COVER 3 – STATE CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION: Three athletes that stood out from the 2024 Class 4A 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. In this year’s week-long state championship extravaganza at FIU’s Pitbull Stadium, and capping off the Friday slate of games was a barn burner between Jones and American Heritage where the Patriots ended up with a 40-31 win clinching sixth state championship.

Here are three players we felt deserved a stay in the spotlight or their performance on Friday night:

RB Byron Louis – American Heritage

What can you say about the performance of Byron Louis? WOW. The Florida Gator signee not only scored two critical touchdowns for the Patriots, he saw his number picked 30 times over the course of the game with 29 of those opportunities coming on the ground. In total, Louis grabbed an eye popping 221 yards on the ground. With the game tied 31-31 apiece with nine minutes remaining, Louis took off out of the shotgun from their own 20 and ran it down the other end for an 80 yard touchdown giving Heritage a 37-31 lead.

DE/LB Quinton Evans – Jones

For the Jones Tigers, Quinton Evans was one of the big reasons why the American Heritage Patriots could not effectively pull away on the scoreboard. Granted, this game was an absolute offensive track meet, there is something to be said about the performance of the Jones Tigers defense under the circumstances. In total, Evans was able to make 10 stops with two of them coming behind the Patriot line of scrimmage. If there is a silver lining, the presence of Quinton Evans was certainly felt on the field.

QB Malachi Toney – American Heritage

Along with every great running back, there is always a sufficient quarterback there to make things easier for everyone on that side of the ball. In the case of the Heritage Patriots, Malachi Toney exceeded that narrative. Let’s say this.. Malachi Toney is no Dia Bell. He certainly could have fooled anyone watching the game. Toney went 15 of 18 through the air with one touchdown coming out of 188 yards passing. The 188 yards passing stands out even more than it should because the Patriots ran the ball for 225 yards. Toney also contributed an additional 17 yards on the ground.