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Talent rewarded: Harris-Lopez Gatorade Player of the Year

By Tom King - Staff Writer | May 14, 2021

Nashua North football stadnout Curtis Harris-Lopez was named this year's Gatorade Football Player of the Year. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – It’s an honor that some may feel was long overdue, but now it’s even more fitting as a perfect way to cap off a brilliant high school career.

There can be no doubt Nashua High School North’s Curtis Harris-Lopez is going out in style, as Thursday he was named the 2020-2021 New Hampshire Gatorade Football Player of the Year.

Harris-Lopez has been the dominant player in the area – and the state – for the last three seasons. His junior year was cut short at the end with a knee injury, but all he did his senior year was lead the Titans to their first ever Division I football championship.

The award is based on athletic excellence but also academic work and “exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.”

The 6-foot-1 Harris quarterbacked the Titans but was just as equal a force on defense at free safety. Offensively he rushed for 1,056 yards and 18 touchdowns in just seven games (North went 7-0), averaging 9.6 yards a carry. He threw four TD passes but also on defense had 33 tackles, and one interception which he returned for a TD in the championship game against Goffstown.

“I think it’s a very well-deserved honor,” North coach Dante Laurendi said. “It’s not easy to shine every week when every opponent is focused on stopping you but he did just that.

“The bigger the game, the bigger he played.”

Harris-Lopez is the three-time reigning Telegraph Player of the Year. He is a four-time All-West Conference First Team player, and simply put, he gave opponents fits.

“Curtis is the best player I have seen in the last 15 years,” said Bishop Guertin coach John Trisciani in the release sent out by Gatorade. “He was dominant running the football, but could also throw. Unstoppable. As good as he was on offense, he was just as talented on defense.”

Harris-Lopez has been just as impressive off the field. He has a weighted 4.24 GPA, is a member of the National Honor Society, recently received a Yukica Scholar-Athlete Award, and has volunteered as a member of the North Student-Athlete Leadership Council.

He’ll be attending the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. in the fall, and will play football for the Crusaders.

Recent Gatorade New Hampshire Football Players of the Year have been Malcolm Bussey (2019-20, St. Paul’s School), Ryan Toscano (2018-19, Bedford High School), Andrew Duval (2017-18, Goffstown High School), and Garrett Macomber (2016-17, Plymouth Regional High School)

Gatorade has announced that through its cause marketing platform “Play it Forward,” Harris-Lopez has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of his choosing. He is also eligible to submit a 30-second video explaining why the organization he chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year.

To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $2.7 million across 1,117 organizations.

“He’s done an outstanding job balancing academics and athletics,” Laurendi said. “We’re looking forward to watching him at Holy Cross.”

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