25 Southeast Texas high school football player of the year candidates in 2024

From Jonah Williams to Landen Callis-Williams, High School on SI narrowed down the nominees in Houston and Southeast Texas for 2024 regional MVP

Atascocita's Tory Blaylock, a four-star Oklahoma commit, runs against North Shore in a Texas high school football rivalry on Oct. 25, 2024. / Photo by Rob August, SBLive

Who have been the best players in the Houston area and greater Southeast Texas high school football in 2024?

At the end of the season, High School on SI will crown a regional player of the year. After narrowing down the 25 North Texas MVP candidates, we're taking a look at the best players of the region and have narrowed down a top 25 watchlist for player of the year.

Scroll down and read up on the 25 most impactful players in Southeast Texas in the 2024 season:

TOP 25 SOUTHEAST TEXAS PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATES

QB Charlie Adamoli, 6-3, 190, sr., Katy Cinco Ranch 

The Cougars lost Adamoli to a broken leg in the second game last year. He’s back this year and regained the starting role. He’s thrown for 1,606 yards with 14 touchdowns. His best game was a 290-yard, 4-TD game against Katy Taylor on Sept. 26.

RB Cole Allen, 5-11, 200, sr., Houston St. John’s 

The Harvard commit has done a little bit of everything this year for the Mavericks — with touchdowns passing, running, catching and kickoff return to give him 40 total in 8 games. He’s run 199 times for 2,074 yards and 34 touchdowns and 274 yards receiving with four scores. 

QB Kaleb Bailey, 6-1, 195, sr., Galena Park North Shore 

He’s started for parts of three years and had it not been for an ACL injury it been four. He guided the Mustangs to a title as a freshman and a runner-up finish last year. This fall he’s thrown for 1,149 yards and 16 touchdowns and has scored 3 touchdowns on only 30 caries.

WR/CB Jermaine Bishop Jr., 6-0, 160, jr., Willis

The 4-star recruit is a two-way starter for the Wildkats. On defense, he has 20 tackles, with 3 interceptions, 5 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery. He’s caught 42 catches for 967 yards and 12 touchdowns in eight games and also returned a kickoff for a score. He has 1,309 all-purpose yards this fall. 

RB Tory Blaylock, 5-11, 185, sr., Humble Atascocita 

The Oklahoma pledge has run for 862 yards on 94 carries and has scored 16 touchdowns for the Eagles. Blaylock, the son of former NFL player Derrick Blaylock, has also added 17 catches for 246 yards and 3 more touchdowns. 

RB Patrick Broadway II, 5-11, 200, sr., Fulshear

A physical runner, Broadway II has 1,520 yards and 19 touchdowns through eight games. He’s been over 100 yards in each game and is averaging 12.2 yards per carry. He’s rushed for at least two touchdowns in seven of the eight games and had a career-high 248 yards in Week 2. 

QB Ty Bryson, 6-1, 175, sr., Hamshire-Fannett

In year two as a starter, he has thrown for more yards per game and more completions per game for the Longhorns. Through seven games, he’s at 1,885 yards passing with 23 touchdowns, including a Madden game-like 544 yards and 6 touchdowns on 23 of 25 passing vs. Vidor in Week 3.

LB De’Shaun Butler, 5-11, 180, jr., Katy Cypress Lakes

In five of seven games he’s had at least 13 tackles for the Spartans, including a career-high 19 in a win against Spring in Week 2. he’s up to 95 tackles, while adding 6 TFL, two forced fumbles and an interception.

RB Tyvonn Byars, 5-10, 210, sr., Montgomery Lake Creek 

The 3-star recruit is headed to Rice next year. He will leave as one of the all-time best at his school with more than 5,000 career yards rushing and 89 touchdowns. He’s up to 1,191 yards and 17 touchdowns this year and if he can match the 30 he had last year, he could have a chance to get the 100 touchdown mark. Oh, and he’s 1-for-1 passing with a 52-yard touchdown and a QB rating of 177.1.

QB Austin Carlisle, 5-11, 180, sr., Richmond Foster

The Houston commit is completing 70% of his passes for the Falcons in 7 games. He’s thrown for 1,553 yards and 23 touchdowns and adding 75 yards per game rushing with five touchdowns.

QB Aaron DeLeon, 6-1, 170, sr., Houston Stratford

The Spartans are putting big numbers, scoring at least 40 in each of the team’s 5 wins. The senior’s best game was a 6-TD, 327-yard showing against Conroe Oak Ridge. He has thrown for 1,311 yards with 14 touchdowns and only one interception. 

