After years of workouts in the gym, late nights studying for advanced classes and summers of giving back to the community – the Taylor Haugen Foundation welcomed him with a celebration. 

 

“I was honored to even be in the running,” Campbell said, “to be the Niceville nominee is super crazy because we have about 500 people in my class and a lot of them are athletes. Just to be  the one nominee from Niceville is super special. I’m shocked, I’m still shocked.”

 

His principal, Charlie Marello, is less surprised. 

 

“If you had to make a mold to say, ‘Hey, Eagles, let’s be like this,’ we’d make one of Harper Campbell,” Principal Charlie Morello said at the ceremony. 

 

Brian Haugen, the man who helped to start the award after Taylor’s death in a football accident, said Campbell lives by the pillars Taylor did, “community service, leadership, Christian faith, athletics, and academics with a ‘Don’t quit, never give up’ perseverance perspective on things.”

 

Niceville High School’s football team had an up-and-down year last year that got off to a rocky start – but Niceville Principal Charlie Marello says it was Campbell and other leaders like him on the team that righted the ship and sailed it to a first-round overtime loss against powerful Ponte Vedra in November. 

 

“He’s not a guy that’s going to stay down for very long. When we were reeling a little bit with a couple of tough losses, I know there was some internal discussion among the team. You know, those closed-door players-only meetings. If those happen, and I think that they did, [Campbell] was the one talking.”

 

Campbell will attend Samford next year with an eye on the seminary. He hopes to become a pastor one day. 

The award comes with a scholarship and a $1,000 check to the athletics department of the winner’s school.