The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) presents both an Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year award in the state of Wisconsin each season for Large School and Small School.

It takes the right combination of name recognition, statistical success, and team success to win the award, which is available to players from any grade but has traditionally gone to a senior. Generally, the player must be from a very successful team that is either unbeaten or a favorite to compete for a state title. However, a few years ago we saw Brown Deer's Zach Baun receive the award in a close vote, despite the fact that his Falcons finished just 8-3 overall and went out in Level 2 of the playoffs. His individual brilliance was too much to pass up, however, despite a strong pool of candidates.

To be clear, the Small School Offensive Player of the Year is presented by the WFCA. However, below is my take on the top candidates right now (in alphabetical order), though there is a long ways to go before the selection is made after Level 4 of the postseason, and more candidates could certainly emerge.

Owen Blakey, Johnson Creek - Blakey took over as the primary running back for the Bluejays last season, putting together a strong junior campaign that saw him carry the ball 212 times for 1,489 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging 124 yards per game and 7 yards per carry.

Lamont Hamilton, Racine St. Catherine's - Hamilton is a top-level football player, no matter where he lines up. He’s extremely dangerous with the football in his hands, catching 30 passes for 751 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, rushing for 203 yards and four scores, and serving as a threat in the return game. He’s also a standout defensive back, earning First Team All-Conference recognition on both sides of the ball. His impact on a game was never so obvious as the Angels’ Division 4 state title game victory, when he caught three touchdown passes and returned a kickoff for a score, racking up 271 all-purpose yards.

Brock Matheny, Grantsburg - Matheny enters his third season as the starting quarterback at Grantsburg, with 3,695 yards and 42 touchdown passes so far in his career. As a junior, he helped the Pirates to the Division 6 state title game, throwing for 283 yards in a tough loss to Lomira.

Zach Rizzo, Kenosha St. Joseph - Rizzo is an outstanding football/baseball talent, one of the best dual-threat athletes in the state. A starter at quarterback for the first time last year, he came up big for the conference champion Lancers, who advanced to the state semi-finals. Rizzo completed 63.9% of his passes for 1,913 yards and 28 touchdowns, throwing just two interceptions to post a 128.0 passer rating.

Carson Roemhild, Boyceville - Roemhild had a big junior season for the Bulldogs, improving upon a solid sophomore campaign with a 65% completion percentage, 1,620 passing yards, and 21 scores. He was very efficient throwing the ball, finishing with a 137.6 passer rating. Roemhild would add 615 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground as well. A three-year starter, he already has more than 3000 passing yards and 45 passing touchdowns in his career.

Tyler Wollin, Lake Mills - Wollin has started at quarterback since his freshman season for the L-Cats, already with more than 3400 passing yards in his career. Last season he threw for 2,055 yards and 22 touchdowns, adding 491 yards and six scores on the ground.