IPBG Offensive Player of Year: Hilton Head Island's Aidan Hegarty

Aidan Hegarty is quick to share the credit for the amazing offensive season the Hilton Head Island Seahawks had in 2015.

"I think we had the bast skill position players on the state of South Carolina," Hegarty said. "And our coaching staff -- Coach (B.J.) Payne and Coach (Steve) Fuller. They're the best."

All of those things may be true, but the key factor for the Seahawks' offensive success in 2015 was Hegarty, and for that the senior quarterback is the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette Offensive Player of the Year.

The numbers speak for themselves.

Hegarty completed 198 of his 297 passes (67 percent) for 3,029 yards and 34 touchdowns against just eight interceptions.

In addition, Hegarty led the team in rushing, gaining 728 yards and scoring eight touchdowns on just 90 carries -- a whopping 8.1 yards per carry.

After last season, Hegarty knew what lay in store this year and made some changes.

"I knew I had to carry the ball more, I had to sustain hits and go 12 to 13 games without injury," Hegarty said.

So Hegarty put on 25 pounds in the offseason. And his mentality on the field changed.

Head coach Payne said that in the past, when Hegarty would tuck the ball and run, he was content to get 6 or 7 yards and go down. This past year, Hegarty routinely broke off longer runs.

And the added size and strength worked to his advantage when he ran.

"He has a great ability to escape when the pocket is closing in," Payne said. "And when he escapes, he has the ability to pull away from defenders when they get a hand on him."

But the bigger changes weren't the physical ones.

"He had to mature a lot," Payne said.

Payne said Hegarty became more vocal, more of a leader.

"From his freshman season to his senior season," Payne said, "it is as big a change as I've ever seen in a player when you take into account everything -- maturity, strength, coachability."

"Compared to years past, I've become more vocal," Hegarty said. "I've tried to lead by example, to be completely focused. It's my job to keep everybody in check."

Hegarty hopes to play in college and his standout season will help, but he is in no hurry to make a decision.

He holds Division I offers from Ohio, Charlotte, Middle Tennessee and Toledo, where former Seahawk Michael Julian is the backup quarterback.

But Hegarty has Ivy League aspirations.

"I need one more point on my ACT and I can go to Brown," he said.

He said Dartmouth has requested his transcripts, while he's also heard from Cornell and the SEC's Vanderbilt.

"I'm being patient until I figure out exactly what I want," he said.

This story was originally published December 27, 2015 at 3:44 AM with the headline "IPBG Offensive Player of Year: Hilton Head Island's Aidan Hegarty."