It’s time to vote for who readers thought had the best high school football season in southwest Missouri in 2023.
The sixth-annual vote will allow readers to fight it out as we recognize some of the best players in the region from this past season. Previous winners include Lebanon’s Cade Muscia, Joplin’s Isaiah Davis and West Plains’ Connor Lair.
A new winner will be crowned in a contest that typically receives tens of thousands of votes. Voting will go through 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 20. You can vote as many times as you please, but the News-Leader reserves the right to remove votes if it notices any cheating going on.
The News-Leader announced earlier this week that Republic’s Wyatt Woods received its Player of the Year honor. It will have no impact on the fan-voted results. Unlike the News-Leader’s selected honor, the fan vote will consider players from the Joplin area.
Inaugural Readers Choice Team. VOTE NOW:Who should make the readers’ All-Ozarks high school football team?
More:Meet the News-Leader’s 2023 All-Ozarks high school football teams
More:Here were southwest Missouri’s high school football statistical leaders for 2023
Previous News-Leader Player of the Year fan-voted winners
- 2018 – Jamen Smith, QB, Buffalo
- 2019 – Isaiah Davis, RB, Joplin
- 2020 – Wil Carlton, QB, Marionville
- 2021 – Connor Lair, RB/LB, West Plains
- 2022 – Cade Muscia, RB/LB, Lebanon
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He’s also the host of the weekly “Wyatt’s World Podcast” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms
