Readers Vote: Mohawk Valley's midseason football Player of the Year
· Yahoo Sports
Half of football's high school regular season for 2026 is in the books in New York, and the Observer-Dispatch and Times Telegram are wondering who fans think the Mohawk Valley's player of the year has been so far.
Visit casino-promo.biz for more information.
In previous polling at uticaod.com, sponsored by Carbone's at The Fitness Mill, online readers picked Waterville junior Ian Carney as the player they expected would have the best season among 10 returning all-state selections; Carney received almost half of the 988 votes cast with fellow junior D'Marco Santiago of Notre Dame finishing second and Whitesboro senior Conner McDonald third.
Injuries have kept McDonald and Frankfort-Schuyler senior Reece Bowen off the field while Carney and Waterville's eight-player Eagles are off to a 4-0 start. Three other players from the preseason poll are on the midseason version - Holland Patent Golden Knight Ethan Briggs, whose team is also unbeaten, Morrisville-Eaton Maverick Wesley D'Imperio and Canastota Raider Devon Silvernail. Joing them are Mark Barone of Rome Free Academy , Caden Bryant of Frankfort-Schuyler, Wyatt Eggleston of unbeaten Dolgeville, Gio Lang of Whitesboro, Colton Larsen of Sauquoit Valley, Niko Martinez of New Hartford, Jai Phillips of Proctor, Sam Stewart of West Canada Valley, and Gabe Wheeler of Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.
Voting runs through Week 5 play with polls closing Monday, Oct. 5, at noon.
Here are the 13 nominees:
MARK BARONE, Rome Free Academy: Senior ranks second in passing yards (1,028) and touchdowns (14) among Section III quarterbacks, including last minute game-winning touchdown pass at Proctor for 3-1 Black Knights.
ETHAN BRIGGS, Holland Patent: Senior quarterback ranks fourth in passing yards (760) and tied for fifth in touchdown passes (10) in Section III, and he's 23rd in rushing (460 yards, six touchdowns) as the top ground gainer for unbeaten Golden Knights.
CADEN BRYANT, Frankfort-Schuyler: Junior is tied for fifth in rushing yards (638) in Section III - and leading the eight-player runners - and tied for the lead with 12 touchdowns while also having a section-high eight two-point conversions.
IAN CARNEY, Waterville: Junior quarterback has thrown 488 yards and eight touchdowns - three each in wins over the last two state regional eight-player champions - while rushing for 388 yards - topping 100 twice - and eight more touchdowns. Winner of readers' preseason poll.
WESLEY D'IMPERIO, Morrisville-Eaton: Junior is seventh in rushing yards (602) - second among eight player backs - and tied for 10th in touchdowns (eight) in Section III.
WYATT EGGLESTON, Dolgeville: Senior is leading rusher (429 yards, seven touchdowns) for unbeaten team that tops Section III with 1,513 yards and 22 touchdowns with a balanced group of runners lining up behind three different quarterbacks.
GIO LANG, Whitesboro: Senior tied for fifth in Section III with 638 rushing yards in three games - and 605 of them in two - and tied for seventh with nine touchdowns.
COLTON LARSEN, Sauquoit Valley: Junior has helped the Red Hawks to a 3-1 start in return to 11-player competition with 542 yards passing 195 rushing, seven combined touchdowns, four interceptions on defense - tied for Section III lead - and three of section's 10 field goals, including a game-winning buzzer-beater.
NIKO MARTINEZ, New Hartford: Senior is No. 9 in rushing yards (565) and tied for 10th in touchdowns (eight) in Section III for the 3-1 Spartans.
JAI PHILLIPS, Proctor: Senior ranks second in Section III with 765 rushing yards and is tied for fourth with 11 touchdowns.
DEVON SILVERNAIL, Canastota: Senior runner has followed up an 18-touchdown season last fall with 13 rushing through four games this season.
SAM STEWART, West Canada Valley: Senior has passed for career-high 555 yards and seven touchdowns, and run for 447 and nine for 3-1 Nighthawks.
GABE WHEELER, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill: Senior ranks 10th in Section III with 560 rushing yards and tied for seventh with nine touchdowns for the unbeaten Red Devils.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Readers Vote: Mohawk Valley's midseason football Player of the Year