BEST HIGH SCHOOL COACH

Derek Leonard, Rochester High School

Derek Leonard, Rochester High School football coach, isn’t fast becoming a legend, he’s already arrived. The Rockets last year won their second consecutive state championship, and it’s looking good this fall as Leonard’s team opened the season with a 7-1 record. If the Rockets go all the way, it will be Leonard’s third championship in eight years as head of Rochester’s football program, and the team nearly went to the state championship game in 2009, when the Rockets lost by one point after going for a two-point conversion in the waning seconds and got stopped one yard short of the goal line. It doesn’t seem to matter how many players graduate. Even with 19 new starters, the Rockets were best in the land in 2011. This is the first and only job as a head football coach for Leonard, who is in his early 30s. With a record like this, Leonard could easily move on to a bigger school or, perhaps, a college program. And so Rockets fans should enjoy Leonard while they can. His father Ken Leonard, who coaches the Sacred Heart-Griffin team, has long been regarded as one of the best football coaches in the state. But he shouldn’t be embarrassed if folks refer to him as Derek Leonard’s father instead of calling the Rochester coach Ken Leonard’s son.

Runner-up: Ken Leonard, Sacred Heart-Griffin