Norwalk’s Cam Edwards and Trumbull’s Kenny Soares, Jr. named 2025 Walter Camp Connecticut Players of the Year

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Running back Cam Edwards (Connecticut) and linebacker Kenny Soares, Jr. (North Carolina State) have been selected as Walter Camp’s 2025 Connecticut Players of the Year.  The awards are presented to the top college football players who are residents and/or played scholastically in the state of Connecticut. The award is voted on by the Walter Camp Football Foundation all-volunteer membership.

Offense: Cam Edwards, Connecticut (Norwalk/Norwalk HS)

A redshirt junior, Cam Edwards led the Huskies with 1,240 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns in 2025. He also caught 19 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown as the Huskies finished 9-4 and earned a berth to the Wasabi Fenway Bowl against Army. In the bowl game, Edwards eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the fifth time on the season, finishing with 108 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown.

A resident of Norwalk, Edwards was a three-year starter at Norwalk High School when he totaled 2,349 career rushing yards. In his senior season, Edwards led the Bears to a 7-3 record and was named to the Walter Camp All-Connecticut Team.

Defense: Kenny Soares, Jr., North Carolina State (Trumbull, CT/Avon Old Farms)

A graduate student, Kenny Soares, Jr. finished second on the Wolfpack with 80 tackles in 2025 from his linebacker position.

Soares, Jr. recorded 4.0 tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries and two pass breakups as North Carolina State recorded an 8-5 final record, including a 31-7 victory over Memphis in Gasparilla Bowl on December 19. In that bowl victory, Soares, Jr. recorded 12 tackles (5 solo), including one for a loss, and one quarterback hurry.

Soares, Jr. previously played three seasons at Northwestern. Soares, Jr. played scholastically at Avon Old Farms where he led the Winged Beavers to a New England Championship in 2021 and was named First-team All-New England and First team All-Founders League.

Considered the “Father of American Football,” Walter Camp introduced the play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side in 1880. Nine years later, Mr. Camp, then the Yale University head coach, selected the first-ever college football All-America team. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. Visit www.waltercamp.org for more information.

Connecticut Player of the Year

Presented to the top college football player who is a resident and/or played scholastically in the state of Connecticut. The award is voted on by the Walter Camp Football Foundation membership.

2025 – Kenny Soars, Jr., LB, North Carolina State; Cam Edwards, RB, Connecticut

2024 – Justin Barron, LB, Syracuse; Tyler Booker, OL, Alabama

2023 – Justin Barron, LB, Syracuse; Tyler Van Dyke, QB, Miami (Wisconsin)

2022 – Drew Pyne, QB, Notre Dame (Arizona State)

2021 – Will Levis, QB, Kentucky; Tyler Van Dyke, QB, Miami

2020 – Andrew Stueber, OL, Michigan

2019 – Christian Montano, C, Tulane

2018 – Zach Allen, DE, Boston College

2017 – Ervin Philips, WR, Syracuse

2016 – Noel Thomas, WR, Connecticut

2015 – Tyler Matakevich, LB, Temple

2014 – Tyler Murphy, QB, Boston College

2013 – Kevin Pierre-Louis, LB, Boston College

2012 – Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State

2011 – Silas Redd, RB, Penn State

2010 – John Moffitt, OL, Wisconsin

2009 – Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida

2008 – Kory Sheets, RB, Purdue

2007 – Mike McLeod, RB, Yale

2006 – Kory Sheets, RB, Purdue

2005 – John Sullivan, C, Notre Dame

2004 – Anttaj Hawthorne, DT, Wisconsin; Dan Orlovsky, QB, Connecticut

2003 – Dan Orlovsky, QB, Connecticut

2002 – Niko Koutouvides, LB, Purdue

2001 – Dwight Freeney, DE, Syracuse

2000 – Peter Mazza, LB, Yale

1999 – Bobby Myers, DB, Wisconsin

1998 – Carl Bond, RB, Connecticut

1997 – Kyle McIntosh, RB, Syracuse

1996 – Tarek Salah, LB, Wisconsin

1995 – Tarek Salah, LB, Wisconsin

1994 – Jason Miska, LB, Auburn

1993 – Chris Zingo, LB, Cornell

1992 – Curtis Eller, LB, Villanova

1991 – Corey Vincent, DL, Holy Cross

1990 – Rob Thomson, DB, Syracuse

1989 – Terry Wooden, LB, Syracuse

1988 – Glenn Antrum, WR, Connecticut

1987 – Bill Romanowski, LB, Boston College

1986 – Richard Comizio, RB, Pennsylvania

1985 – Tom Patton, DE, Holy Cross

1984 – No recipient

1983 – Steve Young, QB, Brigham Young

1982 – Mike Marshall, DB, Southern Conn.

1981 – Richard Diana, RB, Yale

Walter Camp, the Father of American football, named 2nd most influential person in high school football

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Walter Camp, the Father of American football, was named among top 25 most influential people in high school football by Max Preps.  Camp was picked second, just behind former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt.

MaxPreps, a PlayOn company, is the nation’s leading platform for high school sports coverage, providing comprehensive information on teams, athletes, and competitions across the United States. Since 2002, MaxPreps has been the trusted destination for scores, schedules, rankings, statistics, and content that connects communities with their local high school sports programs.

2. Walter Camp

Father of American Football
Known as the “Father of American Football”, Camp played football at Yale in the 1870s and was responsible for many of the innovations in the game that helped transform it from the sport of rugby to the game of football. Among those innovations included the creation of the “line of scrimmage” and the “system of downs”. He also came up with the names of the positions of the players and determined that each side should play with 11 players.

MaxPreps has endeavored to determine the people who have had the most influence on high school football. The top 100 list includes coaches, players, innovators, creators, administrators, politicians, journalists and some everyday people. They are the individuals who shaped the sport from its beginning in 1875 to the present day.
High school football has been shaped by a diverse cast of influential figures — visionary coaches who build programs and character, sportswriters who craft the narratives that define local legends, state administrators who provide support and resources, parents who nurture young athletes and the players themselves, whose passion and dedication give the sport its heart. Together, they form the interconnected ecosystem that keeps Friday nights under the lights thriving across America.