COVER 3 – STATE CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION: Three athletes that stood out from the 2024 Class 3A State Championship Game

Our Cover 3 feature on FloridaHSFootball.com will be a complimentary part of our Daily Drive Podcast with Christopher Lyke that begins on January 2, 2025. The final game of the 2024 Florida High School Football season featured some explosive fireworks, a few ejections, and everything in between amid a 41-0 win by the Miami Northwestern Bulls. Of course, the game got extra media attention with the presence of Bulls head coach Teddy Bridgewater, but that being said, our focus is on the activity on the field here.

Here are three players that we felt deserved the spotlight in our final State Championship Edition of the Cover 3:

QB Leon Strawder – Miami Northwestern

While he was not perfect, Leon Strawder was a throwing machine for the Bulls. Overall, he went 19-of-27 from the field with an eye-popping 361 yards and four touchdown passes. Three of the four touchdowns came in the third quarter when the Bulls put the car in high gear by scoring 21 in that quarter alone. Strawder also scored the lone fourth-quarter ice cap with a minute and change left in the game. With one more season to go at Miami Northwestern, it might not be a surprising expectation to see Strawder in the title game once more.

WR Nicholas Lennear – Miami Northwestern

Another underclassman, who is shining at the right time under the spotlight, is sophomore wide receiver Nicholas Lennear. Off the throwing arm of Strawder, Linear was targeted eight times in total but caught the ball four times for 121 yards. Of those four catches, Lennear reached the end zone just once. The touchdown he did score was earned in the third quarter on a 48 yard pass with 2:49 left to go in the third quarter.

QB TJ Cole – Raines

The Vikings failed to produce a point in the state championship, but with QB TJ Cole, there were some bright spots to focus on. From behind center, the junior was six of 19 for 45 yards. To Cole’s credit, with the stifling defense of Northwestern looming all over the field, he was not sacked once the entire game. Cole was running for his life up and down the field. The junior ran the ball 16 times for a net gain of 135 yards, with the longest gain being a 25-yarder in the third quarter right off the aftermath of the massive skirmish that overshadowed parts of the game.