High School On SI's Top 10 Iconic Sports Moments Of 2024

We highlight 10 moments from the 2024 high school sports season from around the country

Miami Northwestern head coach Teddy Bridgewater talks to media following the team's win over Raines in the Class 3A state championship at Florida International University on Dec. 14, 2024. / Chet Peterman / Special to The Post / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What a year of high school sports, 2024.

These past several days, we’ve celebrated the best athletes of all classifications in volleyball and football. Now, as we catch our breath briefly and prepare for 2025 on New Year's Eve, we look back at some of the most iconic moments of the last 365 days.

High School On SI's Top 10 Iconic Sports Moments Of 2024

1. Flagstaff senior Stephen "Budda" Dick (Arizona) makes a wish for new football helmets for his team (Sep. 23, 2024)

While struggling to overcome a brain tumore, Flagstaff High (Arizona) football player Stephen Dick used his "Make-a-Wish" to get brand new football helmets for his high school football team. His story was told in a televised segment on NBC before this week's broadcast of Sunday Night Football. / Flagstaff Football Instagram

Stephen Dick was your regular high school student-athlete. Seemingly healthy and strong, a moment back in the summer of 2023 would change his life forever. dick would suffer a seizure from a football practice and he was later diagnosed with a brain tumor by doctors. Facing the difficult task of having to battle the tumor, the Make-a-Wish Foundation reached out to Dick to see if they could fulfill a wish of his. Though he did not want anything specifically for himself, he did ask for brand new football helmets for his teammates. The non-profit foundation delivered and provided 55 brand new , state-of-the-art Riddell SpeedFlex helmets for his Flagstaff teammates.

2. Ridgewood's Johnny Jackson (New Jersey) defies cancer to surpass 2,000 points for career (Dec. 23, 2024)

Feb 21, 2024; Ridgewood, New Jersey, United States; Bergen Tech boys basketball at Ridgewood. RW #4 Johnny Jackson tries to get past BT #2 Dean Aminyar. / Michael Karas/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Battling Stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma, Johnny Jackson proved that not all heroes wear capes. The senior shooting defied all odds, just days removed from going through his 10th chemotherapy treatment, to score 30 points in a 64-48 victory over St. Joseph. It was not only a special night because of Jackson showing the level of strength needed to pull through to put on such a performance, but the senior also surpassed the 2,000-point mark for his high school career.

3. Teddy Bridgewater being hired as Miami Northwestern's head football coach (Feb. 2nd, 2024)

Miami Northwestern's Teddy Bridgewater raises the state trophy following the team's win over Raines in the Class 3A championship on Dec. 14, 2024. / Chet Peterman / Special to The Post / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mark the date down when Teddy Bridgewater was tabbed to take over his alma mater. On February 2nd, 2024, everything changed for the Bulls when Bridgewater decided to take his talents from the NFL at the time to the high school football level. Bridgewater was named the Bulls' head coach that day and everything else is history. The former Bulls' quarterback eventually led them back to the mountain top, winning the Class 4A state championship before making a return to the Detroit Lions recently as a backup signal caller. It's been quite the year for Bridgewater.

4. Edison (California) overcomes adversity to win CIF Division 1-A championship (Dec. 16, 2024)

Edison star players Jake Minter (left) and Julius Gillick speak on live television after the victory ceremony of the Chargers' 21-14 victory of Central in Saturday's CIF Division 1-A title game at Saddleback College. / Photo: David Dennis

Needing to pull from deep within, Edison was able to defeat Central 21-14 in the final moments of the CIF Division 1-A championship game. For the Chargers, injuries, death and an adversity-filled campaign helped lift them to a improbable ending. Having started the season at 0-2, Edison was able to go 12-2 the rest of the way, overcoming a 2-game skid at one point, to winning it all. Injuries became a major factor as the team pushed on despite the road blocks. Gillick, who ended up rushing for well over 2,300 yards, dedicated the season to his childhood friend Amarr Murphy-Paine, who was slain on June 6 outside of Garfield High School in Seattle. Through everything, Gillick helped lead Edison to the unexpected title.

5. Corner Canyon (Utah) upsets IMG Academy (Aug, 23, 2024)

No. 19 Corner Canyon upset No. 4 IMG Academy Thursday night in Utah /

It's not everyday you beat IMG Academy's national football team. Actually, prior to facing Corner Canyon back in late August, only two had done so in the previous five years. Add the Chargers to the exclusive list of teams that pulled off the feat as they edged out the Ascenders 35-34 in Draper, Utah. The win was in front of a packed crowd, who stormed the field after the game. For the Chargers, it was the biggest victory in program history to date. IMG Academy would drop one more game later in the season to rival St. Frances Academy (Maryland), which was also on the road.

6. Falmouth (Maine) goes from literal worst to first (Nov. 24, 2024)

Falmouth won the Class B Gold Cup state championship on Saturday evening / Falmouth High School

It's been well documented since last year what's gone on at Falmouth and the aftermath of it all turned into a fairy tale-like ending. Last year, 22 kids from Falmouth's 2023 team petitioned out then-head coach John Fitzsimmons. Thoughts around the state were who could come and bring stability to such a program that's gone through the ringer when it came to criticism of the situation? Enter Spencer Emerson, who returned to his home state and delivered the Navigators the goods. Emerson, a former collegiate assistant, led the squad to a 11-0 record, ending with a 26-13 win over Kennebunk for the Class B state championship. From 2-6 to 11-0 and state champs is really your worst to first storytale right here.

7. Cody Miller (Washington) finishes 143-0 to cap a historic wrestling career (Feb. 18, 2024)

High School On SI

Sumner's Cody Miller had one goal in mind to cap a historic high school career as a wrestler: Go undefeated. Miller ended up doing so when he beat Landon Porter of Olympia back in late February. The Washington wrestler finished his career with a perfect 143-0 wrestler, becoming just the second-ever to do so in a complete four-year span, with Nine Mile Falls' Dalton Young (170-0 from 2014-17) being the only other to do so.

8. West Virginia high school football playoffs officially postponed due to litigation (Nov. 12, 2024)

West Virginia high school football / WCHS TV

In an unprecedented move back in mid-November, WVSSAC Executive Director David Price released a statement that the state playoffs, all four classifications (26 games), are officially postponed until further notice. High school football for a week in the Mountain State was put on pause because of the association's playoff system being challenged by a school board. Could this be a sign of things to come around the country? The WVSSAC the following week were ruled in favor of and against the injuction, officially starting the West Virginia high school playoffs. What for a week looked to become a potential disaster, turned into a learning point that this could just be the proverbial tip of the iceberg when it comes to lawsuits/injunctions playing a role in who exactly makes the postseason in high school sports.

9. Lowndes (Georgia) defeats rival Valdosta in Winnersville Classic (Nov. 1, 2024)

This is incredible.

South Georgia high school football at its finest. pic.twitter.com/AyFADB3Nf6

— Andy Villamarzo (@Andy_Villamarzo) November 1, 2024

To some, this might be just another South Georgia rivalry. To the folks in the town of Valdosta, this one game every year means just about everything. The Winnersville Classic is the annual contest played between Lowndes and Valdosta, the country's most winngingest program, for the right to take home the Winnersville Classic trophy. The Vikings ended up defeated the Wildcats, 30-20, but the pregame and in-game atmosphere was unlike any you might see in high school sports. From the pregame tailgating to the introductions of each team to the game itself, it had a little bit of everything. It was something to behold when it comes to Georgia high school football.

10. South Park's Adam Nunes breaks New York's all-time single game rushing record (Sep. 19, 2024)

Buffalo Athletics

Whenever you set a new state record, it's always a moment, but it came unexpected from a virtual unknown in South Park's Adam Nunes. The Sparks senior running back in late September went running into the history books when he went off for 598 yards and scoring seven touchdowns in a 58-28 rout of Iroquois. Nunes broke the previous record held by Sandy Creek's Joe Benedict, who rushed for 584 back in 2016. Now, Nunes stands alone in the Empire State record books for the most rushing yards of all time in a single game.

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