A quarter-century of elites

St. Aug’s Leonard Fournette and Archbishop Rummel’s Craig Steltz were the best of the best. (Photo by Ron Brocato)

Here’s my take on the best football players at Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans over the last 25 years. Let the Monday morning quarterbacking begin!

OFFENSE

Position, Name,  School, Year

WR     Ja’Marr Chase, Archbishop Rummel,  2015
WR     Stanley Morgan, St. Augustine, 2014
WR     Kalijah Lipscomb, Jesuit, 2015
OL       Torrie Taulli, Archbishop Shaw, 1997
OL       Trai Turner, St. Augustine, 2009
OL       William Clapp, Brother Martin, 2013
OL       Tim Falter, Jesuit, 2001
OL       Troy Kropog, Archbishop Rummel, 2003
TE       John Doucette, St. Augustine, 2001
TE       Foster Moreau, Jesuit, 2015
QB      Shyrone Carey, Archbishop Shaw, 1999\
QB      Damian Williams, Archbishop Rummel, 2012
RB       Chris Markey, Jesuit, 2003
RB       Leonard Fournette, St. Augustine, 2012
RB       Dante Butler, Brother Martin, 2010
RB       Tyrell Fenroy, St. Charles Catholic, 2004

DEFENSE

DL       Marquise Hill, De La Salle, 2002
DL       Bennie Mills, Archbishop Rummel, 1999
DL       Sylvester McGrew, St. Augustine, 2002
DL       Mickey Johnson, St. Charles Catholic, 2010
DL       Houston Bates, St. Paul’s, 2008
LB       Tyler Grubbs, Holy Cross, 2020
LB       Deion Jones, Jesuit, 2010
LB       Brandon Spincer, St. Augustine, 2002
LB       Cameron Vaughn, Archbishop Shaw, 2001
DB      Chris Horton, De La Salle, 2001
DB      Craig Steltz, Archbishop Rummel, 2003
DB      Tommy Connors, Archbishop Shaw, 2004
DB      Chase Dardar, Archbishop Shaw, 2000
DB      Tyrann Mathieu, St. Augustine, 2009

SPECIALISTS

PK       Sean Comiskey, Archbishop Rummel, 2001
PK       Ralphie Friebert, Jesuit, 2010
P          Danny Hrapmann, Holy Cross, 2006
P         Joel Dullary, Holy Cross, 2012
Ret.   Gino Giambelluca, Holy Cross, 2000
Ret.   Jeff Sanchez, Archbishop Hannan, 1998

BEST OF THE REST

QUARTERBACKS: Derrick Joseph, Abp. Shaw, 1997; Brandon Butler, De La Salle, 1997; Sean Santos, Holy Cross, 2004; Scott Buisson, Abp. Rummel, 2006; Anthony Scelfo, Jesuit, 2004; Terry Lucas, St. Augustine, 2010; Tanner Lee, Jesuit, 2012; Trey Laforge, Jesuit, 2014; Chase Fourcade, Abp. Rummel, 2015; Kenny Sears, St. Paul’s, 2015; Julian Gums, De La Salle, 2017; Jack Mashburn, St. Paul’s, 2018.

RUNNING BACKS: Michael Burks, Abp. Rummel, 1997; Brant Hocke, Jesuit, 1997; Derron Parquet, Abp. Rummel, 1999; Jason Schule, Abp. Hannan, 2001; Benjarvis Green-Ellis, St. Augustine, 2002; Moncell Allen, Holy Cross, 2004; Daniel Borne, Abp. Shaw, 2006; Jarrell Johnson, Abp. Rummel, 2008; Lawrence Breaud, Abp. Shaw, 2009;  Lazedrick Thompson, St. Charles Catholic, 2011; Paul Stanton, Jesuit, 2011; Trey Ragas, Abp. Shaw, 2015; Bruce Jordan-Swilling, Brother Martin, 2016; Kendall Collins, De La Salle, 2018; Montrell Johnson, De La Salle, 2021; Logan Diggs, Abp. Rummel, 2021; P.J. Martin, De La Salle, 2022; Jake Dalmado, Abp. Hannan, 2022; David Kency Jr., Abp. Shaw, 2022.

WIDE RECEIVERS: Terrell Harris, Abp. Shaw, 1997; Richard Lyons, Holy Cross, 2003; Lance Lacoste, Holy Cross, 2005; Larry Dace, St. Augustine, 2011; Kevin Spears, De La Salle, 2012; Timothy Bedford, St. Paul’s, 2016; Tyler Kirkwood, Holy Cross, 2019; Koy Moore, Abp. Rummel, 2019; Luke Besh, Jesuit, 2019.

