2010 Canadian Football League champion Montreal Alouettes (and legendary former Florida Gators) quarterback Chris Leak helped surprise Justin Worley of Rock Hill, S.C. with the 2010-11 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year award today.
Chris, who earned Gatorade North Carolina Football Player of the Year honors in 2002-03 & 2001-02, surprised Justin with this year’s award during his P.E. class at Northwestern High School.
Justin, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound senior quarterback, led the Trojans to a 15-0 record and the Class 4A-II state title. He committed to playing college football for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Worley passed for 5,315 yards and 64 touchdowns, completing 429-of-590 attempts (72.7 percent) while throwing just 11 interceptions. A 2010 Shrine Bowl selection and a 2010 South Carolina Mr. Football finalist, he became the state’s single-season leader in touchdown passes this season, breaking the mark set by two-time Gatorade South Carolina Football Player of the Year Willy Korn (53, 2005-07) in 2005.
For more information about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, please visit https://playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest webzine. He’s also a regular contributor to the Tribune’s Chicago Now network, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports.com
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