NEW ORLEANS (November 6, 2025) – John Johnson, the star quarterback for the undefeated Edna Karr football team, has been selected as October's Allstate Sugar Bowl Athlete of the Month presented by LCMC Health. 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 to be eligible. Johnson was recognized as the November Athlete of the Month for 2024.
 
Allstate Sugar Bowl Athletes of the Month
 
Johnson totaled over 1,000 yards and 21 touchdowns in a perfect 5-0 month for the Cougars. The senior passed for 943 yards and 12 touchdowns while adding over 400 rushing yards and nine more touchdowns. He opened the month by completing 26-of-35 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns to go with two rushing scores in a 42-21 win over St. Aug. on Oct. 3. On Oct. 24, he was 12-of-15 for 232 yards and four passing TDs while running for another 101 yards and two scores in a 63-12 blowout of Warren Easton. The third-year starter also had five total TDs in an Oct. 9 win over Brother Martin.
 
"People think he's just a talented young man, but he's a prepared young man as well," Karr head coach Bryce Brown said of Johnson this past offseason. "He spends a lot of time watching film. He spends time teaching the offense to his receivers and teammates—where he expects everybody to be. People don't realize how much time and preparation he puts in."
 
Last season, Johnson accounted for more than 4,300 yards of offense and 50 touchdowns as Karr rolled to the LHSAA Division I state championship. The Cougars (9-0, 6-0 District 9-5A) are the top-ranked team in the Louisiana Sports Writers Association state poll.
 
Johnson was selected for the Sugar Bowl honor over a crowded field of eight athletes, including five college stars and three other high school standouts.

• Ava Barduca, a senior middle blocker, led the Slidell volleyball team to a 16-2 record in the month of October. She recorded 270 kills and 45 blocks in the 18 matches and achieved the 500-kill milestone on the final match of the month, a three-set sweep of Northlake Christian on Oct. 29. Barduca had 20 kills and three aces in an Oct. 28 win over Fontainebleau which wrapped up the District 6-I championship. The senior, who has notched double-digits in kills in her last seven matches, registered a season-best 28 kills in a win over Northshore on Oct. 14. She also collected 22 kills in a two-set victory over Chapelle on Oct. 18 and another 22 kills in an Oct. 14 win over Covington.
• Bernard Cheruiyot, from the Tulane cross country team, was named the American Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Oct. 20 for the third time this season. He has finished in the top three individually in each of three races he has competed in this season including finishing third at Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 17 against a strong ranked field in Madison, Wisc. With him leading the way, the Green Wave is ranked No. 23 nationally and has been ranked No. 1 in the South Central Region for the last four polls. Tulane competed in the American Conference Championships on Nov. 1 and Cheruiyot finished second overall.
• Vashaun Coulon led the St. Augustine High School football team to a 3-1 October record with wins over Jesuit, Rummel, and Brother Martin. The senior completed 64-of-96 passes (.667) for 1,077 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also ran for three touchdowns. The biggest October game for the 5-10, 170-pounder came in a 46-23 Catholic League win over Jesuit on Oct. 10 as he completed 25-of-32 passes for 439 yards and three total touchdowns. He also was near-perfect in a 49-16 Homecoming win over Brother Martin on Oct. 25 when he completed all nine of his passes for 210 yards and four touchdowns while also adding a rushing TD.
• Megan Gettys, a 2022 graduate of Lakeshore High School, went on an October scoring binge for the West Florida women's soccer team. The senior entered the month with zero points and proceeded to score four goals and two assists in nine October matches as the Argonauts recorded a perfect 9-0 month to climb to No. 6 in the nation for Division II soccer. In an Oct. 22 win over Montevallo, Gettys' goal off a corner kick proved to be the game-winner in the 63rd minute. West Florida, which has a 15-0-2 record, clinched the Gulf South Conference regular season championship with a win on Friday and will open play at the Gulf South Conference Women's Soccer Championship on Saturday.
• Parker Greene, who earned the Louisiana Junior Golf Tour's Player of the Year on the boys' circuit for 2025 on Oct. 21, won the LJGT Championship on October 4-5 at Tamahka Trails Golf Club. The 16-year-old from Mandeville High School earned the championship with rounds of 74 and 71 to finish at three-over 145 for the weekend. He held off a late charge from Duke Nitcher of New Orleans, who fired a two-under 69 in the final round to finish just two shots back at 147. Greene was selected as the LJGT's Player of the Year after earning three victories and a pair of top-three finishes in nine events. Next up for Greene is the Notah Begay III Boys JR Golf National Championship to be played in Kinder, La., from Nov. 7-9.
• Isis Harink, a freshman from The Netherlands, had an outstanding month of October for the Loyola volleyball team, leading the Wolf Pack to a 7-2 record as they improved to 22-8 on the year. She had nine or more kills in six of the nine matches, including three double-digit efforts. Her 13 kills in an Oct. 11 win over Faulkner were her most in the month. The 6-1 Harink also had a career-best eight blocks on Oct. 25 against Blue Mountain Christian. Loyola, currently tied for second in the Southern States Athletic Conference, closes the regular season with a pair of road matches (Nov. 7 and 8) before heading to the SSAC Championship from Nov. 13-15.
• Niel Phillips had a dream day for any golfer at any level on Oct. 20 when he connected on two holes-in-one on the same day – and on the same hole – for the Sewanee golf team. Phillips, a sophomore and a graduate of Isidore Newman, opened the Chick-fil-A Invitational in Rome, Ga., with his 6-iron and buried a hole-in-one on the par-3, 182-yard eighth hole. With college golf tournaments featuring multiple rounds on the same day, Phillips returned to the eighth hole later in the day. This time, he opted for his 7-iron. And bam! Same result; an amazing accomplishment for the New Orleanian. Phillips, who finished 14th in this week's tournament, posted a 73.91 stroke average as a freshman and was a second-team all-conference selection for the Tigers.
• Nate Sheppard, the former Mandeville High star, has had a stellar freshman campaign for the Duke football team. In two October games for the Blue Devils, he ran for 141 yards, including 91 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-21 road win over California. He currently is the leading ground game for the Blue Devils with 557 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 6.6 yards per carry. The 5-10, 200-pounder also has 143 receiving yards and a TD. The first true freshman running back to start at Duke in 15 years, he is the leading freshman rusher in the ACC and ranks second nationally among freshman ballcarriers. His best performance of the year came on Sept. 27 in a win over Syracuse when he totaled 201 all-purpose yards on 19 touches including two scores. Sheppard earned a spot on the On3 Midseason True Freshman All-America team.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 110 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 91-year history. The 92nd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will serve as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2026. 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.