Vote: Mid-Central Florida football Player of the Week (8/26/2024)

We’ve selected eight candidates to choose from this past week’s regular season games

Buchholz Bobcats Keil McGriff (7) is brought down by Vanguard Lem’marius Woolbright after he was called for pass interference. The Vanguard Knights hosted the Buchholz Bobcats at Booster Stadium in Ocala, FL on Friday, August 23, 2024. Buchholz lead at the half 17-7. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner] / Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner / USA TODAY NETWORK

Florida high school football is back and so begins our Player of the Week polls for areas all around the state. Teams showcased what they’ve got in Week 1 of the regular season.

As such, we have eight athletes nominated this week for the SBLive’s Mid-Central Florida Football Player of the Week award from August 22-24, and we ask you, the fans, to help decide who should indeed be the top athlete selected.

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Congratulations to last week's winner: Ja'Kyrian Turner, RB, South Sumter

In a 38-0 victory over Wildwood, Turner ran around, over and through the Wildcats. Turner rushed for 105 yards on six carries and scored four touchdowns.

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SBLive voting polls are intended to be a fun way to create fan engagement and express support for your favorite high school athletes and teams. Unless expressly noted, there are no awards for winning the voting. Our primary focus is to highlight the abilities and accomplishments of all the athletes and teams included in our poll. You can vote as often as you wish and are encouraged to share our polls with others. The use of voting bots and other forms of automated voting are not allowed. Individuals will be removed from the poll if any form of automated voting can be verified. - SBLive Sports

Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Sep. 1st. The winner will be announced in the following week's poll. Here are this week's nominees:

Here are this week's nominations.

Malakhi Boone, South Sumter

The UCF commitment was all over the field in the Raiders’ 35-28 loss to Niceville, tallying a team-high 16 tackles.

Donnovin Gonzalez, Dunnellon

In a 21-14 win over FSU High, the Tigers’ defender led the team in tackles with 12, one going for a loss.

Tucker Higginbotham, Lafayette

Higginbotham made quick work of Dixie County last week as the quarterback completed 14-of-20 passes for 221 yards and five touchdowns.

Trace Johnson, Buchholz

The junior quarterback started off the season with a solid performance against Vanguard, throwing for 237 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-7 win.

Zane Leger, Keystone Heights

Leger, a junior running back, looked solid in Keystone Heights' 29-0 victory over Interlachen last week. The tailback had 20 carries for 152 yards and two touchdowns.

Landin Williams, Bell

The Bulldogs' sophomore running back had a breakout game last week in a 34-24 win over Trenton. Williams finished the game with 20 carries for 195 yards and four touchdowns.

Brant Bivens, Trenton

Despite coming up on the short end of things in a loss to Bell, Bivens impressed nonetheless. The quarterback finished completing 9-of-12 passes for 127 yards and also rushed for 82 on 13 touches.

Drew Simmons, Union County

Simmons ran Union County to victory last week in a gritty 14-13 win over Yulee. The sophomore running back rushed for a game-high 176 yard on 18 carries and scored a touchdown.

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