Vote: Who was the 2024 Illinois Football Player of the Year?

We give you six candidates to choose from

Althoff 2025 running back Dierre Hill Jr. has committed to Oregon / Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

The high school football season is beginning to wrap up across the country and we start to take a closer look at player of the year awards.

But first, we want to let the fans decide on who they believe are the players most deserving before we here at High School On SI start naming the top performers of the 2024 season.

We continue to the Midwest region and to the great state of Illinois and we ask the question: Who was the 2024 Illinois Football Player of the Year? 

This list consists of six worthy candidates and we're asking for your help as the fan to vote on who you believe had the best season this fall.

Voting will end on December 31st, 2024.

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

Here are the nominations:

Bradyn Little, QB, Quincy

Not many surrounding the Great Lakes can amount to the kind of numbers Little put up his senior season for Quincy. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound quarterback ended his final year of high school ball completing 263-of-369 passes for 4,132 yards and 47 touchdowns. Little also added 270 yards and three scores on the ground for Quincy.

Quinn Schambow, QB, Libertyville

It was an all-time kinda season for Schambow this fall for Libertyville. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound quarterback posted the top touchdown total through the air in the state with 52. Schambow ended up completing 184-of-249 passes for 3,521 yards and was named to the Class 6A all-state team as well.

Anthony Chahino, QB, Geneva

Chahino was a touchdown machine through the air for the Vikings this past fall campaign. The senior signal caller put on a clinic against opposing offenses, completing 184-of-291 passes for 3,600 yards and 49 touchdowns. To go along with his prolific passing numbers, Chahino also rushed for six touchdowns as a runner.

Dierre Hill Jr., RB, Althoff Catholic

The Oregon commit set an IHSA single-game rushing record with 438 yards on 32 carries and scoring seven total touchdowns in leading Althoff Catholic to a dominating 57-14 victory over Lena-Winslow in the Class 1A state championship game. For the season, Hill Jr. ended with 2,588 yards on just 156 carries, which equates to a ridiculous 16.5 yard per carry average. Scored 40 touchdowns and also added 17 catches for 383 yards and six scores.

Aaron Stewart, RB, Warren Township

Just behind Hill Jr. in the rushing department was Stewart, who had a pretty solid campaign himself as a running back. After rushing for nearly 1,700 yards a year ago, Stewart almost added 1,000 to that very total this season. The junior rushed for 2,465 yards on 343 attempts and scored 34 touchdowns. Also caught 13 passes for 82 yards.

Ryne Sheppard, QB/DB, Maroa-Forsyth

The two-way starter was effective throwing the running the ball from the quarterback position for Maroa-Forsyth. Over the span of 13 games, Sheppard through the air completed 208-of-277 passes for 3,320 yards and 46 touchdowns. On the ground, Sheppard carried the ball 85 times for 525 yards and found the endzone nine times. Defensively, the 5-foot-11 junior made 20 tackles and picked off a pass.

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