Mountain Vista’s Austyn Modrzewski Repeats as Gatorade Colorado Football Player of the Year
By Gatorade POTY Press Release
CHICAGO — In its 40th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Austyn Modrzewski of Mountain Vista High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade Colorado Football Player of the Year. Modrzewski is the first Gatorade Colorado Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Mountain Vista High School.
Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Modrzewski as Colorado’s best high school football player, and he joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Emmitt Smith (1986-87, Escambia High School, Fl.), Peyton Manning (1993-94, Isidore Newman School, La.) and DJ Lagway (2023-24, Willis High School, Texas).
The state’s returning Gatorade Player of the Year, the 6-foot-4, 190-pound senior quarterback passed for 3,407 yards and 57 touchdowns this past season, leading the Golden Eagles (11-1) to the Class 5A state quarterfinals. A two-time Class 5A First Team All-State selection, Modrzewski recorded at least four TD passes in 10 of 12 games. He concluded his prep football career with a state-record 11,911 passing yards.
Modrzewski has volunteered locally as a youth football coach and mentor. “I really think Austyn is the best quarterback ever to come out of Colorado,” said Bret McGatlin, head coach of Valor Christian High School. “Not only can he beat you through the air, but he can use his legs and extend plays. They are virtually unstoppable with Austyn on the field.”
Modrzewski has maintained a 3.48 GPA in the classroom. At the time of his selection, he had made a verbal commitment to receive athletic aid to play football at the University of South Dakota next fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field – and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. 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 state winners in each sport.
Two-time winner Modrzewski joins recent Gatorade Colorado Football Players of the Year Blake Purchase (2022-23, Cherry Creek High School) and Gavin Sawchuk (2022-21 & 2020-21, Valor Christian High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
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 $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 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.
