Vote: Who is the South Florida High School Football Player of the Week? - Dec. 8, 2025

Cast your vote to decide who had the best performance during Week 15 of the 2025 season

Jeff Gardenour | 46 Minutes Ago

Wet Broward athlete A’mir Sears caught a 94-yard touchdown pass, made six tackles, including five solo, and intercepted a pass to help power the Bobcats past Gainesville Buchholz, 24-17, in a Class 6A state semifinal on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. / A'mir Sears

South Florida high school football teams will be well-represented in this week’s state championships, thanks to an array of outstanding individual performances.

With five area schools advancing to state title games this week, we looked at schools throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties and nominated 10 athletes for games played Dec. 5, 2025.

We ask you to check out the nominees below and cast your vote for South Florida High School Football Player of the Week, which covers offense, defense and special teams.

Congratulations to the winner for games played Nov. 28: Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas QB Mason Mallory.

Voting closes at 11:59 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 14. The winner will be announced next week. Here are this week’s nominees:

A’mir Sears, ATH, West Broward

Super sophomore caught a 94-yard TD pass, made six tackles, including five solo, and intercepted a pass to help power the Bobcats past Gainesville Buchholz, 24-17, in a Class 6A state semifinal.

Tyler Tindal, LB, West Broward

The sophomore made a whopping 12 tackles, including 10 solo, to lead the Bobcats past Gainesville Buchholz.

Mason Mallory, QB, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas

Star senior passed for more than 200 yards and two TDs and rushed for another score to march the six-time defending state champ Raiders past Fort Myers Riverdale, 45-13, in a Class 5A state semifinal.

Julius Jones, WR, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas

Talented junior caught two TD passes to lead the Raiders past Fort Myers Riverdale.

Leon Strawder, QB, American Heritage Plantation

Star senior completed 18 of 23 passes for 301 yards and three TDs and rushed seven times for 34 yards and a score to march the defending Class 4A state champ Patriots past Choctawhatchee, 31-14, in a state semifinal game.

Dylan Bennett, LB, American Heritage Plantation

Senior made 11 tackles, including four solo and two for loss, along with two sacks, to lead American Heritage Plantation past Choctawhatchee.

Calvin Russell, Jr., ATH, Miami Northwestern

The Syracuse signee caught a TD pass and returned an interception 48 yards for a score to power the defending Class 3A state champ Bulls past Orlando Bishop Moore, 52-21, in a state semifinal.

Jayden Torres, QB, Fort Cardinal Gibbons

Senior completed 20 of 26 passes for 249 yards and two TDs and ran six times for 21 yards another score in the Chiefs’ 42-20 loss to Jacksonville Bolles in a Class 2A state semifinal game.

Jasen Lopez, WR, Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna

Senior caught three passes for 105 yards and two TDs to power the defending Class 1A state champ Lions past Jacksonville Trinity Christian, 35-0, in a state semifinal.

John Gay, SS, Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna

Junior made three tackles and returned an interception 45 yards for a TD to lead the Lions past Jacksonville Trinity Christian.

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.

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Jeff Gardenour can be reached via email at jgardenour1962@gmail.com or X @JMarkG1962

Published 46 Minutes Ago

JEFF GARDENOUR

Jeff Gardenour is a Florida native and long-time resident of the Sunshine State. He is a journalism veteran of more than four decades, having worked in a number of news divisions through the years for multiple media outlets, including Gannett and Tribune Company. A University of Florida journalism graduate, Jeff has covered every level of sports, including MLB, USFL, XFL, WNBA, NCAA, IMSA, high schools and more. He is a former award-winning sports editor of the Sebring News-Sun and current freelance writer for SBLive Sports, PrepVolleyball.com and The Orlando Sentinel. Jeff is married with two children and resides in Oviedo, FL. He can be reached at jgardenour1962@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @JMarkG1962.