The awards keep rolling in for Brighton High football star Simi Fehoko.
Just this week, Fehoko, the 6-foot-4, 190-pound senior wide receiver who hauled in 59 receptions for 1,495 yards and 16 touchdowns this past season, has been announced as the Gatorade Utah Player of the Year and one of six finalists for the 2016 U.S. Army All-American Player of the Year Award.
Fehoko, who has verbally committed to play football on scholarship at Stanford University in fall 2016, is now being considered for Gatorade’s national Player of the Year Award, which will be announced later this month. He also will find out if he’s been selected as the Army Bowl’s top player during an awards show on Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, in San Antonio. For 16 years, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl has been the nation’s premier high school football game, serving as the preeminent launching pad for America’s future college and NFL stars.
Student athletes from Canyons District have captured Gatorade’s annual award three times since 2012. Former Jordan High quarterback Austin Kafentzis won the recognition in 2012-2013 and 2014-2015. Fehoko, the state record holder in his career receiving yards; career receiving touchdowns; and single-season receiving touchdowns, is the third player from Brighton to earn the recognition in football.
In the Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015 announcement of the finalists for the top Army Bowl player, here’s what Bowl officials said about Fehoko, the No. 1-ranked player in Utah and a Top 40 wide receiver: “Fehoko possesses the hands, movement and competitiveness to take him to the next level. The Stanford commit has the skills to track the ball in the air and utilizes body control to make acrobatic catches. He broke two Utah receiving records this year, and has the best per-game receiving yards average (136.5) in Utah high school football history. His athleticism has not only proven true on the football field, but also on the basketball court as a four-year varsity basketball player.”
Such NFL stars as Andrew Luck,Odell Beckham Jr., Jamaal Charles and Ezekiel Elliott made their national debuts as U.S. Army All-Americans. Five U.S. Army All-American Bowl alumni were drafted in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
The 2015 U.S. Army All-American Bowl drew a crowd of 35,687 to the Alamodome.
The Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016 bowl will be televised live on NBC.
Fehoko is the third Brighton High Bengal in seven years to be selected to play in the Army Bowl. Ricky Heimuli played in the 2010 game and current University of Southern California Trojan Osa Masina suited up for last year’s game.
