Welcome to the 2024 Anvil delivered by Hungry Howie's! Check out this weeks ANVIL Award Update!

The 2024 High School Anvil Award process:
 

To vote, you will need to provide your EMAIL ADDRESS. Select the candidate that you believe is having the best year in High School Football and cast your vote!! If you want to vote more than once, please refresh your browser. Enter in your EMAIL ADDRESS again to cast another vote! Voting is limited to 100 votes every 7 days. THE ONLINE VOTE WINNER IS AUTOMATICALLY IN THE FINAL 4 AND ACCOUNTS FOR 20% OF THE CRITERIA THAT WILL HELP DETERMINE THE 4 SEMI-FINALISTS!

By voting in the contest, you agree to allow State Champs! Network and its affiliates to update you via email about news, sports events and special offers.

The criteria that will be used to select the Anvil Award:

30% – Performance Throughout Season
20% – Level of Competition
20% – Online Vote
15% – Big Game Performance
10% – Team Success
5% – Highly Recruited Prospect

Throughout the season, we will be updating player statistics and adding new candidates into the contest as their actual play and performance merits, with a goal of keeping the ten best offensive and defensive lineman on the board. In late-November we will close online voting and select our final four candidates. The final award selection and presentation will take place after the Football Finals with all of our friends at Hungry Howie’s!
 

Please check out State Champs! Network content on the following platforms:

 
Thanks again to a great partner of State Champs! Network – Hungry Howie’s
Avery Gach
(Birmingham Groves 6-5, 295 OL Sr.)
Committed to Michigan, consensus All-American Gach is a Top 15 prospect at his position in the nation according to ESPN, 24/7 Sports and USAToday. As a sophomore, he blasted on to the recruiting scene by helping lead his Groves team to a spot in the Division 2 final four.

Season Stats:
20 Pancakes, 4 Sacks: WK 1 | W 35-14 (U-D Jesuit); WK 2 | W 28-13 (West Bloomfield)
Darrin Strey
(Paw Paw 6-7, 300 OL Sr.)
Committed to Kentucky, Strey is a workhorse in the trenches and maybe the most technically proficient pass protector in the MHSAA right now. Besides Kentucky, Stray earned offers from Oregon, Ole Miss, Stanford, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Rutgers Baylor, Arkansas, Northwestern, Illinois, Duke, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan State.

Season Stats
19 Pancakes: WK 1 | W 32-14 (Big Rapids); WK2 | W 49-16 (Berrian Springs)
Bobby Kanka
(Howell 6-4, 285 DE Sr.)
Committed to Michigan, Kanka collected 38 tackles and 8 sacks in just six games of action as a junior. Demonstrating a knack for the big play, 18 of those tackles were for lost yardage with him finding his way into the opposing backfields to wreak havoc.

Season Stats
12 Tackles, 2 Sacks: WK 1 | W 20-17 (Hudsonville); WK 2 | W 49-12 (Canton)
Rashad Jones
(Belleville 6-4, 245 DE Sr.)
Committed to Purdue, Jones is a punishing presence coming off the edge and is plug-and-play ready when he hits West Lafayette next year. Last season, he posted 72 tackles and 3 sacks for the 13-1, nationally-ranked Belleville Tigers.

Season Stats
6 Tackles, 1 Sack: WK 1 | W 35-28 (Clarkston); WK 2 | W 44-6 (Livonia Stevenson)
N'Kye Wynn
(Muskegon 6-5, 285 OL Sr.)
Committed to Rutgers, Wynn is the heart and soul of the defending Division 2 state champion Big Red up front at the point attack. Wynn could be the hardest working lineman in the state with the highest football IQ. He begins the season as a frontrunner in the Anvil Award race while captaining a repeat effort for Muskegon and calling signals at the line for what's sure to be a feisty and fast Big Red offense.

Season Stats
WK 1 | L 28-13 (Zeeland West); WK 2 | L 28-21 (Rockford)
Derrick Simmons
(Frankenmuth 6-3, 280 DL Sr.)
Committed to Michigan State, Simmons is a menace in the middle of a defense. As a junior, he logged 53 tackles, 5 sacks and forced three fumbles.

Season Stats
18 Tackles, 3 Sacks: WK 1 | W 22-0 (Goodrich); WK 2 | W 63-27 (Swan Valley)
Cam Clark
(Dexter 6-7, 285 OL Sr.)
Committed to Wisconsin, Clark is a man among boys in his pass protection and run blocking at the high school level. Scouts consider him to possess NFL upside and are impressed by his work ethic, fundamentally-sound technique and tenacious attitude snap-in and snap-out.

Season Stats
18 Pancakes: WK 1 | W 27-26 (Livonia Franklin); WK 2 | L 34-14 (Saline)
Liam Vaughan
(Walled Lake Western 6-4, 285 OL Sr.)
Committed to Western Michigan, Vaughan is Metro Detroit's "Pancake King" and a top candidate for the Anvil Award last season. He's totaled more than 300 pancakes in his career so far and has anchored the Warriors line play since he was a freshman. As a junior, he helped fuel a WLW attack that captured LVC and D3 district crowns.

Season Stats
21 Pancakes: WK 1 | W 52-14 (Waterford Mott); WK 2 | W 63-0 (Waterford Kettering)
Xavier Newsom
(Detroit King 6-5, 225 DE Sr.)
The No. 1 pass rusher in the PSL and maybe the whole state, Newsom registered 26 tackles and 6 sacks in 2023 and is ready to set collapsing pockets ablaze in '24. Michigan, Penn State, Minnesota, Tennessee, Rutgers, Kansas, Louisville, Pitt., Purdue, and Indiana are all in hot pursuit of his talents for the next level.

Season Stats
12 Tackles, 1 Sack: WK 1 | W 25-21 (Cleveland Heights); WK 2 | L 35-13 (Warren De La Salle)
Greg Patrick
(Portage Northern 6-5, 265 OL Jr.)
The No. 1 offensive line prospect in the state's junior class, Patrick is a 4-star recruit with Top 10 national-recognition at his position who holds offers from Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Washington, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Baylor, Penn State, Michigan State and Stanford, among others, in a growing list of suitors.

Season Stats
18 Pancakes: WK 1 | L 50-19 (OL St. Mary's); WK 2 | W 37-7 (Midland)

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