Florida high school football MVP Watch: Brady Hart leads the pack

The Tigers’ quarterback is on a current pace to throw for over 5,000 yards if Cocoa plays in the Class 2A state championship game

Brady Hart of Cocoa is pursued by Titusville’s Dwight Jenkins during their District 12-2S football game Friday, October 13, 2023. / Craig Bailey / USA TODAY NETWORK

It’s a quarterback eccentric world when it comes to high school football and Florida is no exception.

The Sunshine State features some of the top signal callers in the country, especially when you factor in the 2026 class of passers.

The last two winners of being named Florida’s Most Valuable Player award is Cocoa’s Blake Boda (2022) and Chaminade-Madonna’s Jeremiah Smith (2023).

With all that in mind, here are the five front-runners, in descending order, through the first six weeks:

5. Anthony McQueen, QB, Miami Central

McQueen transferred over from Miami Booker T. Washington during the off-season and he’s been the Rockets’ guy the last few games.

Even with much less snaps under center than most, the junior signal caller has proven his worth as a viable MVP candidate.

McQueen’s best game came in Miami Central’s 35-32 win over Plantation American Heritage as the passer completed 14-of-20 passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 73 yards rushing and a score.

Through four games played this season, McQueen has completed 33-of-46 (71 percent) passes for 911 yards, 10 touchdowns and just one mere interception. Also throw in the 147 rushing yards and four scores and we feel McQueen has certainly earned himself a spot on this exclusive list.

4. Shanard Clower, ATH, Lakeland

Lakeland Dreadnaughts (5) Shanard Clower runs into the end zone for a touchdown against Winter Haven during first half action at Denison Stadium Friday September 13 2024, in Winter Haven Fl. Ernst Peters/The Ledger / Ernst Peters/The Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Entering the MVP chat is the Swiss Army knife of the Lakeland Dreadnaughts.

No, really, Clower can do it all just about when it comes to the skill position. The athlete can play quarterback, running back or wide receiver and also sees time in the defensive backfield. Did we forget to mention he’s Lakeland’s punt/kick returner as well?

Clower had his MVP moment in Lakeland’s 35-34 victory over Lake Mary back on Sep. 6th, with the athlete totaling over 300-plus all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns.

His most recent performance was a 100-plus yard, three touchdown performance in one half of play against Lake Gibson. Closer has been dynamite in many different ways for Lakeland.

3. Dorien Jones, RB, Venice

Venice's Dorian Irving-Jones (#21) had 26 rushes for 146 yards and a touchdown, along with two receptions for nine yards and another score. Spring football was back as Venice hosted the Naples Golden Eagles at Venice's Powell-Davis Stadium Tuesday evening May 21, 2024. Venice went on to win 27 / THOMAS BENDER/HERALD-TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK

If you look at if Jones’ usage was up in the first couple games of the season, a potentially better argument could be made that the running back is the MVP.

Regardless of that, the super sophomore has been on an absolute tear in the last few weeks, moving him into the conversation as a couple of Jones’ best performances have come against state title contending teams.

One of the highest scoring games of the season in a 71-56 win over Bishop Verot, the running back carried the ball 19 times for 209 yards and four touchdowns.

Jones then in a 54-51 victory over Cocoa, the tailback carried the rock 31 times for 226 hard-earned yards and scored two times.

On the season, Jones has rushed for 832 yards on 104 carries for an average of eight yards per carry and 11 touchdowns.

We know Jones has got a pretty good running mate in Jamarice Wilder, who’s rushed for over 700 yards himself and scored 11 touchdowns, but for what ‘Macho’ has done so far as a sophomore really stands out.

2. Dereon Coleman, QB, Jones

Dereon Coleman selected Miami (FL) over Oklahoma, Ole Miss and UCF / Dereon Coleman/X

The future Miami Hurricane absolutely passes the eye test when you see him up close.

Arguably the Fightin’ Tigers’ starting quarterback’s best performance came in a 34-28 overtime victory over Kissimmee Osceola.

Trailing for most of the game, Coleman engineered multiple scoring drives in the second half and leading Jones to the thrilling victory.

On the season, Coleman has completed 91-of-119 (76 percent) passes for 1,417 yards and 13 touchdowns to just two interceptions. He’s also rushed for 140 yards and a score.

1. Brady Hart, QB, Cocoa

Brady Hart of the Cocoa Tigers passes the ball during the game against Titusville Friday, August 23, 2024. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK / Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK

Could we see another Cocoa quarterback take home the distinguished award of Florida’s best player?

With the way the Michigan commitment is playing, there’s absolutely no reason why Hart couldn’t be the second in as many years.

Now we know you might be starting pretty hard at the two losses to IMG Academy and Venice, but you should probably stop doing that. We feel against IMG Academy for a half, Hart played pretty well before everything fell apart in the second half. The Venice game was statistically his best, completing 27-of-38 passes for 527 yards and four touchdowns.

If Hart plays in 15 games, including the Class 2A state championship, the following are what his numbers may look like: 294-of-441, 5,178 yards and 48 touchdowns.

Those would be some potentially record-breaking numbers and we can’t ignore that.

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