Male winner: Christopher Faddoul, Wiregrass Ranch
Christopher Faddoul found out he was playing quarterback on varsity for the first time about, oh, two seconds before Friday’s kickoff against Tampa Bay Tech.
He had been called over while loosening up his leg — he’s the kicker — to run two plays during warmups, with regular quarterback Shane Bucenell lining up in the backfield.
He didn’t think anything of it. Until he was asked to do it in the game.
“I never knew I’d be starting, honestly. I was actually surprised,’’ Faddoul said. “Because it was raining, (Coach) had us practice that running formation. But then I guess he just decided to do that the whole game.”
Faddoul ran the offense flawlessly, and he also banged out a 50-yard punt from his own end zone. But what really made him nervous were his field-goal attempts.
The JV team had lost his 2-inch kicking block, and he had bought a much smaller 1-inch block. With kickers missing all over Tampa Bay on one of the rainiest nights in years, Faddoul knew making one kick would be hard.
But he made two — thanks to Bucenell, who returned the favor by catching the snaps and placing them perfectly on the smaller block — from 22 and 36 yards out, to seal the Bulls’ first victory, over a Hillsborough County team.
“Definitely the best moment I’ve had,” he said. “The best football game I’ve had. Just being a sophomore and jumping in there, it was the best everything.”
Why he won: Not only did the sophomore keep his cool in a high-pressure district game, he led the Bulls to a 13-0 shutout of playoff contender TBT.
Have an athlete who should be considered for our next voting cycle? Email hometeam@tampabay.com.