American Press All-Southwest Louisiana Big Schools: Bushnell, Montet named MVPs
Published 10:34 am Saturday, December 16, 2023
Quarterback Josiah Bushnell embraced his new surroundings and was brilliant under center for Iowa, and St. Louis Catholic’s Graham Montet used his physical style of play to punish opposing defenses.
Both were District 3-3A MVPs and can add American Press All-Southwest Louisiana Big Schools MVP to their honors.
Iowa’s Tommy Johns is the Coach of the Year for a second consecutive season after leading the Yellow Jackets to another perfect run through District 3-3A and the Nonselect Division II quarterfinals. Iowa went 9-4.
Graham Montet
Montet, the defensive MVP, was a perfect fit for the blue-collar style of play that head coach Brock Matherne likes.
“You don’t want to discredit everybody’s commitment and what they have done for our program, but he is that type of kid since the day I got here three years go,” Matherne said. “Without a Graham Montet I don’t know if we have as much success as we did have. He makes that kind of impact.”
Montet topped 100 tackles for a third consecutive season with 105 and set the school career tackles mark (391). He made 7.5 tackles for a loss, broke up four passes, blocked a pair of punts and recovered two fumbles, returning one for a touchdown.
“Defensively, the game that sticks out the most to me was the Lake Charles College Prep game,” Matherne said. “I felt every time he hit somebody, the whole stadium felt it. He let his talent and hard work show.”
Montet was also an indispensable part of the Saints’ offense. He rushed for 670 yards and 12 touchdowns and tossed two touchdown passes. He also had 317 kick return yards.
“On the offensive side, I look back to the two games that stick out to me,” Matherne said. “One was South Lafourche.
“We struggled early on offense, and I could just remember him making these plays where he was breaking five, six, seven tackles. He really gave us a physical style of football that we want to play. And the Iowa game on offense and what he was able to do there. He is a violent, physical kid that is very tough to tackle.”
Josiah Bushnell
Bushnell, the offensive MVP, transferred from Lake Charles College Prep to Iowa before his senior season, and it wasn’t long before he made an impact. He finished with 1,565 (105-190-5) passing yards and 16 touchdowns, plus 959 yards and 14 touchdowns on 96 carries.
“He has a tremendous impact, especially with the things that he is able to do with his feet and his arm,” Johns said. “I thought he came in and did a great job of fitting in with our team and embraced his role.
“I think he became a team-first player first. He put all his individual goals to the side for the betterment of the team. I am very impressed. That is a difficult thing to do. I thought he handled it about as best as you can. There was a learning curve and a new environment, and I thought he embraced it and he became a team favorite among his teammates.
“He didn’t come in here and try to take control of anything. He just embraced his role and slowly matured into his position. He made friends. After a while, you become comfortable with the people around you, and he became one of them.”
In his second start, he accounted for four touchdowns in a 35-18 win over Kaplan. With the District 3-3A title on the line, Bushnell ran for 255 yards and passed for 304 while accounting for five scores in wins over LCCP and St. Louis Catholic. He had a scoring run over 70 yards in both games.
“I thought midway through the season, I think he was more comfortable and he really, really excelled and elevated his game,” Johns said. “That was the beauty about him. If they took the run away from him, he is going to throw it. We just took whatever they (the opponent) gave us.
“When you start game-planning to put another person just for him, that means somebody is open somewhere. If he didn’t hurt you with his legs, he is going to hurt you with his arm and vice versa. He is one of the most versatile players that I have been around.”
Offense
Pos. Player, School Cl. Ht. Wt. Statistics
WR Elijah Garrick, LC College Prep Sr. 6-2 180 42 rec., 685 yards, 6 TD
WR Isiah Farley, Leesville Sr. 5-10 170 58 rec., 816 yards, 15 total TD
TE J.D. Lafleur, Sulphur Jr. 6-6 250 44 rec., 575 yards, 5 TD
OL Damian Reed, Iowa Sr. 6-1 275 Iowa averaged 31.5 ppg, 314.8 ypg
OL Jordan Davis, St. Louis Catholic Sr. 6-3 280 Opened holes for balanced offense
OL Jeremiah Freeman, LC College Prep Sr. 6-4 290 Helped team return to quarterfinals
OL Aydin Lefrere, Westlake Sr. 6-1 210 Protected a 1,000-yard passer
OL Tim Wise, Leesville Sr. 6-0 205 blocked for 2,000-yard rusher
QB Josiah Bushnell, Iowa Sr. 5-11 180 105-190-5, 1,565 yards, 30 total TD
RB Xavier Ford, Leesville Jr. 5-11 190 295 car., 2,425 yards, 33 TD
RB ReJohn Zeno, Jennings Jr. 5-9 190 270 car., 1,902 yards, 21 TD
RB Reed Williams, DeRidder So. 5-9 165 145 car., 1,246 yards, 21 TD
ATH Gavin Stout, Sam Houston Jr. 6-1 170 129-238-3, 2,066 yards, 28 TD
K Landon Daughdril, St. Louis Sr. 5-11 170 42.9 avg., 32-32 PAT, 12-15 FG, 52 LG
Defense
Pos. Player, School Cl. Ht. Wt. Statistics
DL Kade Nugent, St. Louis Catholic Sr. 6-1 210 92 tackles, 18.5 TFL, 8 sacks, 11 QBH
DL Davien Edwards, Jennings Jr. 5-8 220 40 tackles, 6 TFL, 4 FR, sack
DL Jayden Aswell, DeRidder Sr. 6-5 240 49 tackles, 3 TFL, 5 sacks, 14 QBH
DL Shooter Soileau, S. Beauregard So. 6-2 255 33 tackles, 8 TFL, 3 sack, 11 QBH
LB Graham Montet, St. Louis Catholic Sr. 6-0 190 103 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 4 PBU, 3 FF, 2 FR
LB Wyatt Fontenot, Sam Houston Sr. 6-2 230 76 tackles, 14 TFL, 1 FF, 1 FR, 3 FG blk
LB Kenias St. Romain, DeRidder Sr. 6-3 210 100 tackles, 11 TFL, 3 sacks, 21 QBH
LB Classie Ballou, Barbe Sr. 6-2 210 104 tackles, 3.5 sacks
DB Cooper Smith, Sam Houston Jr. 6-2 195 51 tackles, 5 PBU, 8 INT, 2 pick-6
DB Donte Botley, Kinder Sr. 5-9 168 52 tackles, 7 PBU, 3 TFL, 3 INT
DB Zae Douglas, Jennings Sr. 6-4 165 36 tackles, 7 PBU, 3 INT, 2 FF
DB Erick Franklin, LC College Prep Sr. 5-10 190 83 tackles, 2 FF, INT
KR Markel Senegal, W-M Sr. 6-2 180 425 KR yards, TD / 53 tackles, 10 TFL
ATH Walter Robertson, Jennings Sr. 5-10 205 113 tackles, 6 TFL, 3 sack, FR
P Matthew Vest, Iowa Sr. 5-9 150 34 avg., / 48-53 PAT, 2-3 FG, long 35
OFFENSIVE MVP — Josiah Bushnell, Iowa
DEFENSIVE MVP — Graham Montet, St. Louis Catholic
COACH OF THE YEAR — Tommy Johns, Iowa
