Quarterback Kane Archer of Greenwood High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade Arkansas Football Player of the Year. Archer is the first Gatorade Arkansas Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Greenwood High School.
Celebrating its 40th year, theGatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Archer as Arkansas’ best high school football player, and he joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Emmitt Smith (1986-87, Escambia High School, Fl.), Peyton Manning (1993-94, Isidore Newman School, La.) and DJ Lagway (2023-24, Willis High School, Texas).
At the time of his selection, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior quarterback had passed for 3,559 yards and 54 touchdowns with just one interception, leading the Bulldogs to a 12-0 record and a berth in the 6A state championship game. The 6A West Offensive Player of the Year, Archer completed a state-record 82.1 percent of his passes through 12 games. He had also rushed for 664 yards and six touchdowns.
Archer has volunteered locally on behalf of the Special Olympics and as a quarterback coach for Greenwood youth football players. He has also donated his time by fundraising to create an adaptive playground in Greenwood and he has spoken to elementary school students about the importance of making good decisions.
Related: Finalist for 2024 Gatorade National POY
“His decisiveness, accuracy and mobility are off the charts,” said Kim Dameron, head coach at Southside High School. “The thing that makes him the most dangerous is what he can do when the play breaks down. Not only with his feet, but also with his ability to deliver the ball accurately with different arm angles.”
Archer has maintained a 3.41 GPA in the classroom. He will begin his senior year of high school next fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field – and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Archer joins recent Gatorade Arkansas Football Players of the Year Drake Lindsey (2023-24, Fayetteville High School), Eli Wisdom (2022-23, Shiloh Christian School), Joe Himon (2021-22, Pulaski Academy) and Austin Ledbetter (2020-21, Bryant High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.
The above is from a Gatorade news release
