Dang. Great question.

 

Too many for me to decide who was the best.

 

Damon Hood, Leman Boyd, Sandy Whitney, Nacarius Fant, Jacob Tamme, Jeff Duggins, Bobby Leffew, Travis Leffew, Patrick Towles, Lamar Dawson, Chris Cook, Brandon Smith, Brodie Overstreet, geez, this list could go on for forever.

 

My personal favorites:

 

Zach Hester, Jarrod Harrington and my all time favorite...PP92's 2009 Mr. Football....Rees Macshara.

Kurt Barber, guy was an absolute man among boys in HS.

Imposed his will on either side of the ball.

My time of really watching a lot of HS football is isolated to the past dozen years, and I don't always get to see a lot of the big games.

 

With that in mind, I think it would have to be Brandon Deaderick.

I'm too young to have seen him play at NCC, but as a life long Notre Dame fan I remember his touchdown catch against WVU in the '89 Fiesta Bowl. He was huge and from what I've heard, a tremendous athlete. It seems he never quite fulfilled his potential at ND. It's hard to catch many passes as a TE when your offense runs the option.

 

He quit playing football when they recruited over him, switched to baseball, led the nation in home runs, and won the Mr Irish award as a senior. I'd say he did just fine.

Jacob Tamme

Shaun Alexander by a mile. I swear, and many of you know, teams put 9, 10 in the box and he still burned them. He just looked like a man against boys. I have seen a lot of good ones but he really was the best IMO.

 

Sonny Collins was good, also.

Michael Bush, Everett Golson (Myrtle Beach, SC), or Jared Lorenzen. Add in Marty Reagan for what he did to us at Highlands.

 

Honorable mentions

Brett Hamblen

Pat Towles

Rob Smith

Brian Brohm

Kyle Koester sp? (Elder)

Brent Grover

Gino Guidugli

Shaun Alexander, no one else was close.

Shaun Alexander by a mile. I swear, and many of you know, teams put 9, 10 in the box and he still burned them. He just looked like a man against boys. I have seen a lot of good ones but he really was the best IMO.

 

Sonny Collins was good, also.

I agree. Especially playing for Hauk you knew all Boone was going to do was run and when Shaun was

there I don't know if a bigger target every play but he still got it done.

 

I felt so bad for him in the state title game because he was just exhausted. The number of runs all season caught up to him and Boone ran him to death in that title game.

I'm too young to have seen him play at NCC, but as a life long Notre Dame fan I remember his touchdown catch against WVU in the '89 Fiesta Bowl. He was huge and from what I've heard, a tremendous athlete. It seems he never quite fulfilled his potential at ND. It's hard to catch many passes as a TE when your offense runs the option.

 

He quit playing football when they recruited over him, switched to baseball, led the nation in home runs, and won the Mr Irish award as a senior. I'd say he did just fine.

 

Frank Jacobs was a "freak", I personally watched him, in a game at Newport High School his Jr or Sr. year, hit Newport High School ON A LINE and about half way up the building, easily 400 plus feet.

 

For those that don't know....Newports baseball field sits in a hole with 300 foot fence (10 feet high), then there is a hillside beyond the fence and the school building is atop that and about 100 plus feet past that.

Shaun Alexander, Tim Couch, Jared Lorenzen, Derek Smith, Michael Bush, Brian Brohm, Channing Fugate, Miles Simpson, Ryan Timmons, and plenty more. Those are the names in KY mostly coming to mind that I've watched out of many.

I'd have to say Shaun Alexander.

 

Honorable Mention:

Kyle Rudolph

Rocky Boiman

Michael Munoz

Tim Couch

Jared Lorenzen

Aaron Rogers At PVH when I coached youth and High School football out in California. He made my defensive backs look silly. I knew then that he was going to be something special in the future. And please note that he played JUCO ball at Butte College as well. These kids need to learn that it's not all about DI.

Chris Jennings for Fairview back in 2002 and 2003. This guy was big, strong, fast, shifty, good hands and great vision. He probably never got the true recognition he deserved since his teams never advanced far in the playoffs. However he played his college ball at Arizona, and then was in the NFL for a few years with the Browns.

 

He definitely was the best I have ever seen in person. Now if he should have been able to play for Fairview is a whole different story with all the things that has happened with their program recently. However he definitely was the real deal!

Chris Lofton, Mason County