offensive Player of the Year vote, the Defensive Player of the Year fan vote was a close three-race between Miami Northwestern linebacker Toddrick Brewton, Pensacola Pine Forest defensive lineman Rasheed Lovelace, and Tampa Jesuit defensive back Wade Woodz. Brewton, who racked up 86 tackles and 7 sacks on the season finished with 31.3% of the vote, while Lovelace, who racked up 121 tackles and 26 tackles for loss while collecting up 5 sacks, 2 quarterback hurries, and also intercepting a pass, took second with 26.9% of the vote. Woodaz who had 97 tackles and 8 tackles for loss on the field, took third with 25.4% of the vote. Woodaz also collected up 2 interceptions, 2 sacks, 3 quarterback hurries, batted down 5 passes, forced 4 fumbles, and blocked a kick. Woodaz’s teammate Troy Bowles finished with 10% of the vote while Ocala Vanguard athlete Elijah Hopkins took in 6.4% of the vote to round off the voting.
Douglas edges out Thompson in the fan vote for Coach of the Year
In the fan vote for Coach of the Year, Pensacola Pine Forest head coach Ronnie Douglas nabbed first place with 34.3% of the vote with Tampa Jesuit’s Matt Thompson following closely behind with 33.7% of the vote to finish second. Miami Northwestern head coach Max Edwards took third with 21.1% of the vote with Orlando Jones head coach Elijah Williams and Lynn Haven Mosely’s Tommy Joe Whiddon rounding off the voting with 8.5% and 2.5% of the vote respectively.
