Louisiana
Louisiana (LHSAA) high school football player of year candidates in 2024
Who has been the best Louisiana high school football player in the 2024 season?
High School on SI scoured the state for the top players this fall and narrowed down the best of the best.
Scroll down for in-depth breakdowns of every postseason state MVP spanning all corners of Louisiana and LHSAA classifications:
LOUISIANA PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATES IN 2024
Dedric Lastie, Riverside Academy, sr.
Measurables: 5-6, 150 | Pos: RB
Lastie put on a show in a 76-37 win over St. Martin’s Episcopal, rushing for 534 yards and scoring nine TDs. He led the Rebels to a runner-up finish to Southern Lab in 2023 by rushing for 2,528 yards and 42 TDs while averaging 9.8 yards per carry. Riverside was No. 5 in the most recent Division IV select power ratings with losses to Vermilion Catholic and Class 5A Terrebonne.
Caden DiBetta, Acadiana, sr.
Measurables: 6-1, 205 | Pos: QB
DiBetta’s passing prowess has made the Wreckin’ Rams’ split-back veer offense more dangerous than ever. The senior is setting school records left and right, passing for 1,071 yards with 15 TDs and only one interception through the first eight games. He has 4.49 speed to run the option for Acadiana, which hasn’t lost since Week 1 at Ruston.
Ben Taylor, Airline, sr.
Measurables: 6-2, 185 | Pos: QB
Taylor was second in the state in passing with 2,558 yards through seven games and 28 TDs with three interceptions for the undefeated Vikings, who were No. 3 in the most recent Division I nonselect power ratings and have scored at least 45 points in every game. Taylor added another six passing TDs and two rushing scores in a 76-52 Week 8 win over Natchitoches-Central.
Peyton Houston, Evangel Christian, soph.
Measurables: 6-0, 195 | Pos: QB
The Eagles are struggling to close out games in their first year back in Class 5A, but they’ve been competitive and made it fun, losing four district games by a total of 19 points before a one-point win over Benton.
Nate Sheppard, Mandeville, sr.
Measurables: 5-11, 190 | Pos: RB
Sheppard put the Skippers on his back to will the team to a surprising run to the 2023 Division I nonselect semifinals as a No. 21 seed. Mandeville hasn’t had any problems adjusting to being the favorite as Sheppard has led the team to an undefeated record while rushing for 1,340 yards on 120 carries with 22 TDs through the first seven games.
Dillon Compton, Bunkie, sr.
Measurables: 6-0, 192 | Pos: QB
Gridiron Football labeled Compton “as lethal as it gets” in a Diamond In the Rough segment earlier this month. Compton was among the state’s most accurate passers, ranking fifth in completion percentage (69.9%) through Week 7 and totaling 1,528 yards with 16 TDs and two interceptions for the undefeated Panthers.
Xavier Ford, Leesville, sr.
Measurables: 5-11, 200 | Pos: RB
The durable back was leading the state in rushing through seven games, carrying 190 times for 1,844 yards and 29 TDs for the Wampus Cats, who became a select school following the last reclassification period and were No. 7 in the most recent Division II power ratings. Ford, who ran for nearly 5,000 yards over his sophomore and junior campaigns, scored six TDs and ran for his 100th career score in a 67-16 rout of Washington-Marion in Week 8.
JT Lindsey, Alexandria, sr.
Measurables: 5-11, 185 | Pos: RB
The LSU commit was among the top 10 rushers statewide through Week 7, gaining 1,169 yards on 144 carries with 16 TDs for an undefeated Trojan team that was No. 2 in most recent Division I select power ratings. Lindsey led his team to a hard-fought Week 8 win over Ruston, rushing for 136 yards on 32 carries with two TDs, according to Bret McCormick of Louisiana vs. All Y’all.
Chad Elzy, Ascension Catholic, sr.
