SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine, January 23, 2026 — The Gaziano Awards selection committee has announced the winners of the 2025 Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Defensive and Offensive Lineman Awards. Joe Hayden, of Mt. Blue High School, has been named the top senior offensive lineman. John Havu V, of Bonny Eagle High School, earned the honor of top defensive lineman. Each will receive a trophy and scholarship of $5,000.

The Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Awards serve as a living tribute to Frank Gaziano’s legacy as an athlete, businessman and community leader. With continued support from National Distributors and KeyBank, the program recognizes student-athletes who demonstrate perseverance, discipline and integrity both on and off the field.

Joe is the first Mt. Blue student to be selected as a Gaziano Award recipient. John Havu V is the sixth Bonny Eagle student to be selected as a Gaziano Award recipient. He joins Thomas Horton (2021-offense), Aidan McGlone (2018-offense), Zachary Klein (2017-offense), Arlo Pike (2017-defense), and Nate Martell (2010-defense).

Offensive finalists for the 2025 awards included Collin Thompson of Thornton Academy and Colin Haigh of Portland High School. Defensive finalists were Griffin Faulkner of Old Town High School and Jangmin Lee of Thornton Academy. Each finalist is awarded a $1,000 scholarship and trophy.

In keeping with our tradition from recent years, we will not be holding a formal banquet. Instead, the awards and scholarships will be presented to the winners and runner-ups personally at their respective schools, at a time and location most convenient for the players and their families.

For more information on the Gaziano Lineman Awards scholarship program, visit gazianolinemanawards.org.

The 54th recipient of the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy, awarded to Maine's top senior football player at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland at 2 pm, was Connor Ayoob of Thornton Academy.

As a member of Thornton Academy's Class A state championship team, Connor set a school record by rushing for 2,102 yards and 31 touchdowns in 12 games. He joins other Golden Trojan "Fitzy" recipients such as Michael Laverrier (2016), Art Leveris (1991), and Bob Giroux (1986).

Connor was selected over other fellow finalists Tony Bongomin of Westbrook, Cordell Jones of Portland, and Parker Morin of Cony.

THORNTON ACADEMY STUDENT-ATHLETE NAMED GATORADE MAINE FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

CHICAGO (December 5, 2025) — In its 41st year celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Connor Ayoob of Thornton Academy is the 2025-26 Gatorade Maine Football Player of the Year.

Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their excellence in sport, academics and community. The award recognizes Ayoob as Maine’s best high school football player, and he joins an elite legacy that spans professional athletes and coaches to CEOs, such as Peyton Manning (1993-94, Isidore Newman School, LA), Nick Singleton (2021-22, Governor Mifflin High School, PA) and Keelon Russell (2024-25, Duncanville High School, TX).

The 5-foot-8, 190-pound senior running back rushed for a program-record 2,102 yards and 31 touchdowns this past season, leading the Golden Trojans (11-1) to a Class A state championship. The 2025 Class A South Player of the Year, Ayoob also caught 12 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown. He ran for 240 yards and four touchdowns in Thornton Academy’s 28-0 state final win over Portland.

A varsity basketball player, Ayoob has volunteered locally with multiple charities that raise money for cancer research, and he also coaches a Special Olympics Unified Basketball squad. “Ayoob fits the bill (for Gatorade Player of the Year),” said Mike Vance, head coach at Scarborough High School. “He was extremely productive for Thornton Academy this fall. He combined speed, strength, agility and (ran behind) a talented offensive line to perform at a high level each week.”

Ayoob has maintained a 3.23 weighted GPA in the classroom. He remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one state winner from each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., in 12 different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, boys and girls soccer, and boys and girls track & field. In total, 610 high school athletes are honored each year. From the pool of state winners, one national winner is selected in each of the 12 sports. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the winners in each sport.

As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $6.4 million in grants to winners across more than 2,200 organizations.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade, Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY and X (Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.

First, we would like to thank the 3,488 people that took part in the 2025 Fan's Star of the Season vote. Your support of these ten outstanding student-athletes and their tremendous efforts are a great sign of the pride from each of you and your communities.

Despite how the voting went, these efforts signified some of the top single-game performances from across of the state. While only one will get the recognition as the Fan’s Star of the Season, it should not be taken lightly of the other nine efforts that were recognized amongst the several thousand performances in 2025.

So without further delay, here are our top three selections by your vote.

In third place with 475 votes is Winthrop/Monmouth/Hall-Dale’s Jake Feith. He was named the Week Five Class D Player of the Week as the Ramblers defeated Morse 35-8. In that game Jake completed 12 of 19 passes for 151 yards and 4 touchdowns.

In second place with 994 votes is Dylan Jewett of Spruce Mountain. He was named the Week Eight 8 Man Large School Player of the Week as the Phoenix defeated Dexter 50-8. In that game Dylan completed 5 of 8 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown, he ran 11 times for 78 yards and 5 touchdowns, and on defense he recorded 3 tackles, intercepted two passes, and recovered a fumble.

And in first place and the recipient of the 2025 Fan’s Star of the Season selection, with 1,063 votes, is Hudson Lufkin of Dirigo. He was named the Week One Class D Player of the Week as the Cougars defeated Lisbon 46-18. In that game Hudson threw for 157 yards and 3 touchdowns, he ran for 195 yards and 3 touchdowns, he scored a two-point conversion, and on defense he had 8 tackles and a fumble recovery.

Hudson will join past winners of the Fan's Star of the Season such as Issiah Bachelder of Portland (2016), Lucas Francis of Lisbon (2017), Carter Tolmasoff of Bucksport (2018), Riley Geyer of Cony (2019), Liam Von Oesen of Waterville (2021), Adam Savage of Skowhegan (2022), Noah Carpenter of Leavitt (2023), and Isaiah Ervin of Houlton (2024).

We would like to again congratulation Hudson, Dylan, Jake, and the other seven student-athletes for their efforts this season.

Hello and welcome to Maine High School Football, your place for comprehensive high school football coverage for the state of Maine. Between our website (www.mainehighschoolfootball.com) and our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mainehighschoolfootball), you will learn all about the scores, standings, schedules, archives, articles, stories, and opinions that keep our football world turning. We're proud of this state's football and believe very strongly in it. And because of that we want to make our audience aware of the happenings each and every day.

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