QB Jack Emerson, 6-0, 190, sr., Willis

Whoever was going to be the Wildkats next quarterback was going to have big shoes to fill after the graduation of DJ Lagway. Emerson has put up monster numbers in his first year starting, throwing for 2,345 yards and 28 touchdowns in 8 games. He’s also completing 75% of his passes.

RB John Hebert, 5-10, 185, jr., Houston Strake Jesuit 

After getting limited touches last year with 7 touchdowns in six games, he’s become RB1 for the Fighting Crusaders. He’s averaging 266 yards per game through seven contests. He’s up 1,866 yards with 18 touchdowns with a breakout game against Richmond George Ranch, running 28 times for 420 yards and 5 touchdowns.

WR Maxwell Hendrick, 6-1, 185, sr., Spring Klein Cain 

In a win against The Woodlands College Park earlier this year he broke a school record with 11 catches for the Hurricanes. After six weeks he was the top receivers in terms of yards and has 1,026 yards on 49 catches and 11 touchdowns — at least one in six of his team’s seven games. He had a season-best 271 yards receiving in Week 3.

QB Camden Hughes, 6-2, 180, so., The Woodlands College Park 

He tossed four touchdowns in his first start in Week 1 and by Week 7, he put his best high school game to date with a line of 15 for 20 passing for 393 yards and 5 touchdowns in 63-21 win over Conroe Caney Creek. He’s thrown for 1,777 yards and 20 touchdowns and ran for four scores in eight games.

DB Parker Johnson, 6-0, 175, sr., Houston Stratford 

He’s among the state leaders in interceptions with 7 in seven games, while his 84 tackles are leading his team. Two of his seven interceptions have been returned for touchdowns and he’s broken up five passes and forced one fumble. He had four career interceptions in 20 games heading into this season. 

RB Oswaldo Moreno, 5-10, 205, sr., Tomball 

He’s putting up 180 yards per game for the Cougars, with 1,260 yards and 14 scores in seven games. Last year, he ran for 328 yards and four touchdowns and nearly matched that in Week 6 against Spring Klein, rushing for 280 yards and 3 touchdowns. 

LB/FB Matsyn Morris, 5-9, 165, jr., Silsbee

He’s a two-way starter for the Tigers, but his bigger impact is on defense. He has 89 tackles — 12.7 per game average — and 8 TFL. Morris had a career-high 21 tackles in a win against Beaumont West Brook. He also had three offensive touchdowns. 

WR Clint Rachal, 6-4, 190, sr., Woodlands College Park 

According to MaxPreps stats, he’s the top receiver in the state with 1,080 yards on 37 catches and 12 touchdowns for the Cavaliers. He’s twice caught three touchdowns in a game this year and has two games with 200 yards or more. On Oct. 11, he hauled in 6 catches for 242 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 63-21 win over Conroe Caney Creek.

CB Devin Sanchez, 6-2, 170, sr., Galena Park North Shore

He’s the No. 1-ranked cornerback in the country and ranked No. 5 in 247Sports and No. 7, according to Rivals. The Ohio State pledge doesn’t have big numbers, but only because offensive coordinators have learned not to throw his way. He has three pass breakups and one tackle for loss and 5 tackles. 

DT Jeremiah Shelley, 5-7, 193, sr., Houston Westbury

A three-year varsity member for the Huskies, he’s having his best season yet. Through eight games, he has 56 tackles, 13 TFL, 10 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

QB Blake Thomas, 6-0, 180, sr., Humble Summer Creek

He’s throwing for 80 more yards per game this fall compared to last year. The Lamar pledge has thrown for 1,617 yards with 20 touchdowns and only 1 interception for the 6A Division II runners-up last year. 

WR/LB/S Jonah Williams, 6-3, 203, sr., Galveston Ball 

The No. 2-ranked recruit in the state, the future Longhorn is doing what he has for the past four years — make plays. He has offensive touchdowns and a special teams score. He also snared an interception and pointed to Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who flew in a helicopter to the game.  

RB Landen Williams-Callis, 5-8, 187, so., Richmond Randle

He was a first-team MaxPreps Freshman All-American last year and he’s already putting up just as good numbers in half of the games he did last year. Through seven games, the 4-star recruit with 39 offers has scored 23 touchdowns on the ground — matching his 2023 total. He’s up to 1,065 yards with an average of 10.9 yards per carry.

QB Max Zavala, 5-10, 163, sr., Pearland Dawson

He broke the Eagles’ school record for touchdown passes in a game with 6 in a 63-15 win over Pasadena Sam Rayburn on Oct. 19 and his 28 completions against Pasadena Memorial on Sept. 19 was another school record. He’s thrown for 1,622 yards in 8 games.

-- Cody Thorn | @sblivetx