FAYETTEVILLE — Some football players are remembered for the records. Others are put in high recognition based on the awards and honors that come their way.

Austin Allen just wants people to think of him as the ultimate champion.

While several quarterbacks throughout the years have played at the state’s highest classification in fine fashion, with record-setting results, Allen stands alone. Others, like Mitch Mustain, Matt Jones, Kodi Burns, Barry Lunney, Jr. and even his older brother, Brandon Allen, had tremendous success before him.

But only Allen, among this group, can call himself a two-time state champion starting quarterback. And for his efforts in guiding Fayetteville to back-to-back Class 7A titles, Allen has been named — for the second consecutive season — the NWA Media All-Big 7 Player of the Year.

“Becoming a state champion was everything I wanted,” Allen said. “It’s everything my coaches wanted, my teammates wanted and it’s everything I wanted with my high school career. I didn’t care about all the postseason accolades or anything like that.

“I just wanted to get the ring in the end.”

One ring wasn’t enough for Allen, though. Coming off a junior season that produced record-breaking numbers as he passed for an all-time Class 7A-best 4,150 yards and single season school-best 46 touchdowns, Allen followed it up with more of the same.

With the Bulldogs (10-3) expected to compete for another state championship, Allen helped the team battle through a slow start before finishing just as it had the year before. And Allen did so with a game that had developed into an even more all-around threat to opponents, as he passed for 3,565 yards and 29 touchdowns but also added 200 rushing yards and 10 TDs this fall.

“If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me about Austin and Brandon and how they compare, I’d be a millionaire,” Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said. “I know this, I’d take either one of them back next year in a heartbeat. And really, they’re both very much alike.

“But when it comes down to it, Austin has the titles and that’s what sets him apart.”

Even with the back-to-back championships — and consuecutive state finals MVP honors — Allen knows the comparisons to other quarterbacks won’t end. Especially with his brother Brandon, as the younger Allen will be joining his older sibling at Arkansas next fall.

But following in Brandon Allen’s footsteps and living up to older brother’s reputatation is now a thing of the past for Austin Allen, at least in high school.

Because with two state titles — making him the first 7A/6A-West Conference quarterback to ever accomplish that feat — it’s Austin Allen who has set the new high bar.

“I just want to be remembered as a state champion,” Allen said. “That’s what everyone’s goal is coming into high school is to win a state championship. Winning two, I feel like that’s a great accomplishment by my teammates, my coaches and me.

“It’s everything we wanted. It’s a great accomplishment and it’s a team goal. It’s a team reward, really, right there.”