Gulliver Prep QB Carson Haggard is Miami-Dade’s 5A-Ind. Offensive Player of the Year
Carson Haggard’s football life began — and it can be hard to believe — as a lineman.
Before he was one of the best quarterbacks in Florida and a three-year starter at Gulliver Prep, Haggard started out as an offensive lineman and tight end in Pop Warner Little Scholars.
Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for him to make the change. By the time he was 7 or 8, he was playing quarterback with the help from his father, a high school quarterback himself, and on the way to stardom.
For the last three years, Haggard has been one of the most valuable offensive players in South Florida and he peaked as a senior in 2021, throwing for more than 3,000 yards and 35 touchdowns to be the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Offensive Player of the Year for Classes 5A-Independent.
“Once I picked up a ball and started throwing it, I definitely felt like I had a natural instinct,” Haggard said, “but to get where I am today definitely took a lot of work.”
As a freshman, Haggard played sparingly for the Raiders, then he took over as their full-time starter as a sophomore and never let go of the job. He topped 2,000 yards as a sophomore and 1,100 in just six games as a junior, and had a true breakout year as a senior.
In his final season in Pinecrest, Haggard 200 of 333 for 3,090 yards, 35 touchdowns and just six interceptions, and led Gulliver to an 11-win season and a trip to the Region 4-Class 4A championship.
Although they fell short of the 4A final four, the Raiders averaged 38.8 points per game and scored at least 33 points in 11 of 13 games, including the Region 4-4A final.
Last month, Haggard signed a national letter of intent with the Tulane Green Wave after going 26-4 in his three seasons as a starter and never losing more than two games in a year.
The Raiders lost at least three games in each of the previous seven seasons.
“It’s definitely cool to play against top-notch competition,” said Haggard, who’s a three-star quarterback in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2022. “It definitely prepares you for the next level. Every day, it prepares you for the future.”
At Gulliver, he was surrounded by elite talent, too.
His favorite target was three-star tight end De’Carlo Donaldson, who signed with the West Virginia Mountaineers. His No. 1 wide receiver was Jalen Brown, a five-star wide receiver with offers from Miami Hurricanes, Florida State Seminoles and more. The Raiders’ starting running back was Sedrick Irvin Jr., who orally committed to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish last year.
“They were always there for me and I could always count on them,” Haggard said. “When I put the ball in the air, I just had confidence in them.”
In practice, he went up against a defense featuring four-star linebacker Travious Lathan, four-star edge rusher Lamont Green Jr. and four-star cornerback Daniel Harris.
It was a good situation to be in, but it also meant a lot of responsibility for Haggard and he guided the Raiders to their best three-year stretch in two decades.
Although he never got Gulliver its elusive second state title, Haggard helped the Raiders become a Dade County powerhouse once again.
“Without my team,” the 6-foot, 165-pound senior said, “I wouldn’t have been able to do this.”