Measurables: 5-9, 195 | Pos: RB
The explosive tailback rushed for 1,009 yards on 100 carries with 19 TDs through the first six games for the Bulldogs, who were No. 3 in the most recent Division IV select power ratings with one loss to undefeated Class 2A Dunham. Elzy, who rushed for over 2,900 yards with 47 TDs as a junior, scored three TDs in a 56-14 Week 8 rout of North Iberville.
Ke’Von Johnson, Northwest, jr.
Measurables: 5-9, 160 | Pos: RB
Johnson was second in the Lafayette area in rushing through seven games, racking up 1,225 yards on 117 carries with 13 TDs for a team that reached the Division II nonselect semifinals in 2023. As a junior, Johnson rushed for 2,000 yards for St. Edmund. He added 252 yards on 27 carries in a 39-6 rout of Mamou in Week 8.
Luke Landry, Catholic-New Iberia, sr.
Measurables: 6-0, 180 | Pos: QB
The left-hander has been exemplary with ball-control, tossing 21 TDs vs. one interception while leading the team to seven straight wins after a close loss to undefeated Vermilion Catholic. Landry, who has passed for 1,479 yards, has drawn praise for his ability to spread the ball among different receivers.
Harlem Berry, St. Martin’s Episcopal, sr.
Measurables: 5-11, 185 | Pos: RB
The Saints are in any game with the nation’s No. 1 running back in the fold. Berry, an LSU commit, led St. Martin’s to wins in six of its eight games with one of the losses, to Riverside Academy, setting up as a potential playoff rematch. Berry ran for 330 yards on 16 carries and five TDs vs. Riverside.
Jasper Parker, Archbishop Shaw, sr.
Measurables: 6-1, 200 | Pos: RB
The Michigan commit accounted for four TDs in wins over Walker and St. James and broke the school’s single-game rushing record with 326 yards in a win at Lafayette Christian. Shaw, which has won four straight games, was 6-2 and No. 1 in the Division II select power ratings following its 79-0 win over Kenner Discovery.
Joshua Brantley, Ruston, sr.
Measurables: 6-4, 220 | Pos: QB
The Tulane commit spurred the Bearcats to the Division I select state championship in 2023 and led Ruston to six straight wins to begin this season. Brantley, a run/pass threat, accounted for four TDs in a win over fellow Class 5A power Acadiana in Week 1. “I had a lot of people doubting my ability to both run and pass the ball, so I felt like it was time to actually show them what I can do,” he told Louisiana vs. All Y’all in a post-game interview.
Trenton Chaney, Lutcher, sr.
Measurables: 5-9, 165 | Pos: RB
The Bulldogs (7-0) were No. 2 in the most recent Division II nonselect power ratings with a recent win over rival E.D. White in which Chaney, a UL Ragin’ Cajuns’ commit known as “The X-Factor,” scored three TDs en route to being named the WAFB-TV Sportsline Player of the Week. Chaney led the Bulldogs in rushing and receiving through seven games and was averaging close to 10 yards per carry.
Dezyrian Ellis, Franklin Parish, jr.
Measurables: 6-3, 180 | Pos: QB
The Patriots from Winnsboro have been one of the prominent stories this year, winning seven of their first eight games for the No. 4 power rating in Division II nonselect. Ellis, who recently picked up his first scholarship offer from Tulane, ran for a 99-yard TD in a high-profile win over Calvary Baptist and passed for 1,214 yards and 20 TDs with four interceptions through seven games.
Abram Wardell, Calvary Baptist, sr.
Measurables: 6-0, 190 | Pos: QB
The Cavaliers lost a couple of games against large-school opponents but remain a favorite to repeat in Division III select with Wardell completing 117 of 160 passes for 2,057 yards and 29 TDs with three interceptions through the first seven games.
Jackson Bradley, Oak Grove, sr.
Measurables: 6-3, 200 | Pos: QB
The Tigers won seven of their first eight games and were No. 3 in the Division III nonselect power ratings as Bradley, a Louisiana Tech commit, passed for 1,343 yards and 25 TDs with six interceptions and averaged seven yards per carry with seven TDs. He looks to lead Oak Grove to a third straight state title.
