For the first time ever, Gatorade has announced the Top 3 finalists for its National Player of the Year award. And, two of the three finalists are juniors.
Junior quarterback J.T. Daniels, who has led Mater Dei (California) to a No. 1 ranking in the High School Football America Top 100, is joined by fellow junior Quavaris Crouch, a running back for Harding University High School in North Carolina. The only senior finalist is quarterback Trevor Lawrence of Cartersville (Georgia).
Daniels, who is a USC-commit, has won Gatorade’s California Player of the Year for the last seasons. He’s completed over 72-percent of his passes this year with 49 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Saturday, Mater Dei will play No. 11 De La Salle for the California Open Division championship.
Crouch, who is the No. 1 running back in the Class of 2019, rushed for 3,142 yards and 31 touchdowns in helping Harding to Class 4A championship this season. On defense, Crouch had 42 tackles and 14 sacks.
Like Daniels, Lawrence won Georgia’s Player of the Year award for the second year in a row. The Clemson-commit threw for 3,296 yards and 41 touchdowns this past season, completing 177-of-256 passes with just one interception. Cartersville is currently ranked No. 98 in our Top 100.
