This Grand Strand athlete has been named South Carolina Mr. Football for 2019
Myrtle Beach High quarterback Luke Doty capped a stellar high school career with the 2019 South Carolina Mr. Football award on Saturday.
The award was presented during halftime of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl high school all-star football game at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.
“To win it on Doug Shaw, it means a lot. I’m going to miss playing here, that’s for sure,” Doty said. “I’m going to miss rocking out on Friday nights. But I’m just so thankful for winning this award and for Myrtle Beach.”
In the 2019 regular season, Doty completed 129 of 201 passes for 1,817 yards and 25 touchdowns to lead the Seahawks to an undefeated regular season, and he was also dangerous as a runner, gaining 404 yards and scoring four touchdowns on the ground.
Doty’s season was cut short when he injured his right thumb in the first half of the Seahawks’ opening playoff game and had surgery. The Seahawks won four playoff games to reach the Class 4A state championship game but fell to Wren 35-23 in the title game on Dec. 7 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.
Doty led the Seahawks to the 2018 state 4A title. He is expected to sign with the University of South Carolina on Wednesday, plans to enroll in January and hopes to battle with rising sophomore Ryan Hilinski for the Gamecocks’ starting QB job.
“They’re getting a guy who is going to put his head down and work,” Doty said. “That’s what I’m looking to do as soon as I get there in January, just get in there and grind and do everything I can to get on the field and play.“
Doty won two of the top high school football awards in the state this year. He was named the Palmetto Champions Back of the Year last week and is the third straight Gamecock commitment to win the Mr. Football award, joining Dakeron Joyner of Fort Dorchester in 2017 and Zacch Pickens of T.L. Hanna last year.
Players’ academic records and off-field activities are considerations for the award, and Doty is among the top performers academically in his class.
“Being top 4 percent of my class and [having] one of the highest GPAs in the school, the things I do in the classroom are some of the things I’m more proud of than obviously this [award],” Doty said. “It goes a lot further than football, and I just know with that kind of education and going on to get a degree and doing something else I love, being in the classroom and learning, that’s going to take me a long ways as well.”
Doty is the second Myrtle Beach player to win Mr. Football, joining 2004 recipient J.D. Melton, a quarterback who enrolled at Navy.
A committee assembled by the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association selected the Mr. Football finalists. The other six finalists were:
Mikele Colasurdo of Chapman (Committed to Georgia State), Rahjai Harris of Byrnes (East Carolina), Jalin Hyatt of Dutch Fork (Tennessee), Duane Martin of Laurens (Louisville), Tyler Venables of Daniel (Clemson), and Noah Bell of Saluda (undecided).
The S.C. Athletic Coaches Association established the Mr. Football award in 1995. Seven former recipients have played or are currently playing in the National Football League.
Mr. Football recipients
Year Name, Position, School, College
1995 Jermale Kelley, WR Berea South Carolina
1996 Kyle Young, OL Daniel Clemson
1997 Chris Hope, DB Rock Hill Florida State
1998 Derek Watson, RB Palmetto South Carolina
1999 Mark Logan, QB Greenwood Georgia Tech
2000 Roscoe Crosby, WR Union Clemson
2001 Moe Thompson, DE Stratford South Carolina
2002 Eric McCollom, QB Camden Iowa
2003 Trey Elder, QB Byrnes Appalachian State
2004 J.D. Melton, QB Myrtle Beach Navy
2005 Prince Miller, DB Byrnes Georgia
2006 Malcolm Long, QB Gaffney South Carolina State
2007 Richard Mounce, QB Blythewood Charleston Southern
2008 Stephon Gilmore, CB South Pointe South Carolina
2009 Marcus Lattimore, RB Byrnes South Carolina
2010 Jadeveon Clowney, DE South Pointe South Carolina
2011 Shaq Roland, WR Lexington South Carolina
2012 Tramel Terry, WR Goose Creek Georgia
2013 Jacob Park, QB Stratford Georgia
2014 Matthew Colburn, RB Dutch Fork Wake Forest
2015 Tavien Feaster, RB Spartanburg Clemson
2016 Gage Moloney, QB Northwestern James Madison
2017 Dakereon Joyner, QB Fort Dorchester South Carolina
2018 Zacch Pickens, DE T.L. Hanna South Carolina
2019 Luke Doty, QB Myrtle Beach South Carolina
This story was originally published December 14, 2019 at 2:25 PM.