Owen Trosclair, Covenant Christian, sr.
Measurables: 5-9, 165 | Pos: QB
Trosclair accounted for three TDs in his team’s 29-12 signature district win over a Jeanerette team that was also undefeated. Through seven games, Trosclair was the state’s most accurate passer, connecting on 79 of 95 attempts for 1,380 yards and 19 TDs with one interception.
D’Shaun Ford, Opelousas, sr.
Measurables: 6-0, 220 | Pos: RB
Ford, who averaged 10-plus yards per carry while totaling more than 2,000 yards for the 2023 Division II nonselect champions, gained 210 yards on 24 carries with a score in a one-point win over Cecilia in a Week 8 rematch of last year’s title game.
TaRon Francis, Edna Karr, sr.
Measurables: 6-2, 200 | Pos: WR
It takes a rare receiver to make a monumental difference on the field, so what better player to make this list than an LSU commit nicknamed “Manchild.” Francis hauled in seven catches for 162 yards and two TDs in a 62-16 obliteration of longtime rival Warren Easton, according to Vashon Jones of Crescent City Sports. Karr is undefeated and No. 1 in the Division I select power ratings.
Peyton Renfro, Iota, sr.
Measurables: 6-1, 190 | Pos: QB
Renfro passed for 1,063 yards and 17 TDs with three interceptions through the first seven games for the Bulldogs, who won in Week Eight to push their record to 7-1 with a district showdown looming against Northwest. Renfo, who has rushed for just under 500 yards with nine TDs, added 83 passing yards in limited action in a Week 8 blowout of Ville Platte. Iota was No. 6 in the most recent Division II nonselect power ratings.
Diesel Solari, Cecilia, sr.
Measurables: 5-8, 175 | Pos: QB
In his first game back from injury, Solari completed 13 of 18 passes for 173 yards and three TDs with no interceptions and rushed for a score in a one-point loss to Opelousas. The dual-threat signal-caller led the Bulldogs to a runner-up finish to Opelousas in 2023, and no one will be shocked if the two teams find their way back to the Superdome.
Jonathan Dartez, Vermilion Catholic, sr.
Measurables: 5-9, 170 | Pos: QB
The Eagles’ four-year starting signal-caller was leading the Lafayette metro area in rushing through seven games and it wasn’t close. Dartez rushed for 1,482 yards and 22 TDs while leading Vermilion Catholic to a 7-0 start and added 252 yards and five TDs in a Week Eight win over Opelousas Catholic.The next closest leading ballcarriers in the area trailed Dartez by more than 200 and 400 yards. He has also thrown for 1,063 yards and 11 TDs with two interceptions for VC, which was No. 1 in both the most recent Division IV select power ratings and the LSWA Class 1A poll.
— Mike Coppage | @sblivela
GOP-led states sending hundreds of additional National Guard troops to DC
Three GOP governors have pledged to send hundreds more National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to aid Trump’s federalization of the city.
Straight Arrow News
Louisiana National Guard soldiers have returned to Washington, D.C., on a second deployment as part of President Trump’s continued crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.
Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington nine months ago to trigger deployments of states’ National Guard troops to the capital.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry first sent a contingent of Louisiana soldiers to Washington in August 2025. Lt. Col. Noel Collins told USA Today Network on May 13 that all of those soldiers returned to Louisiana by the end of December.
Landry’s latest deployment of Louisiana soldiers includes about 125 who began assisting other soldiers and local police May 12.
Louisiana’s soldiers won’t make arrests, but they will patrol high-traffic areas while playing a supporting role for the D.C. National Guard and local police.
The White House has said its capital crime task force has made more than 12,000 arrests since August and seized thousands of illegal guns.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A new report shows Louisiana students are making some of the biggest gains in the country, with state education leaders celebrating the progress.
The newest national report card now ranks Louisiana 32nd in the nation, a jump from 49th in 2019.
“Louisiana is no longer about Louisiana simply believes, but for K-12 education, Louisiana achieves,” said state Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley.
The jump comes mainly from improved reading and math scores, making Louisiana the only state that has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Gov. Jeff Landry said the achievement comes at an opportune time for the generation to capitalize on economic developments coming to the state.
“These young men and women are going to get an opportunity we have never had. These kids get to grow up in a new Louisiana at a time when they are getting the education they need,” Landry said.
Brumley said the focus is now on attendance, more tutoring, higher teacher pay, and job readiness.
“Tutoring for every kid to get a little extra help if they need it; differentiated pay so we can target pay in a very precise way to those teachers doing great work for kids; and in the elevation in career and technical education,” Brumley said.
While leaders are celebrating, Brumley said the real work is keeping that momentum.
“Louisiana doesn’t have to be last. Indeed, we can be number one. We will continue to see great results,” Brumley said.
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Louisiana
As Louisiana’s Senate election nears, carbon capture becomes a big issue. Here’s what to know.
In a campaign that has focused more on President Donald Trump than the issues, government regulation of carbon capture and sequestration has emerged as a key fault line in Saturday’s Senate primary.
State Treasurer John Fleming has made his forceful opposition to the new process a key driver of his campaign, saying it threatens to poison waterways and strip landowners of property rights.
That has made him the target of attack ads broadcast by two outside groups associated with Gov. Jeff Landry and financed at least in part by oil and gas companies that want to inject the carbon dioxide deep in underground wells.
Fleming has counterattacked by saying that U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who has Landry’s support, actually supports the industry because her fiancée, Kevin Ainsworth, is a major lobbyist for carbon capture and sequestration companies in Baton Rouge. Letlow has called that accusation “a low blow.”
Letlow has said she favors letting local communities decide whether to allow the process.
“If a project is not safe, if it’s not transparent and if it does not have community buy-in, it should not move forward,” she said in a radio debate on May 5.
But in a separate interview, Letlow refused to be pinned down on how a community would decide to give a green light.
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy on Tuesday said he agrees with Fleming that oil and gas companies should not be able to exercise eminent domain to build pipelines and storage facilities without landowners’ approval.
Cassidy also said he supports the moratorium that Landry has imposed on new carbon capture and sequestration projects. Letlow also backs that moratorium.
Cassidy said allowing parish governments to block carbon capture and sequestration projects “is an acceptable option.”
Where the race stands
Fleming and Letlow are trying to unseat Cassidy this year in the Republican election campaign. Saturday is the primary, where the top two Republican finishers, if no one wins above 50%, advance to a runoff on June 27.
All three candidates are predicting they will win one of the two spots in the June 27 runoff. Polls indicate that Letlow has the best chance.
But political analysts note that the new semi-closed primary election system and recent seismic events – including a U.S. Supreme Court decision that nullified Louisiana’s congressional map and Landry then canceling the House elections – make prognosticating Saturday’s results a challenge.
Three Democrats are vying in their own primary to face the Republican Senate nominee in November. They are Nick Albares, a policy analyst in New Orleans; Gary Crockett, a business owner in New Orleans; and Jamie Davis, a soybean, cotton and corn farmer in northeast Louisiana.
Albares said on Tuesday that he sides with Fleming and Cassidy in not allowing companies to use eminent domain to build carbon capture and sequestration projects on private land.
Davis called for “binding consent from the people who live there, not a public comment period that gets ignored” before any injection wells are permitted.
Crockett said, “I’m totally against it.”
Trump dominates election
Trump has been a dominant topic in the campaign because each of the three Republicans is claiming to be the candidate best aligned with the president. Letlow has his endorsement.
The three Democrats have been scathing in their criticism of Trump.
In a weekly call with reporters Tuesday, Cassidy announced $150 million in additional federal money to build a replacement bridge on Interstate 10 over the Calcasieu River in Lake Charles.
