Vote: South Suncoast Florida high school football Player of the Week (9/23/2024)

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

Southeast High running back Jayden Fields should be a key player for the Seminoles in their game against Cypress Creek. / Mike Lang / Sarasota Herald-Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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 5 of the regular season.

As such, we have eight athletes nominated this week for the SBLive’s South Suncoast Football Player of the Week award from September 19-21, 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: Gage Cameron, Parrish Community

Despite the Bulls falling to Palmetto 21-14, Cameron tallied 11 tackles and two going for a loss.

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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. 29th. The winner will be announced in the following week's poll. Here are this week's nominees:

Dorien Jones, Venice

No one on Cocoa's defense was stopping the sophomore running back in Venice's 54-51 victory, with the Indians' workhorse rushing for 226 yards and scoring three touchdowns.

Max Stafford, IMG Academy Blue

Stafford had a strong game in a losing effort, 56-34 loss to Faith Christian, with the quarterback completing 23-of-29 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns.

Jermaine Edwards, Parrish Community

The Bulls' running back had a big night in the team's 35-0 win over Braden River, with Edwards rushing for 209 yards and scoring four touchdowns.

Rylan Unruh, DeSoto County

Unruh was a big reason the Cowboys were able to notch win No. 1, 29-26 over Bayshore, with the running back rushing for 77 yards and three touchdowns.

Ben Milliken, Sarasota Christian

The sophomore quarterback did everything he could in the team's 36-31 loss to Out-of-Door Academy, completing 32-of-51 passes for 336 yards and four touchdowns.

Connail Jackson, Cardinal Mooney

Oh my. Jackson was apart of a 451-yard rushing effort in Cardinal Mooney's 49-28 defeat of previously ranked Bishop Verot. Jackson rushed for a team-high 224 yards and a touchdown.

Anthony Miller, Sarasota Riverview

Miller accounted for a total of 54 yards and three touchdowns in the Rams 41-30 victory over Sarasota Booker last week.

Keishawn Smith, Manatee

The senior dynamo was everywhere on the field in the Hurricanes' 44-7 win over IMG Academy White, with Smith totaling 138 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns.

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Follow SBLive Florida throughout the 2024 high school football season for Live Updates, the most up to date Schedules & Scores and complete coverage from the preseason through the state championships!

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SBLIVE SPORTS LAUNCHES HIGH SCHOOL ON SI

High School On SI will serve as the premier destination for high school sports fans, delivering unparalleled coverage of high school athletics nationwide through in-depth stories, recruiting coverage, rankings, highlights and much more. The launch of a dedicated high school experience expands Sports Illustrated’s reach to even more local communities as fans can now truly follow athletes from “preps to the pros” on a single platform, bringing them closer to the action than ever before. For more information, visit si.com/high-school.

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