Vote: Who was Kentucky's top football performer of the 2024 KHSAA state championships?

We give you 10 candidates to choose from

Cooper Jaguars linebacker Lucas Hughes attempts to put a stop to Bowling Green Purples quarterback Deuce Bailey (2) during the KHSAA Class 5A 2023 UK HealthCare Sports Medicine state finals football game between Cooper Jaguars and Bowling Green Purples on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky. / Carter Skaggs/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

It’s playoff time in the Bluegrass State for football and we’ve got your top performers from the gridiron coming at you.

From offense to defense to special teams, we examined each game to give you the top candidates from the state championship round. We ask you, who was the best performer from this past week's state finals at the University of Kentucky's Kroger Field?

Voting will end on December 15th, 11:59 p.m.

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:

Jack James, QB, Paducah Tilghman

James capped what has been a phenomenal high school career with one more great performance. The quarterback threw for 352 yards and accounted for three touchdowns in leading Paducah Tilghman to a 27-20 win over Franklin County.

Martels Carter, WR, Paducah Tilghman

The University of Kentucky signee was too tough to stop for Franklin County, as Carter was the favorite target of James. Carter caught nine passes for 169 yards and accounted for two total scores.

Connor Hodge, QB, Christian Academy

There's no denying that Hodge might've had the best overall performance of any player from last week's finals. Hodge totaled six touchdowns and threw for 225 yards in leading Christian Academy to a 42-21 win over Union County for the Class 3A title.

Deuce Bailey, QB, Bowling Green

Leading Bowling Green to a 37-20 win over Cooper for the Class 5A state championship, Bailey did a little bit of everything. Bailey accounted for 207 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns for the Purples.

Cam O’Hara, QB, Cooper

O'Hara had a big day through the air, though, coming in a loss to Bowling Green. The Jaguars' signal caller finished completing 18-of-27 passes for 262 yards and three scores.

Caleb Ricks, DB, Trinity

Needing to somehow pull away from Ryles in the Class 6A state championship, Ricks made the play of the game. The defensive intercepted a pass and returned it the house, helping Trinity claim its 29th overall state championship in a 42-23 win.

Chase Flaherty, RB, Beechwood

In Beechwood's 50-34 victory over Owensboro Catholic last week for the Class 2A state championship, as the running back rushed for 74 yards and found pay dirt four times.

Brady Atwell, QB, Owensboro Catholic

Hard to keep Atwell off this list despite the quarterback being on the losing end of last week's Class 2A state championship game against Beechwood. Atwell threw for 366 yards and accounted for 4 touchdowns in the loss.

Luke Pennington, QB, Sayre

After 40 years of not having a football program to winning a state championship. That's what has happened over at Sayre as they notched a narrow 27-22 win over Raceland for the Class 1A title behind Pennington's three touchdown passes and 219 yards through the air.

Shannon Marushi, RB, Raceland

In trying to keep pace with Sayre, Marushi was the workhorse out of the backfield for Raceland. The running back carried the rock 23 times for 95 yards and scored a touchdown in the loss.

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