NEW ORLEANS (December 4, 2024) – John Johnson, the sensational quarterback for the Edna Karr High School football team, has been selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl Athlete of the Month for November. Athletes of the month have been selected by the New Orleans Sports Awards Committee since 1957. The athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region in order to be eligible. Johnson is the first Karr athlete to earn the honor since November of 2020 when another Cougar quarterback, AJ Samuel, was recognized.
 
Allstate Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month
 
Johnson led the Cougars to the District 9-5A title, the top seed in the LHSAA Division I Select tournament, and a spot in the state semifinals (Friday, 7 p.m., Morris Jeff Stadium, vs. No. 4 Catholic-Baton Rouge).
 
In four November games, the junior tallied 1,232 total yards (308 yards per game) as Edna Karr defeated fellow state semifinalist John Curtis (35-14, on Nov. 1), Rummel (69-28, on Nov. 8), Huntington (56-6, on Nov. 22), and St. Thomas More (42-14, on Nov. 29). Johnson's biggest game came against Rummel as he tallied 355 total yards and six total touchdowns (three passing, four rushing) in the dominant performance (69 points is the most ever allowed by Rummel) which clinched the Cougars' third straight Catholic League title. He also piled up 286 yards with five touchdowns (two passing, three rushing) in the victory over John Curtis on Nov. 1.
 
The Karr star won the monthly honor over one of the deepest fields of candidates in recent history for the long-standing award:

