The Gatorade State Football Players of the Year were selected based on athletic production and impact in the 2015-16 season. Each winner also demonstrated high academic achievement and exemplary personal character, including volunteerism, sportsmanship and community leadership.

For the list of the other 2015-16 Gatorade State Football POY’s, click here.

THE WINNER: Daniel Bridge-Gadd

THE BASICS

School: Paradise Valley (Phoenix, Ariz.)
Grade: Senior
Position: Quarterback
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 205 pounds

Athletic achievement: He completed 251-of-374 passes for 4,268 yards and 47 touchdowns this past season, leading the Trojans (13-1) to the Division III state championship game. Bridge-Gadd also rushed for 627 yards and 17 touchdowns on 139 carries. He was responsible for 21 touchdowns in four postseason games and accounted for 454 yards of offense in Paradise Valley’s 29-27 loss to Desert Edge High in the state final.

Academic excellence: Bridge-Gadd has maintained a 3.13 GPA.

Exemplary character: He has volunteered locally with a fundraising campaign to benefit ALS research and has donated his time to an animal shelter and rehabilitation center.

THE PRAISE

“Daniel Bridge-Gadd is as good as I’ve seen, perhaps ever, up close and in person,” said Jeff Scurran, head coach of Catalina Foothills High. “He is mobile and he is uncannily accurate.”

THE FUTURE: Bridge-Gadd has verbally committed to play football on scholarship at the University of Washington in the fall of 2016.