MISSOULA — Missoula Sentinel High football standout Dylan Rollins was named the 2020-21 Montana Gatorade Football Player of the Year on Thursday.
Rollins, a a 6-foot-5, 285 pound offensive lineman who occasionally played defense for the Spartans this past season, is the first football winner to ever be chosen from Sentinel. He's also the first offensive lineman to win the award since Helena Capital's Caleb Kidder, who like Rollins was a two-way lineman when he won the award in 2011.
Rollins, a BYU football signee, helped lead the Spartans to the Class AA state title for the first time in 48 years in 2020. Sentinel went a perfect 10-0 while Rollins, who started at left tackle as a sophomore and junior, made the switch to left guard and helped block for a Sentinel offense that averaged 2,111 rushing yards and scored 34 rushing touchdowns. Sentinel also passed for 2,017 yards and averaged 46.9 points per game en route to the Class AA title.
Defensively, Rollins would step in mostly on goal-line situations in 2020.
Rollins recruiting blew up over the past summer, and he chose BYU after receiving a total of 16 offers to play at either the FBS or FCS level.
Rollins told MTN Sports that his dad, Josh, woke him up Thursday morning by pouring Gatorade on his head. When Dylan asked why Gatorade, his dad responded, "Think about it, why would I be pouring Gatorade on your face?" That ultimately resulted in cause for celebration as Dylan learned he won the prestigious award.
"Super excited that amidst all of the talent both on my team and throughout the state that I was chosen," Rollins said. "As an offensive lineman you know we aren’t used to the glory or anything and we don’t expect it. It’s not part of the job. We aren’t in the spotlight a lot so it’s nice to feel that a little bit."
According to the media release, Rollins is a 3.76 GPA student at Sentinel and also spent time volunteering for the Ronald McDonald House, Special Olympics and more through his church.
The Gatorade award is the latest for Rollins, who was also named an honorable mention All-American by Sports Illustrated back in December.
