Heritage Football Player LJ Turner Voted ITG Next Florida November Male Athlete of the Month
When looking at the current statistical leaders for Florida high school football as a whole, you won’t find many players with more eye-popping numbers than Heritage senior running back LJ Turner.
The state’s leading rusher, Turner has truly shined for the Panthers throughout the 2021 season while doing it in one of Florida’s toughest classifications. However, when looking back at the month of October alone, it becomes obvious why Turner is our ITG Next Florida Male Athlete of the Month, as the senior received 64.39% of the votes.
One of the on-field leaders for the Panthers, Turner appeared in all six of Heritage’s games during the month of October, a stretch during which the Panthers finished with a 5-1 record. Turner, as you likely guessed, played a massive role in each.
Beginning the month back on October 1 with a 41-8 win over Space Coast, Turner rushed for 197 yards and a touchdown in the contest, needing only 11 carries to do it. After that phenomenal start to the month, the senior then eclipsed the 200-yard mark for the first time this season only a week later, rushing for 208 yards and three more scores in a 42-0 win over Astronaut.
Heritage then played two games over the next week, but that did not affect Turner, as he rushed for a combined 394 yards and four touchdowns in blowout wins over Palm Bay and Gateway, even averaging 22.9 yards per carry in the latter. Turner continued his stellar play to end the month rushing for a combined 443 yards and five scores across the Panthers’ last two games.
For the month of October overall, Turner rushed for a phenomenal 1,242 total yards across six games, also adding 13 total touchdowns on the ground. In each of those six games, Turner eclipsed the 100-yard mark; he also had three games of 200+ yards, five multi-touchdown games, and a then season-high 283 yards rushing on October 29.
As expected, this success has carried over to the month of November for the senior, as Turner rushed for a new season-high 330 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries last Friday night against Bayside. With the Class 6A playoffs set to begin as well, it certainly appears that Turner is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
A truly phenomenal month on the football field, congratulations to Heritage running back LJ Turner, our ITG Next Florida November Male Athlete of the Month.
Written by: Matt Melton
