With nearly 2,300 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns on the ground as a sophomore, Harris has made himself a marked man with two years remaining in his high school career.

“Everyone knows he is the one to stop on our team,” said head coach John Lucido. “He has a bulls-eye on his back for the next two seasons.”

Facing defenses geared up to stop him will be nothing new for Harris, who continually faced eight and nine defenders in the box as teams began to witness his prowess early in the season. Harris opened 2014 with 279 yards and four touchdowns in a 30-28 win over Acalanes, and followed that with 262 yards on the ground in a win over Granada.

The sophomore saved his best performance for the playoffs, however, running for a school-record 371 yards and four touchdowns in a 50-26 win over San Leandro, the Panthers’ first on-field post-season victory in 30 years. And according to the staff at Antioch, there is still plenty of potential for improvement.

“His work ethic is what makes him what he is,” said Lucido. “He’s working out by himself on Saturdays, before school during the week, and again after school.”

Fontenot-Cornely made an immediate impact in his first year of high school football, catching 72 passes for 1,040 yards and 11 touchdowns as a receiver in the Crusaders’ pass-heavy offense.

The Prep2Prep NCS Freshman of the Year turned in his biggest performance in the first round of the NCS Division V playoffs, hauling in eight passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-14 victory over Ferndale. His impact, however, was not limited to the offensive side of the ball.

Fontenot-Cornely also totaled 43 tackles as a defensive back, to go with three interceptions. For good measure, he averaged nearly 24 yards per kickoff return, and 25 yards per punt return.

With three more years remaining at the private Catholic school in Eureka, it will be interesting to see what his career totals can become.

NOTE: We would like to thank our readers for all of the nominations you sent in for the season-ending NCS football awards. It is a daunting task to narrow down our selections to just the top few as we recognize there are lots of great players who make contributions on the football field that are not necessarily well-documented but mean a great deal to the success of their teams. We salute all of the players that have made this a wonderful season of NCS football.