Vote: Who is the Polk County Florida High School Football Player of the Week? - Sept. 2, 2025

Check out these 9 candidates and some stellar performances

Bill Kemp | Sep 2, 2025

Lakeland defensive back Christopher Cresser (26) and his teammates did a great job containing North Carolina-bound speedster Jaden Jefferson (15) all night in De La Salle's 10-6 home win over Aug. 29, 2025. / Photo by Dennis Lee

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.

Here are the candidates for our first honoree of 2025. Voting ends Sept. 7 at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced in next week's poll.

Michael Kerney III, Senior, Winter Haven

He rushed for 60 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries and was 3-of-8 passing for 65 more yards during a 35-0 win over Lake Region.

Lavonski Tubbs, Senior, Ridge Community

He rushed for 104 yards on 22 carries and threw for 73 yards and one touchdown during a 34-6 loss to Ridge Community. The Bolts are now 1-1 on the season

Kingston Loydd, Freshman, Lake Wales

He was 12-of-18 passing for 181 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. He also rushed five times for 33 yards in a 34-6 win over Ridge. The Highlanders are 2-0 on the season.

Kamari Smith, Junior, Lake Wales

He rushed nine times for 186 yards and two touchdowns during a 34-6 win over Ridge. The Highlanders are 2-0 on the season.

Brody Brenneman, Junior, Lakeland Christian

He was 9-of-14 passing for 187 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 52 yards and one more touchdown during a 49-6 win over Zephyrhills Christian. The Vikings are 1-1 on the season.

Devonte Howard, Senior, Lakeland Christian

He caught four passes for 81 yards and three touchdowns during a 49-6 win over Zephyrhills Christian. The Vikings are 1-1 on the season.

Ashton Fraizer, Senior, Kathleen

He was 8 of 14 passing for 100 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions during a 49-6 win over Mulberry. The Red Devils are now 1-1 on the season.

Reagan Korlacki, Junior, Santa Fe

He rushed 18 times for 151 yards during a 17-7 win against Canterbury. The Hawks are 2-0 on the season.

Zyrell Thomas, Senior, Santa Fe

He rushed 11 times for 145 yards and one touchdown during a 17-7 win against Canterbury. The Hawks are 2-0 on the season.

Published Sep 2, 2025

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.