Blake Hebert of Brunswick School is the 2024-25 Gatorade Connecticut Football Player of the Year. Hebert is the second Gatorade Connecticut Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Brunswick School.
Gatorade 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 Hebert as Connecticut’s 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).
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior quarterback passed for 1,589 yards and 16 touchdowns this past season, leading the Bruins (8-2) to a berth in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council championship game. The New England Prep League’s Offensive Player of the Year, Hebert also rushed for 625 yards and 11 scores. He is ranked as the nation’s No. 270 recruit in the Class of 2025 by ESPN.
Hebert has volunteered locally with Lift For Life, a fundraiser that benefits those affected by rare diseases. He has also served as a peer leader at the Brunswick School.
“Hebert is unbelievable,” said Chris Setian, head coach at Suffield Academy. “He’s a dual-threat quarterback. You have to respect his run, he makes every single throw and he’s an outstanding character kid…he was a nightmare to play against defensively.”
Hebert has maintained an A average in the classroom. At the time of his selection, he had made a verbal commitment to receive athletic aid to play football at the University of Notre Dame 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.
Hebert joins recent Gatorade Connecticut Football Players of the Year Ryan Puglisi (2023-24, Avon Old Farms School), John Neider (2022-23, Jonathan Law High School), Victor Rosa (2021-22, Bristol Central High School) and Wilfredo Aybar (2020-21, Cheshire Academy), 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 a news release from Gatorade
