Photos courtesy of Nick Henthorn (The Wheeling Intelligencer) and Benjamin Powell (The Dominion Post)
The Deep Post is a weekly column that dives into the happenings of the week past and ahead.
On tap this week is the annual Kennedy column.
Each year as Thanksgiving week nears, I gather a list of what I believe are the top players from the top programs. Our friends at Coalfields and Co. do a great job of tallying a running list of candidates each week that helps me keep tabs. But I’ve always said the race doesn’t truly begin until the playoffs do.
Here’s the FAQ section to answer any questions
What is the Kennedy Award
The Kennedy is the West Virginia high school football equivalent of the Heisman, awarded annually to the best player in the state.
How is the Kennedy decided upon?
Every member of the West Virginia Sports Writers Association is given one Kennedy ballot and asked to list their top three players in order. WVSWA members are the only voters and are traditionally based in print media. There are a few digital exceptions such as MetroNews and us here at Play Sheet Sports. While most people have an opinion on the award, these are the only ones that matter.
The ballots are tallied and the results are revealed to those of us at the all-state meeting, typically the day before the state championship games now that the event has moved to four classes. The rest of the general public finds out upon release, usually Christmas Eve or the day before.
Of note, while we have discussions and vote upon the position awards (Moss, House, Warners, Howley, etc.) at the all-state meeting, we do not have discussions about the Kennedy.
When are Kennedy ballots due?
Ballots typically go out right before the state semifinals and are due back in the days after that round has wrapped up. This year they’re due back Dec. 3
The Award
This is my ninth season covering football and receiving a ballot. In that span I’ve had the privilege of covering four Kennedy Award winners in Mookie Collier (Bluefield, 2017), Atticus Goodson (Independence, 2021), Judah Price (Independence, 2022) and Dom Collins, Princeton (2023). I have a good idea of what a Kennedy winner looks like but this is also a statewide exercise.
This year I reached out to five different voters from different corners of the state, a former voter and a coach that has faced several of the top candidates to do a straw poll and add insight to the column. I’ll refer to poll this throughout as I parse through candidates.
The Kennedy isn’t awarded to the best player in an area, it’s awarded to the best player in West Virginia. To help ease thoughts of bias, here are my Kennedy ballots dating back to 2021 (my ballots from 2017-2021 are on a former email I no longer have access to).
2024
2023
2022
2021 (An amended version of the ballot was sent replacing Corbin Page with Ty Bartrum)
Kennedy ballots are reserved alone for WVSWA members. As it stands I’m still the only Kennedy voter that covers the entire Oak Hill-Beckley-Bluefield area.
Now that we’ve covered all of that, let’s get into the candidates. I like to split them into three tiers – high-end all-staters, dark horses and front runners.
High-end all-staters
This group is loaded with kids who will battle for position awards and captain status but are unlikely to garner enough traction to factor into the race.
Braydn Tyler, Frankfort
Max Simpson, Bluefield
Chance Barker, Princeton
Brysen Dixon, Doddridge County
Tayveon Wilson, Huntington
This list features mostly semifinalists with the exception of Wilson. All have had outstanding seasons but adding them would water down the pool or detract from a teammate with a better shot at winning the award. Splitting votes is harmful.
Of this group Tyler may have the best chance to move up a tier but he’s only a notch above 1,000 yards and those counting stats aren’t enough to earn favor with the competition ahead of him.
Dark Horses
This group features players that will contend for position awards and one or two of the eight first team captain spots. With strong semifinal performances they could vault into the race.
Dakota Dalton, Chapmanville
Jaden Black, George Washington
Malachi Thompson, Nitro
Bryan Dick, Martinsburg
Hayden George, University
Dalton is the most intriguing. In the straw poll he found himself as high as No. 2 on one ballot and was brought up for consideration by another voter. Chapmanville’s win over Bridgeport not only legitimized the Tigers’ 12-0 record and season but has many sports writers reevaluating their priors, myself included.
He’s thrown for 2,220 yards and 26 touchdowns heading into the semis with 228 yards rushing and nine more touchdowns on the ground.
A win against Nitro in the Class AAA semis this weekend might be enough to give Dalton a late push similar to that of 2023 winner Dom Collins.
