WEST PALM BEACH – Everyone knows that Palm Beach Central was the best high school football team this year in Palm Beach County.
And for the first time, every local media outlets’ No. 1-ranked team in Palm Beach County has won the Lou Groza Award for Team of the Year – the highest honor possible in our area.
Palm Beach Central head coach Scottie Littles, who was nominated for the Lou Groza Coach of the Year, spoke on this top honor through his Twitter page.
“The kids deserve this award,” Littles said. “They have worked so hard and allowed us to coach them hard. We appreciate everybody’s efforts in having a great year. With that said, we are not satisfied. There is more work to be done!”
Palm Beach Central (10-1 final record) finished the season in the Class 8A – Region 2 final last month, which was a home game against eventual 8A state semifinalist Treasure Coast.
Led by Lou Groza Player of the Year and senior running back Markel King, the Broncos were the most loaded and talented team in Palm Beach County. They had an immense array of weapons on both sides of the ball, leading to both blowouts and close wins throughout the regular season and in the first two rounds of the 8A playoffs.
In total, Palm Beach Central took home two of the four high school football awards from last night’s (Dec. 8) Lou Groza Awards Ceremony. It won both Team of the Year and Player of the Year from King, who has college offers right now from the likes of Keiser (first offer) and the University of Fort Lauderdale (second offer).
King reflected briefly on his prestigious honor through his Twitter account.
“I want to thank everyone,” King said. “I really appreciate it, but this is only the beginning.”
The next Lou Groza Award was for the Sam Budnyk Coach of the Year.
White Littles was nominated for this honor, along with Boca Raton head coach David Angell, it was Forest Hill first-year head coach Jim Basford who took home the hardware.
Basford led Forest Hill (6-3 final record) to its first district title (8-8A) since 1985 – a span of 36 years.
Forest Hill assistant coach Brian Pulaski congratulated Basford on his major accomplishment through his Twitter page.
“Congratulations Coach Jim Basford,” Pulaski said. “So proud of you dude!”
The final Lou Groza award for the high school level is our Placekicker of the Year, which went to Seminole Ridge senior kicker/punter Hayden Gray.
Seminole Ridge assistant coach Elton Gilkes was ecstatic about Gray’s special honor. He put it on full display through his Twitter page.
“Yessir,” Gilkes said. “Congrats Hayden. Proud of you kid!”
Here are all the teams and players that were nominated for the four high school categories in this year’s Lou Groza Awards ceremony:
NOTE: Winners are notated in bold
TEAM OF THE YEAR
Pahokee
PALM BEACH CENTRAL
Seminole Ridge
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Brian LaFrance (Jupiter Christian)
MARKEL KING (PALM BEACH CENTRAL)
Bill Young (St. Andrew’s)
COACH OF THE YEAR
David Angell (Boca Raton)
JIM BASFORD (FOREST HILL)
Scottie Littles (Palm Beach Central)
PLACEKICKER OF THE YEAR
HAYDEN GRAY (SEMINOLE RIDGE)
Andrew MacMillan (Cardinal Newman)
Jake Weinberg (American Heritage-Delray Beach)
In addition to our high school awards, the three collegiate nominees for the Lou Groza Award were announced and highlighted at length by host/ESPN West Palm anchor Theo Dorsey.
The 2021 nominees are Gabe Brkic (Oklahoma), Jake Moody (Michigan), and Noah Ruggles (Ohio State). One of them will win the Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award at the Home Depot College Football Awards, which will air tonight (Dec. 9) at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
NOTES: The 30th Annual Lou Groza Awards Ceremony was narrated by Dorsey at Glades Pioneer Park in Belle Glade. This event was primarily sponsored by the Capital One Orange Bowl, while it was co-hosted by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission and ESPN West Palm.
The awards show was aired live on YouTube.