TIGHT ENDS: Jerome Landry, Holy Cross, 1999;   Adam Kraus, Brother Martin, 2002; Chris Brown, Jesuit 2003; Selvish Capers, St. Augustine, 2004; Sean Bruhn, Pope John Paul II, 2011; Cethan Carter, Abp. Rummel, 2012; Irv Smith, Brother Martin, 2015.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Graham Jarrott, De La Salle, 1997; Scott Holt, Holy Cross, 2001; Lance Ancar, St. Augustine, 2001;  Nathaniel Dorsey, St. Augustine, 2002; Corey Hilliard, Jesuit, 2002; Darren Marquez, St. Augustine, 2002; Eric Block, Jesuit, 2004; P.J. Lonergan, Abp. Rummel, 2007; Josh Mire, Abp. Shaw, 2007; Jonah Austin, St. Augustine, 2010; Chester Hebert, Abp. Shaw, 2010; Ryan Hanley, Abp. Rummel, 2014; Collin Williams, St. Augustine, 2014; Corey Dublin, Jesuit, 2016; Cameron Jackel, Abp. Shaw, 2016; Jeremiah James, De La Salle, 2017; Christian Hoz, Abp. Hannan, 2017; Josh Remetich, Holy Cross, 2019; Hunter Kareokoski, De La Salle, 2022; Cader Jones, De La Salle, 2022.

PLACEKICKERS: Thomas Peed, Holy Cross, 2001; Brad Oestriecher, Abp. Rummel, 2004; Andrew Rodrigue, St. Charles Catholic, 2016; Aiden Corbello, Jesuit, 2022.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: Marcus Jasmin, De La Salle, 1999; Lamar Mills, Abp. Rummel, 2001; Nick Frank, Holy Cross, 2002; Scott Ward, St. Paul’s, 2004; Scott Wattigny, Holy Cross, 2004; Christian Lacey, Abp. Shaw, 2007; Philip Blitch, Brother Martin, 2008; Julien Obiaha, Brother Martin, 2011;  Mason Cole, St. Paul’s, 2011; Taylor Cochran, St. Charles Catholic, 2012; Briston Guidry, Abp. Rummel, 2015; Matt Kennedy, Abp. Rummel, 2013; Danquan Edwards, De La Salle, 2016;  Jamiran James, De La Salle, 2017; Perry Ganci, Jesuit, 2018; Dante Carter, St. Augustine, 2017; Sonny Hazard, Jesuit, 2019; Mason Narcisse, St. Charles Catholic, 2019; Ja’Marion Peterson, De La Salle, 2019; Shane Payton-Hodges, St. Augustine, 2022.

LINEBACKERS: Chris Vaughn, Abp. Shaw; Ryan O’Neal, Jesuit, 1998; Perry Davis, St. Augustine, 2002; Ryan Willis, Holy Cross, 2001; Al Jones, St. Augustine, 2004; Theo Smith, Jesuit, 2006; Ryan Roubion, Brother Martin, 2007; Jordan Bodenheimer, St. Paul’s,  2008; Philip Helmstetter, Abp. Rummel, 2009;  Chris Randle, Abp. Rummel, 2009; Kelly Aguillard, St. Augustine, 2013; Terrance Jones, Brother Martin, 2012; Zachary Harris, Holy Cross, 2013;  Michael Mosley, Abp. Rummel, 2014; D’Andre Christmas-Giles, St. Augustine, 2015; Aaron Brule, Abp. Rummel, 2017; Jabari Watts, Brother Martin, 2018; Kolbe Fields, Abp. Rummel, 2021; Kyle Cannon, St. Charles Catholic, 2022; Michael Hotard, St. Charles Catholic, 2022.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Chris Thompson, Holy Cross, 1999; Terrence Dunbar, Abp. Rummel, 2002; Keithshone Dantzler, Brother Martin, 2004; Patrick Trahan, St. Augustine, 2004; Chad Boyd, Abp. Shaw, 2008; Carvin Johnson, Abp. Rummel, 2009; Ed Eagan, Holy Cross, 2011; Chad McNeil, St. Charles Catholic, 2012; Jermaine Roberts, St. Augustine, 2013; Brandon Phillips, Abp. Rummel, 2014; Kristen Fulton, Abp. Rummel, 2015; Derrick Munson, Abp. Rummel, 2016; Tre’ Swilling, Brother Martin, 2016; Donniel Ward-Magee, St. Augustine, 2017; Lance Robinson, De La Salle, 2017; Donovan Kaufman, Abp. Rummel, 2019.

RETURNS: Anthony Thomas, De La Salle, 2012; Erron Lewis, St. Charles Catholic, 2013; Eric Lewis, St. Charles Catholic, 2015; Jeremy Singleton, Brother Martin, 2016.