Thompson and Dick are in the same boat. Thompson, the reigning Moss Award winner, is behind his 2024 stat totals but broke the 1,000 yard mark with a stellar performance against North Marion in the quarterfinals. If he can go over 200 yards again in a win, he’ll make the conversation interesting.
Dick doesn’t appear to be the favorite candidate on his own team but his numbers as a rusher (152-993-15) paired with his passing statistics (89-144-1,792-23 TD-4 INT) are impressive.
Black, who rushed for 1,596 yards and 26 touchdowns, was as high as No. 2 on one of the straw poll ballots but failed to place on any others and with his season over its difficult to see him making headway here.
George, a receiver with 91 catches for 1,283 yards and 10 touchdowns paired with six interceptions on defense, has a chance to take the leap too with a pivotal matchup against Martinsburg on tap in the semis.
The Front Runners
These are the five players, in alphabetical order, that in some form or fashion have showed up in the top three of the straw poll ballots I received.
Brad Mossor
Wide Receiver, Princeton
Team Record and Status: 12-0, advanced to state semifinal
2025 Statistics: 84 receptions, 1,262 yards, 11 receiving touchdowns; 90 rushes, 673 rushing yards, 22 rushing touchdowns; Five special teams return touchdowns, four interceptions (two returned for touchdowns).
A wide receiver by trait, Mossor has been a standout on all three phases with 40 total touchdowns through 12 games.
Boston Todd
Wide Receiver, Martinsburg
Team Record and Status: 10-2, Advanced to state semifinal
2025 Statistics: 48 receptions, 1,069 yards-16 receiving TDs; 34 rushes, 355 yards, 5 rushing TDs; 3 INTs, 1 INT return TD.
Todd is the leading Kennedy candidate from the state’s top program over the last 15 years. His per touch numbers are impressive as are the touchdown numbers. In total yardage he’s over 1,800 on the season.
Maddox Twigg
Quarterback, Morgantown
Team Record and Status: 11-1, Advanced to semifinals
2025 Statistics: Passing – 101-147-1,735 19 TDs; Rushing 91-720-10; Defense 3 INT
Twigg’s numbers aren’t updated through the quarterfinals but he helped account for five touchdowns and 258 yards, leading a game-tying drive in the final minutes that eventually led to a double-overtime victory for the Mohigans.
Brennan Wack
Running back, Wheeling Park
Team record and Status: 7-5, Eliminated in Quarterfinals
2025 Statistics: 263 rushes, 2,061 yards, 26 TDs; 20 receptions for 170 yards
Despite missing two games Wack rushed for over 2,000 yards, putting together a strong showing against Martinsburg. He was the 2024 Warner Award winner, presented to the state’s top running back.
Gavin Williams
Running back, Bridgeport
Team Record and Status: 11-1, Eliminated in Quarterfinals
2025 Statistics: 127 rushes, 1,981 yards, 27 touchdowns; 2 completions on 7 passing attempts for 67 yards and 2 TDs
Williams spearheaded the single wing attack of Bridgeport, leading the defending state champions to an undefeated regular season.
My approach to the vote
I tell the story every year but my first year largely shaped my approach to voting. In 2017 Mingo Central QB Jeremy Dillon was the reigning Kennedy Award winner and the race became one of the tightest in recent memory.
Ballots went out at the end of the regular season but I held mine until after the semis, when they were due. My reasoning was simple – It’s easy to schedule your way into a great campaign but you can’t hide in the playoffs. That’s why I put a heavy premium on success in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds and as you can see from this past weekend’s results, there are virtually no bad teams remaining at this point..
Back to 2017, heading into the semifinals there were four candidates largely in the race – Dillon, Collier, Huntington’s Jaydon Hayes and Martinsburg’s Tyson Bagent.
Dillon threw two interceptions and Hayes rushed for 30 yards as both lost their semifinal matchups.
Collier meanwhile rushed for 300 yards in a 37-14 thumping of another powerhouse program.
One of my peers who participated in the straw poll noted that the semis are the equivalent of moving day. It’s the final opportunity to stamp your candidacy and that’s been true for three of the four winners I’ve covered over the last eight years.
Atticus Goodson rushed for 200 yards to lead Indy back from a 20-7 deficit against Bluefield, snapping the Beavers’ string of four straight title game appearances. Judah Price didn’t crack 100 yards in a 2022 semifinal blowout of North Marion but he had already broke the single-season state scoring record, a mark that stood for 100 years.
Collins had a performance that rivaled Collier’s and rewrote the statewide history books, posting 330 yards receiving and five touchdowns in a 73-70 victory over Bridgeport, one of the highest scoring playoff games in state history.
All of this to say, I want you to prove to me you’re the best when there’s nowhere to hide.
This year was unique in that the quarterfinals heavily bolstered some cases while sinking others.
What My Ballot Looks Like
I’ll wait until the semifinals are complete (ballots aren’t due until the week of the title games) but as it stands here’s what my ballot looks like.
- Brad Mossor, Princeton
- Brennan Wack, Wheeling Park
- Boston Todd, Martinsburg
Here’s where I’ll elaborate, starting with the players I left off.
I believe Williams is a good player and I understand he played through injury in the playoffs but losing in the quarterfinals as the top seed is a pill I can’t swallow. It’s also difficult to overlook that the names change at Bridgeport but the rushing production doesn’t.
A good example is the 2023 Bridgeport team where Zach Rohrig, the eventual Warner Award winner, got hurt in the third quarter of the semis against Princeton. He had 108 yards rushing at that point but his backup Tim Jeffress out-produced him with 262 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
In Williams’ absence Gabe Vincent still piled up 100 yards rushing in a playoff win.
I had a hard time differentiating between Twigg and Todd for the No. 3 spot. but fortunately we had a head-to-head matchup in which Todd scored three times and Twigg’s Mohigans were held to six points, both coming on field goals even if Twigg himself accounted for 189 yards total in the loss.
Twigg’s good and maybe the best of a sophomore QB class that’s going to make the House and Kennedy Award races contentious over the next two years. It was hard to overlook his game-tying drive in the quarterfinals, but Todd gets the edge here for me.
Now, Todd sitting at No. 3 is a reflection of the players ahead of him.
Normally Wack wouldn’t be anywhere near No. 2 on my ballot. He missed two games and exited in the quarterfinal round. Injuries aren’t usually an issue for me. When Goodson won he missed two games but he also made them up in the playoffs with a run to the title game. Coming into the week I had already counted Wack out. I didn’t believe Wheeling Park was beating Martinsburg and I thought with an emphasis put on the star running back he’d be held in check.
He still rushed for 186 yards in a 55-35 loss to the Bulldogs. There are some statistical marks that are difficult to hit against the state’s blueblood programs and Wack performance qualifies. That said he can’t improve his standing while Twigg and Todd can.
Lastly is Mossor.
I have the most experience covering Mossor but what separates him for me is his impact and scoring potential in all three phases. He has 22 touchdowns as a running back despite taking just a handful of snaps at the position in his career. Any time he’s lined up at receiver he gets a bracket and in some cases he’s had three sets of eyes on him. On special teams opposing teams mostly refuse to kick to him and have abandoned the strategy dating back to last year. On defense he’s returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns.
I don’t know if it will happen but he’s the rare player with a chance to sweep the Kennedy, Moss and Walker Awards with the numbers and performances to back it.
The gravity and respect he demands from opposing teams puts him atop my ballot. But to be safe, I texted a coach that’s faced Mossor, Black and Wack and asked him to rank those players since they’re all in the race to varying degrees.
That text only reaffirmed my feelings and it was consistent with the straw poll ballots I took. Mossor was in the top two of every one of them.
The only knock I could come up with is Princeton’s schedule is weaker in comparison with a couple Class AA teams but if you zoom out you’ll see that the first eight teams on the schedule made the playoffs and one (Bluefield) is still alive.
I got the sense that with another strong semifinal performance, he’ll likely be the winner but this sport, especially at this age group, is unpredictable. If he goes out Saturday and picks up just 30 yards in a loss, it would be damaging to his candidacy with two other front runners still alive.
Again, aside from the straw polls and statistics, much of what’s contained here is my opinion. That said there were less than 25 Kennedy ballots submitted last year so I’d like to think the opinions of others I’ve gathered represents the current state of the race.
Either way, the verdict will be decided in the next week.
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