Vote: Tampa Bay high school football player of the week (11/26/2023)

We’ve selected 11 candidates to choose from this past week’s playoff games

The Florida High School Football Playoffs have begun and we continue our Player of the Week polls for areas all around the state. It's playoff time and plenty of players had some great individual performances in the region finals.

As such, we have 11 athletes nominated this week for the SBLive’s Tampa Bay high school football player of the week award from November 24, and we ask you, the fans, to help decide who should indeed be the top athlete selected. Voting will conclude on Saturday, December 2nd at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced in next week's poll.

Editor’s note: Our corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. This poll is specifically for fans to vote on the players that have been nominated and in no way discredits any other player that may not be mentioned in our poll.


Congratulations to last week's winner: Durant wide receiver Damari Styles 


Here are the nominations:

JC Mirasola, QB, Plant: Mirasola didn't have any incompletions in Plant's gritty 20-14 win over Sumner, as the quarterback went 8-for-8 for 175 yards and a touchdown. Also rushed for 65 yards on 10 attempts.

Chase Jarrett, RB/LB, Plant: Forget that his numbers aren't off the charts. Jarrett's meaning to the Panthers' win over the Stingrays couldn't be tracked with stats. Jarrett scored a rushing touchdown and notched four tackles on defense. 

Alex Tate, LB, Plant: Tate was harassing Sumner quarterback Greg Smith III all night and ended the game with four sacks. 

Jershaun Newton, QB, Clearwater Central Catholic: The dual-threat quarterback had another strong game en route to making a run back to states, throwing for 273 yards, two touchdowns and also rushed for 146 and a score in a 45-41 win over Carrollwood Day. 

Keo Jenkins, RB, Clearwater Central Catholic: Three carries and three touchdowns. Sounds like a good deal, right? That was Jenkins' night in the Marauders' win over the Patriots. 

Jordan Magwood, QB, Carrollwood Day: The Patriots' quarterback had one of the top performances of any signal caller in the state, completing 21-of-36 passes for 403 yards and five touchdowns. 

Jacob Drackett, QB, Calvary Christian: The Air Force commitment completed 21-of-30 for 304 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-27 loss to Berkeley Prep. 

Austin Ho, WR, Calvary Christian: The junior wide receiver had a solid game in the loss to the Buccaneers, hauling in seven passes for 128 yards. 

Brad Paxton, K/P, Berkeley Prep: Paxton made a difference in knocking down extra points, field goals and solid punts. The senior averaged 31 yards per punt on three attempts and went 4-for-4 on PAT's and hit on a field goal. 

Jayce Nixon, QB, Gaither: The southpaw led the Cowboys to a gritty region final road win over Jesuit in overtime, throwing for 187 yards, a touchdown and ran in what would be the go-ahead score. 

Elija Mason, RB, Gaither: Mason rushed for 99 yards on 22 carries and scored two touchdowns in the Cowboys' 31-24 victory over Jesuit. 

-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl 


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Andy Villamarzo
ANDY VILLAMARZO

Andy Villamarzo has been a sports writer in the Tampa Bay (FL) Area since 2007, writing for publications such as Tampa Bay Times, The Tampa Tribune, The Suncoast News, Tampa Beacon, Hernando Sun to name a few. Andy resides out of the Tarpon Springs, FL area and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in the summer of 2022 covering the Tampa Bay Area. He has quickly become one of Florida's foremost authorities on high school sports, appearing frequently on podcasts, radio programs and digital broadcasts as an expert on team rankings, recruiting and much more.