• LSU sophomore wide receiver Aaron Anderson had a stellar month of November for the Tigers. The 2022 Edna Karr graduate snared 17 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown during the month of November. His best performance was a seven-catch outing against Florida for 72 yards. He is the team's second leading receiver on the season with 53 catches for 784 yards (14.7 yards per catch) and five touchdowns. The 5-8, 187 lb. playmaker also had a game changing play against Oklahoma as he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, only the fourth player in LSU history to register a 100-yard kickoff return. LSU was trailing the Sooners 14-10 prior to that return, but outscored Oklahoma 27-3 over the remainder of the game.
• Lauren Banks, a 5-10 guard/forward for the Xavier University of Louisiana women's basketball team, led the team with 16.9 points per game in seven November games, all victories for Xavier. The graduate transfer from Clinton, Md., also averaged 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.9 steals and 27.4 minutes per game for the month. Her top performance came in the final game of the month as she scored 11 points in the final five minutes to flip a 69-64 deficit into an 85-80 XULA victory against an LSUA team that entered 6-1. That win lifted XULA to 8-0 for the first time in 43 seasons. Banks has scored in double figures in every game this season, including 21 in a 73-69 victory at Dillard (11/1) and 20 in a 102-79 victory at North American (11/21). She also notched a game-high 19 points in an 81-76 victory at NAIA No. 25 Loyola of New Orleans (11/18).
• Malachi Dabney, a sophomore for the Destrehan High School football team, keyed the Wildcats' run of four straight victories in November, including three straight playoff triumphs. The 5-9, 165-pounder ran 83 times for 734 yards (8.8 yards per carry and 183.5 yards per game) in the month. Destrehan opened the year 2-3 but has posted eight straight wins since Oct. 4. The 10th seed in the LHSAA Division I non-select playoffs, Destrehan rolled to a 69-41 state quarterfinal victory over second-seeded Airline (11/29) as Dabney ran for 219 yards and five touchdowns on 35 carries to earn Player of the Week honors from the Greater New Orleans Quarterback Club, Crescent City Sports, The Ticket 106.1, and Friday Night Football. In a 63-21 regional playoff victory over No. 7 Northwood-Shreveport (11/22), the sophomore ran for 270 yards and six touchdowns. He went over 100 yards in the first two games of the month despite seeing limited playing time in blowout victories.
• Avery Daigle, a freshman for the Mandeville High School swim team, was selected as the outstanding girls swimmer at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Metro Swimming Championships (Nov. 1-2). She set records in the 100 (50.62) and 200 freestyle (1:51.65); her time of 23.24 for the first leg of the 200-freestyle set the meet record for the 50 freestyle - and the relay team also set the meet record. On Nov. 23, in her first high school state meet, Daigle continued her sensational month as she won the 100-freestyle (50.36) and 200-freestyle (1:50.81). She also swam the leadoff leg of the first-place 200-yard freestyle relay (1:37.91) with senior Mia Pettivino, junior Emma Cate Dobie and freshman Sydney Eagan to earn outstanding swimmer honors in Division I. Her leadoff leg (23.13) in the relay and 100 freestyle times earned her two All-American considerations.
• Chandler Fields, a Metairie native and a graduate of Archbishop Rummel, made his first start of the season for the Louisiana football team on Nov. 23 and threw for a career-high 323 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Ragin' Cajuns to a 51-30 win over Troy to clinch a share of the Sun Belt West Division title. He followed that up by throwing for 188 yards and two more scores in a 37-23 win over UL Monroe to send UL to the Sun Belt Championship game (Saturday, 6:30 p.m., vs. Marshall, ESPN). The redshirt senior had come off the bench early in the second half of the South Alabama game (11/16) after an injury to starter Ben Wooldridge and completed 14-of-17 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for a score as the Ragin' Cajuns rallied for 19 unanswered points but it was not enough as they fell 24-22.
• Abby Hunt, a Mandeville native and a graduate of Fontainebleau High School, had an outstanding November for the Smith College volleyball team as she was named to the NEWMAC All-Conference First Team and was the C-MVP of the NEWMAC Tournament as she helped Smith earn its first NEWMAC Championship in over 15 years. That tournament victory sent the Pioneers to the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time since 2005. After defeating Endicott, 3-0, in the first round, Smith fell to Ithaca in round two. Hunt tallied double-doubles (kills-digs) in all three NEWMAC Tournament matches, including 22 kills, 18 kills, and 16 kills. For the season, she led the team with 379 kills while also tallying 162 digs, 30 blocks, and 47 service aces.
• Brady Mullen, a senior at Jesuit High School, dominated the LHSAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Nov. 18. The senior star posted a meet-record time of 14:44.22 over the five-kilometer course – he broke his own record of 14:50.55 set last year. Only one other runner in the five divisions broke the 15-minute mark. He followed that performance by recording a time of 15:11 to finish third in the Nike Cross South Regional, featuring top-level runners from five states, on Nov. 23 in The Woodlands, Texas. That time made him the top individual qualifier for the Nike Cross Nationals set for Dec. 7 in Portland, Ore. Mullen ended the first mile with more than 40 runners ahead of him but briefly moved into the lead during the second mile, before race winner Caden Leonard (15:02.6) of Carroll XC Club regained the lead and finished more than eight seconds ahead of Mullen.
• Enzo Solitario, a senior for the Jesuit High School swimming team, opened his November with a dominant performance at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Metro Swimming Championships (Nov. 1-2) in Mandeville – the Metro Championships includes swimmers from all levels in the New Orleans area. After setting three meet records – he won the 100-yard freestyle (44.89) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:37.52) and collected the 50-freestyle record (20.91) for his first leg in the 200 relay – he was selected as the meet's outstanding boys swimmer for the second year in a row. At the LHSAA Division I state championships, the Blue Jays took second place as Solitario set division records in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle races. Solitario competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials this past summer in Indianapolis.
• Marilyn Voitier, a junior for the Haynes Academy volleyball team, tallied 20-plus kills in the state semifinals and the state championships as the Yellow Jackets captured the LHSAA Division III state championship in Lafayette in November. The championship match saw second-seeded Haynes upend No. 1 Hannan, 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-20, 15-12. In the fifth set, Haynes was down 12-9, but behind the efforts of Voitier (28 kills), and her sister Virginia, they notched the final six points for the championship. In the semifinals, Marilyn recorded 26 kills as the Yellow Jackets took down No. 3 E.D. White, 18-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 15-12. Haynes had posted straight-set wins over Jennings, St. Martinville, and University Lab in the first three rounds of the state tournament.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 107 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 90-year history. The 91st Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2025. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade.