GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a successful 2021 season, FloridaHSFootball.com is happy to announce the award winners for the following awards in Class 7A.
CLASS 7A OVERALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
QB Zion Turner, Sr., Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas
The leader of the Raiders’ offensive for the last three seasons, his senior year campaign turned out to be the best for Turner, going 130-of-191 passing for a 68% completion percentage for 2,103 yards, 25 touchdowns, and only throwing 5 interceptions in all 15 games played. Turner also carried the ball 77 times for 382 yards rushing and 12 more touchdowns, leading the Raiders to their third straight Class 7A State Championship.
CLASS 7A OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
RB Jaylon Glover, Sr., Lakeland Lake Gibson
A very explosive running back, Glover dominated opposing offenses at will with the ball with 312 carries for 2,377 yards rushing and 29 touchdowns in the 12 games he played in during the 2021 season, all the while helping lead the Braves to the Class 7A State Semifinals.
CLASS 7A DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
DL Kyrie Samuel, Sr., Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas
Samuel is a disruptive tackle and made his presence known all season long for the Raiders, racking up 43 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and collecting up 6 sacks, 1 quarterback hurry, batting down a pass, forcing a fumble, and recovering a fumble that helped lead to a third straight Class 7A State Championship.
CLASS 7A COACH OF THE YEAR
Jayson Roberts, Tampa Bay Tech
After three misses of not advancing to the state semifinals in 2014, 2017, and 2020, Roberts finally got his team over the hump on the fourth try reaching the state semifinals for the first time in school history, guiding the Titans to a victory of Lakeland Lake Gibson to reach the team’s first-ever state championship in school history. Although the Titans fell in the Class 7A State Championship game to Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, their 14-1 record goes down as the best in school history and cements Roberts’ name as one of the best in Hillsborough County and in the state as of now.
FAN VOTE RESULTS
Washington runs away with fan vote poll for Offensive Player of the Year
Tampa Bay Tech quarterback Xavione’ Washington ran away with the fan vote poll after going 159-of-227 passing for 2,464 yards, 24 touchdowns, and having only 9 passes intercepted in all 15 games played with 64.6% of the vote. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas quarterback Zion Turner finished second with 17.8% of the vote. Rounding out the vote was Gainesville Buchholz was utility/athlete Quan Lee with 10.1% of the vote in third with Edgewater running back Cedric “C.J.” Baxter and Lakeland Lake Gibson running back Jaylon Glover finishing fourth and fifth place with 5.9% and 1.6% of the final fan vote.
It was a neck and neck race for Defensive Player of the Year fan vote
Fort Lauderdale Dillard defensive lineman Nyjalik Kelly who 58 total tackles, 20 tackles for loss while collecting 12 sacks finished first in a close race with Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas defensive back King Mack who finished second after having 54 tackles, 4 interceptions, batting down three more passes, forcing a fumble, and recovering a fumble. Kelly finished with 46.4% of the vote while Mack had 45.1% of the vote respectively. Coming in third was Mack’s teammate, defensive lineman Kyrie Samuel with 4.6% of the vote. Rounding out the final vote was Ponte Vedra Nease athlete Ben Bogle with 2.9% of the vote and Tampa Bay Tech defensive lineman Keyon Clark finishing with 1.1% of the vote.
Harriott wins the fan vote for Coach of the Year by a landslide
Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Roger Harriott won the fan vote for Coach of the Year by a huge landslide with 62.9% of the vote after winning the team’s third-straight Class 7A State Championship. Gainesville Buchholz head coach Mark Whittemore came in second with 11.6% of the vote followed very closely by Ponte Vedra Nease head coach Collin Drafts with 11.1% percent. Rounding out the vote was Tampa Bay Tech head coach Jayson Roberts with 7.5% of the vote and Lakeland Lake Gibson head coach Keith Barefield with 7%.
