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Gatorade 2017 - 2018: Player of the Year

Football - Virginia

athletes playing Football
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FOOTBALL

Ricky Slade

Running back
C.D. HYLTON HS
WOODBRIDGE, VIRGINIA
SENIOR
Height: 5-FOOT-9
Press Release

Peak Performance

30

Rushing touchdowns

5

Receiving touchdowns

1978

Rushing yards

283

Receiving yards
“Slade is a great competitor with a great motor. He’s a real playmaker with the ball in his hands—he can make all 11 defenders miss. He’s strong and he’s one of the fastest players on the field wherever he goes. He’s really fun to watch, but not as much fun to coach against.”
Daniel Bruton
Forest Park High Head Coach
excellence star

Athletic Excellence

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound senior running back rushed for 1,978 yards and 30 touchdowns on 179 carries this past season, leading the Bulldogs to a 9-4 record and the Class 6A quarterfinals. Slade also caught 22 passes for 283 yards and five touchdowns. He is an All-State and Washington Post All-Met honoree and has been selected to play in the 2018 Under Armour All-America Game. He is ranked as the nation’s No. 18 recruit in the Class of 2018 by ESPN.

a graduation cap

Academic Achievement

Slade has maintained a B average in the classroom. He has verbally committed to play football on scholarship at Penn State University in the fall of 2018.

first place ribbon

Exemplary Character

Slade has volunteered as a peer mentor in his school. “Slade is a great competitor with a great motor,” said Daniel Bruton, head coach at Forest Park High. “He’s a real playmaker with the ball in his hands—he can make all 11 defenders miss. He’s strong and he’s one of the fastest players on the field wherever he goes. He’s really fun to watch, but not as much fun to coach against.”