Now the post-season accolades begin to pour in for Baldwinsville football standout Tyler Rouse.
The senior running back, who led the Bees to the Section III Class AA final this fall, was just named the Gatorade Player of the Year in New York State, the first Section III player selected for that high honor in six years.
This means that Rouse, the first B’ville player to earn this award, will also be nominated for Gatorade’s National Player of the Year honor, to be chosen in December.
In three seasons starting at tailback for B’ville, Rouse picked up 6,841 yards. During the 2012 campaign, he gained 2,977 yards, an average of nearly 300 yards per game, and amassed 45 touchdowns. He did this on 333 carries, meaning that Rouse averaged nearly nine yards every time he touched the ball.
With Rouse’s help, B’ville won the sectional championship in his sophomore year (2010) and, in 2012, made it to the sectional final at the Carrier Dome, but could not quite earn its third sectional title in four years, falling 35-24 to Christian Brothers Academy.
Since Gatorade started handing out State Player of the Year awards in 1985, seven Section III players have grabbed that honor, the most recent Onondaga’s Latavius Murray in 2007. Murray went on to play at Central Florida. Rouse is still undecided on his college plans.
