Henry Hasselbeck ’24 Named Gatorade Massachusetts Football Player of the Year

Xaverian senior Henry Hasselbeck has been named the 2023-2024 Gatorade Massachusetts Football Player of the Year. He is the third Gatorade Massachusetts Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Xaverian, with previous winners including Joe Gaziano ’15 and Tim Hasselbeck ’96. 

As stated on their website, The Gatorade Player of the Year program “annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.”

Now in its 39th year, this award celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence not only on the field, but also in the classroom and in the community. Henry is a three-star football recruit and is ranked as Massachusetts No. 4 recruit by 247Sports. At 6-foot-2, 165-pounds, Henry passed for 1,349 yards and 19 touchdowns against two interceptions in the 2023 season, completing 64.2 percent of his throws to lead the Hawks (11-2) to the Division 1 state championship. Hasselbeck also rushed for 740 yards on 76 attempts, averaging 9.7 yards per carry, and scored 11 touchdowns. He earned the title of Catholic Conference MVP for the 2023 season. 

“Henry's award is a culmination of hard work both on the field and in the classroom. He is a leader in every sense of the word, and is a very worthy recipient,” said Al Fornaro ’78, Xaverian’s Head Varsity Football Coach.

Off the football field, Henry maintains an “A” average in the classroom and is involved in various activities at Xaverian. He is an active participant in campus ministry programs as a peer minister and mentor, as well as makes the occasional appearance as a guest reporter on Xaverian’s student run weekly news broadcast Hawk News. Henry currently serves as a co-captain for the indoor track team and plays lacrosse in the spring. He recently committed to further his athletic career at The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the fall. 

Photo Credit: Adam Richins