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
Louisiana
Mom whose 3 children were killed in Louisiana mass shooting still has bullet lodged in face — and sometimes thinks kids are alive
The mother of three of the eight children massacred by deranged Army veteran dad Shamar Elkins in Louisiana still has a bullet lodged in her head and is struggling with her memory — sometimes believing her kids are still alive, according to a relative.
Christina Snow, the girlfriend of 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, was shot in the face early Sunday when the former National Guardsman went on a shooting rampage at two nearby homes in Shreveport.
Three of Snow’s children she shared with Elkins — Braylon Snow, 5, Khedarrion Snow, 6, and Sariahh Snow, 11 — were killed in their home.
Elkins fired a bullet through Snow’s nose which is lodged in her head, and doctors aren’t ready to risk surgery, according to her cousin Jamarckus Snow.
The mom is now dealing with heartbreaking memory loss about the fate of her kids.
“One day, she’ll remember they’re dead. I heard yesterday she woke up and was like, ‘I got to get my kids ready for school.’ She’ll lose memory of what happened,” he told NBC News.
“One day, she’ll know, and the next day, she’s thinking her kids is still there.”
Follow the latest updates on the Louisiana father who killed 8 children in Shreveport shooting:
Elkins fatally shot his seven children — the three he shared with Snow and his four daughters with his wife, Shaneiqua Pugh: Jayla Elkins, 3, Shayla Elkins, 5, Kayla Pugh, 6, and Layla Pugh, 7.
He also killed Mar’Kaydon Pugh, 10, the son of his wife’s sister, who was staying at their house.
The vet turned his gun on Pugh and Snow, too, severely wounding both women, who are still in the hospital.
Elkins shot himself in the driveway of his former military mentor as law enforcement closed in.
The motive for the shooting remains unclear, but Elkins was suffering from mental health issues and was scheduled to appear in court on Monday after Pugh asked him for a divorce.
Louisiana
Federal appeals court upholds Texas’ Ten Commandments law. What does it mean for Louisiana?
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a Texas law requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments, just weeks after the same court allowed a similar Louisiana law to take effect.
A majority of judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas’ law, which is nearly identical to Louisiana’s, is constitutional and does not violate students’ religious freedom. In February, the court lifted an injunction on Louisiana’s law, which cleared schools to put up the posters, but the judges said it was too early to rule on that law’s constitutionality.
Tuesday’s ruling could bode well for Louisiana’s law if it eventually returns to the 5th Circuit, considered the country’s most conservative federal court of appeals.
In their majority opinion, the judges rejected the argument that posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms would pressure students to honor the biblical mandates or adopt particular beliefs.
“To plaintiffs, merely exposing children to religious language is enough to make the displays engines of coercive indoctrination. We disagree,” the majority wrote about the Texas law, known as S.B. 10. A minority of the court’s active judges dissented.
Even though Tuesday’s ruling only addressed the Texas case, defenders of Louisiana’s legislation celebrated it as a victory. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the 5th Circuit’s argument in upholding Texas’ law was identical to the one Louisiana made in defense of its law.
“Our law clearly was always constitutional,” she posted on X, “and I am grateful that the Fifth Circuit has now definitively agreed with us.”
Louisiana’s Republican-controlled Legislature passed the law in 2024, which requires all public K-12 schools and colleges to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. A group of parents quickly challenged the law in court, and a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction that stopped the state from enforcing the law.
In February, the 5th Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision, saying it had been premature to block the law before it took effect. The judges said they could not rule on the law’s constitutionality before seeing how it played out in schools.
But in the case of Texas’ law, which that state’s Republican-led Legislature passed in 2025, the court did rule on the merits.
Rejecting arguments made by attorneys for the Texas families who challenged the law, the 5th Circuit majority said that requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments does not amount to the government endorsing a particular religion, which the U.S. Constitution forbids. The law also does not impose religious beliefs on students, the judges wrote.
“As noted, S.B. 10 authorizes no religious instruction and gives teachers no license to contradict children’s religious beliefs (or their parents’),” the majority opinion says. “No child is made to recite the Commandments, believe them, or affirm their divine origin.”
The Texas families were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel. The same groups, including Louisiana’s ACLU chapter, represented the Louisiana families.
In a statement Tuesday, the organizations said they are “extremely disappointed” by the 5th Circuit’s ruling, adding that they expect to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their children with religious instruction,” the groups said. “This decision tramples those rights.”
Nearly all major industries in Louisiana added jobs over the past year, signaling momentum for a stronger future, according to a recent report from Leaders for a Better Louisiana.
The organizat…
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