High School

Vote for the Polk County High School Football Player of the Week - Sept. 29, 2025

Here are seven nominees for your voting consideration

Bill Kemp

Lakeland vs Lake Gibson from Sept. 26, 2025
Lakeland vs Lake Gibson from Sept. 26, 2025 / Brian Knight

The 2025 high school football season is in full stride in Polk County, Florida and we will be reporting on the top performers throughout the season and asking you to vote each week to name our Polk County Florida High School Football Player of the Week.

Congratulations to our last winner: Kelin Hendrix of Lakeland.

Here are the candidates for our first honoree of 2025. Voting ends Oct. 5 at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced in next week's poll.

Kamari Smith, Lake Wales, Jr. 

He rushed for 88 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries during a 54-0 win over Lake Region.The Highlanders improved to 5-1 on the season.

Michael Kearney, Winter Haven, Sr. 

He was 5-of-9 passing for 121 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed 10 times for 194 yards and another touchdown during a 26-7 win over Haines City. The Blue Devils are 4-1 on the season.

Malachi Moore, Lake Gibson, Jr.

He recorded 16 tackles – eight solo – during a 40-0 loss to Lakeland. He also had one fumble recovery and one caused fumble.

Daniel James, RIdge Community, Jr.

He caught four passes for 139 yards and three touchdowns during a 38-7 win over George Jenkins. The Bolts are now 2-3 on the season.

DeShawn Smalls, Winter Haven, Jr.

He recorded 12 tackles – 10 solo – during a  26-7 win over Haines City. The Blue Devils are 4-1 on the season.

Vario McBride, WInter Haven, So.

He recorded eight tackles – four solo – during a  26-7 win over Haines City. The Blue Devils are 4-1 on the season.

Zephaniah Rogers, Lakeland, Sr.

He picked up nine tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble in a 40-0 win over Lake Gibson. It marked the second straight game the defense posted a shutout.

About Our Athlete of the Week Voting
High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals.Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports.Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.

Published
Bill Kemp
BILL KEMP

Bill Kemp is an award-winning sports journalist at the state and national levels. Over the course of 25 years, he’s covered more than 4,000 sporting events including the NFL regular season, playoffs and Super Bowls, Major League Baseball regular season and spring training, NASCAR racing at Daytona and Talladega International Speedways and major college football regular seasons and bowl games. He was named by the Associated Press Sports Editors as a Top 10 sports columnist and Top 3 by the Alabama Press Association for best sports column and sports page design. He has served as preps editor at the Lakeland Ledger as well as sports editor at five different newspapers in Florida and Alabama. He has been published in dozens of newspapers including USA Today, the Miami Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, the Jacksonville Times Union and the Tampa Bay Times. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida. He has been writing for SBLive Sports since 2022.

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