Snyder Award (top QB): Freeport's Barnes
Freeport quarterback Isaiah Barnes breaks a tackle during the game against Oceanside. (Oct. 30, 2010) Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
Isaiah Barnes, a one-man option play for Freeport all season, won the Snyder Award as the outstanding quarterback in Nassau.
The award, presented to Barnes at last night's Nassau Gridiron Banquet, is named for longtime Farmingdale football coach Don Snyder and was begun in 2004.
Barnes, who vowed before the season that he would become more of a passing threat this season, was true to his word in leading the Red Devils to a 9-2 record.
Operating out of the spread offense, the 6-3, 195-pound senior passed for 1,913 yards and 21 touchdowns, 11 of them in his three playoff games.
He also ran for 1,257 yards and 17 touchdowns, averaging more than 7 yards per carry. In a 41-27 victory over Oceanside in the Nassau I semifinals, Barnes passed for three scores and ran for two more, even though he injured his ankle during the game.
"There's no way on God's green earth I was coming out of the game," he said afterward.
That determination was evident in a thrilling 34-33 loss to East Meadow in the Nassau I final. Limited in his running by the bad ankle, Barnes passed for 320 yards and four touchdowns.
He also had a seven-touchdown performance against Hicksville in a first-round playoff victory, including four touchdown passes on four passing attempts. That matched his career-best of seven total touchdowns, set in a 62-35 victory over Floyd in the 2010 Long Island Class I championship game.
"If I can fit the pass through a window, that's better than juking somebody," Barnes said before the season. "Maybe not to the fans, but to me, that's what I like."
