Tennessee football’s Mike Matthews named Polynesian Bowl MVP

Tennessee football wide receiver Mike Matthews was named the MVP of the Polynesian Bowl on Friday.

Matthews, a five-star signee in the 2024 class, caught two passes for 44 yards with a touchdown to lead Team Makai to a 28-17 win over Team Mauka in Honolulu.

The Polynesian Bowl is one of the top high school all-star games in the country featuring top-100 prep players.

Matthews enrolled early at Tennessee and took part in bowl practices. The Lilburn, Georgia, native was the No. 20 prospect nationally in the 247Sports Composite.

Mike Matthews followed Nico Iamaleava as a Polynesian Bowl MVP

Matthews is the second straight Vols recruit to win the MVP award in the Polynesian Bowl.

Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava won the MVP in the 2023 game. He had 249 yards of total offense and a touchdown. Iamaleava had a four-touchdown game for Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl to lead the Vols to 35-0 win against Iowa on Jan. 1.

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Mike Matthews was one of five Tennessee football signees to play in Polynesian Bowl

Matthews was one of five Tennessee signees playing in the game, including quarterback Jake Merklinger. Merklinger enrolled early like Matthews. Both will return to Knoxville and start classes Tuesday.

Edge rusher Jordan Ross, offensive lineman Bennett Warren and linebacker Edwin Spillman were the other Vols signees who played in the game.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football signee Mike Matthews named Polynesian Bowl MVP

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tennessee-footballs-mike-matthews-named-182653468.html

Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel

Publish date : 2024-01-20 18:26:53

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