Crescent Valley High School’s (Oregon) Talonoa Hufanga is the first-ever Polynesian High School Football Player of the Year. The Polynesian Hall of Fame made the announcement this weekend in conjunction with the Polynesian Bowl that features 100 high school seniors, of which a majority are of Polynesian ancestry.
Hufanga, who will enroll at USC in a couple of weeks, is considered the nation’s No. 1 athlete. Last seson, he helped Crescent Valley to a 9-2 season with 490 yards rushing and 696 yards receiving with 18 touchdowns. On defense, the safety had 44 tackles with four interceptions.
The other finalists for the award were Mater Dei (California) linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu, who is considering Notre Dame, Oklahoma, UCLA and USC, St. Louis (Hawaii) quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, who signed with Hawaii, Bishop Gorman linebacker Palaie Gaoteote, who signed with USC and Reno (Nevada) linebacker Brandon Kaho, who signed with Washington.
