In its 33rd year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, announced Brett Brenton of Natrona County High School as its 2017-18 Gatorade Wyoming Football Player of the Year.

Brenton is the seventh Gatorade Wyoming Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Natrona County High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Brenton as Wyoming’s best high school football player.

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Football Player of the Year award to be announced in December, Brenton joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners in 12 sports, including Mitchell Trubisky (2012-13, Mentor High School, Ohio), Greg Olsen (2002-03, Wayne Hills High School, N.J.), Matthew Stafford (2005-06 Highland Park High School, Texas), Harrison Smith (2006-07 Knoxville Catholic High School, Tenn.), Latavius Murray (2007-08, Onondaga High School, N.Y.), Brock Osweiler (2008-09, Flathead High School, Mont.) and Leonard Fournette (2014-15 & 2012-13, St. Augustine High School, La.).

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior running back rushed for 1,832 yards and 25 touchdowns on 236 carries this past season, leading the Mustangs to a 10-2 record and the Class 4A state final.

Brenton also caught 19 passes for 229 yards.

He’s a two-time All-State honoree.

Also a state champion wrestler, Brenton has volunteered locally on behalf of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “He’s a great all-around player who runs with the ball, catches it, returns it,” said Drew Severn, head coach at Cheyenne Central High. “He’s a real power runner with great vision. He’s not afraid to get hit, and he’s shifty too. They had one of the best offenses I’ve seen, and a lot of that was because of him.”

Brenton has maintained a 3.75 GPA in the classroom.

He remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school 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 work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Brenton joins recent Gatorade Wyoming Football Players of the Year Coy Steel (2016-17, Sheridan High School), Theo Dawson (2015-16, Jackson Hole High School), Christian Mayer (2014-15, Big Horn High School), Tevis Bartlett (2013-14, Cheyenne East High School), Brecken Biggs (2012-13, Natrona County High School), Jordan Roberts (2011–12, Sheridan High School), Jim Shellenberger (2010-11, Natrona County High School), and Austin Woodward (2009-10, Sheridan High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.

As a Gatorade Player of the Year, Brenton will be able to select a national or local youth sports organization to receive a grant as part of the Gatorade Play It Forward program.

Every Gatorade Player of the Year state winner receives a $1,000 grant to donate and will have the opportunity to enter for an additional $10,000 spotlight grant by writing a brief essay explaining why their selected organization deserves additional support.

12 spotlight grants – one for each sport – will be announced throughout the year.

More From WyoPreps