In making the announcement, Cassidy slipped in a story about how he was riding on the ancient bridge with Trump in the presidential limousine nicknamed “the Beast” to an event in Hackberry in Cameron Parish in 2019. As they reached the top, Cassidy said, Trump wondered aloud, “Is this bridge going to hold us”?
Cassidy said the new bridge would be able to hold the Beast and is an example of how he delivers for Louisiana. He said the money came from the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, a President Joe Biden-initiative that he supported, unlike the rest of Louisiana’s Republican delegation.
Fleming, meanwhile, speaking to a Republican luncheon Tuesday in Baton Rouge, highlighted a nine-page referral to the Department of Justice by a nonprofit group that accuses Letlow of filing false campaign finance reports to the Federal Elections Commission.
The Coolidge Reagan Foundation alleged that the Letlow Victory Fund raised money for two months without reporting it and then tried to conceal this later.
The foundation said it has filed previous complaints against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee.
“With the FEC, you have to be very careful with your paperwork,” Fleming told the crowd at the Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon.
Letlow’s campaign dismissed the allegation.
“Bill Cassidy voted to convict President Trump (on impeachment charges in 2021) and has spent over $10 million attacking Julia Letlow,” Letlow’s campaign said in a statement. “Now, in an attempt to distract from President Trump’s endorsement of Letlow, Cassidy’s allies are desperately trying to dress up routine FEC paperwork questions because they can’t defend Cassidy’s record. The Letlow campaign takes compliance seriously and has filed all required reports with the FEC.”
In recent days, Letlow has said that the defeat last week of five state senators opposed by Trump in Indiana bodes well for her campaign, since Trump wants to end Cassidy’s Senate career.
Outspent by Cassidy and Letlow, Fleming has said he is running a grassroots campaign. One example of that, he said in an interview, is that a majority of the members of the Republican State Central Committee have requested that the committee endorse him.
Derek Babcock, the party chair, didn’t respond to a text Tuesday asking how the party’s executive committee – which actually issues the endorsement – will respond.
Attack ads target Fleming
Landry has inserted himself into the campaign by raising money for two groups associated with him – the Accountability Project and MAGA Energy – to attack Fleming. Both groups are organized in a way that doesn’t require them to disclose their donors and are headed by two of his key campaign associates, Jay Connaughton and Jason Hebert.
Landry held an event at the Governor’s Mansion on April 20 with about 15 carbon capture and sequestration executives, said someone who attended the meeting but spoke on condition of anonymity. Landry warned the group that a Fleming victory would harm their industry. The executives then heard a pitch to raise $1.5 million to defeat Fleming, according to the source.
In a brief interview, Landry acknowledged holding the meeting but wouldn’t discuss it.
Fleming repeats his opposition to carbon capture and sequestration at every opportunity, telling the Reagan luncheon, “It’s just not good for Louisiana.”
In other appearances, Fleming has said the technology is unproven and dangerous, saying in a radio interview last month, “It’s stuffing toxic carbon dioxide in the ground and using your taxpayer money and stealing your land through private domain for profiteering.”
For a month, the Accountability Project and MAGA Energy have been attacking Fleming.
The Accountability Project has broadcast ads accusing Fleming of being a supporter of allowing illegal aliens across the Mexican border. Fleming called that a lie while speaking at the Reagan luncheon, saying he supports tough border restrictions.
MAGA Energy accuses Fleming of having voted for pro-carbon capture and sequestration bills while he served in the House. That, too, is a lie, Fleming told the Reagan crowd.
In a new line of attack, the Accountability Project is attempting to undermine a key part of Fleming’s pro-Trump biography by saying that Fleming never served as Trump’s deputy chief of staff during his final 10 months as president in first term.
In campaign appearances, Fleming has said his office was 10 steps from the Oval Office in the West Wing, and he told the Reagan luncheon that the accusation was “an absolute lie.”
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