Prairie Ridge's Evans nets player of the year award from Gatorade
The Gatorade Company announced Monday that Prairie Ridge senior Samson Evans is its 2017-18 Illinois Football Player of the Year.
Evans is the first player from Prairie Ridge to win the award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.
Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Football Player of the Year award to be announced later this month, Evans joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound quarterback and return man accounted for 2,915 total yards and 47 touchdowns, leading the Wolves to their second straight 14-0 season and a repeat as Class 6A state champions. He ran for 2,092 yards and 38 touchdowns. He also passed for 610 yards and eight touchdowns in addition to piling up 213 return yards along with a touchdown.
A four-time Fox Valley all-conference choice, Evans concluded his prep career ranked seventh on the state's all-time rushing list (6,385 yards) and third in TDs (121).
"Samson's a fantastic football player," said Crystal Lake Central coach Jon McLaughlin. "He's deceptively fast, deceptively powerful. We couldn't tackle him, and he's been that way the past three years. It's one of those things where you know he's going to get the ball, and yet you know you can't do anything to stop him."
Evans has maintained a B average in the classroom. He has verbally committed to play football on scholarship at Iowa in the fall of 2018.
Evans joins Jake Marwede (Loyola), Sam Brodner (Glenbard West), Gabe Green (Sacred Heart-Griffin), Justin Jackson (Glenbard North), Blake Winkler (Lincoln-Way East), Reilly O'Toole (Wheaton Warrenville South) and Christian Lombard (Fremd) as recent Illinois award winners.
Evans' father, Matt, was an all-Mid Suburban League football choice at Elk Grove in 1980.
As a Gatorade Player of the Year, Samson Evans will be able to select a national or local youth sports organization to receive a grant as part of the Gatorade Play It Forward program. Every Gatorade Player of the Year state winner receives a $1,000 grant to donate and will have the opportunity to enter for an additional $10,000 spotlight grant by writing a brief essay explaining why their selected organization deserves additional support. A total of 12 spotlight grants - one for each sport - will be announced throughout the year.