De La Salle’s P.J. Martin runs away with New Orleans Athlete of the Month honor

Senior Leads State in Rushing for Undefeated Cavaliers

NEW ORLEANS – De La Salle High School running back P.J. Martin, the leading rusher in the greater New Orleans area, has been selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month for September. Monthly award-winners are selected by the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Greater New Orleans Amateur Athletes of the Month

A senior, Martin rushed 130 times for 1,194 yards and 11 touchdowns as De La Salle went unbeaten at 5-0 in the month. He finished the month as the leading rusher in the state of Louisiana. The 5-10, 200-pounder ran for 292 yards and a pair of touchdowns as he helped the Cavaliers rally from a 22-0 deficit to defeat Holy Cross, 28-22, on Sept. 9. On Sept. 16, he broke a 70-yard run to set up a short 6-yard TD run to lift the Cavaliers to a 16-14 win over St. Paul’s. He also posted a 200-yard game with 283 yards and three scores in a 27-14 win over St. Charles Catholic on Sept. 23.

Martin earned the honor over two other stud running backs, a record-breaking quarterback, a dominant offensive lineman and a college volleyball star:

• Elijah Davis, a senior running back at Riverside Academy, finished the month of September second in the state with 1,175 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns as the Rebels posted a 4-1 record. The senior opened the month with 304 yards and seven touchdowns in a 62-23 win over St. Thomas Aquinas and he posted 274 rushing yards in a loss to Newman. In Riverside’s Homecoming win over Houma Christian, the University of Louisiana commit only had three carries, but he scored on all three of those and finished with 126 yards.
• Arch Manning had an exceptional month of September for the Isidore Newman School, completing 60.8% of his passes for 1,231 yards with 20 touchdowns and no interceptions. The senior posted a 357-yard, 7-touchdown performance against Pearl River on Sept. 30. In the same game, he broke his uncle Peyton’s record for career TD passes (100 to 93), and his uncle Eli’s record for career passing yards (7,515 to 7,268). He now has 123 total touchdowns (passing and rushing) – the Newman record is 127 held by Jay Tyler, a 2015 graduate who played receiver at Stanford. The Texas commit also threw for 405 yards and five TDs in a 54-52 win over Benton (9/16). 

• Sedrick Van Pran, a 2020 graduate of Warren Easton High School, has established himself as one of the top offensive linemen in the country for the University of Georgia. He has started at center in all four September games for the No. 2 Bulldogs, posting a grade of 83% on 227 plays and not once allowing his quarterback to get hit, let alone sacked. He also has zero penalties to go with 13 knockdown blocks and six pancakes. “Sedrick has become one of the leaders of our team with his high level of play and how he carries himself off the field,” said Georgia offensive line coach Stacy Searles. “He is a vital piece that helps us compete against the best defensive fronts in college football.” 

• A 6-foot-2, 210-pound junior running back, Jaedon Voisin helped Belle Chasse High School to a 4-1 start by rushing for 867 yards (173.4 per game) on 89 carries (9.8 yards per carry) with 11 touchdowns. In a victory over Salmen on September 23, Voisin rushed for 327 yards on 31 carries and four touchdowns in a 35-30 Belle Chasse victory, earning Crescent City Sports and Friday Night Football area player of the week honors. 

• Kennedy Wade, a junior outside hitter, hit .304 with 113 kills, 12 aces, 4 blocks and 82 digs as Xavier University of Louisiana Women’s Volleyball posted a perfect 10-0 record in September. She had six matches with 10-plus kills and three matches with kill-dig double-doubles. In Xavier’s first-ever sweet of city rival Loyola, she hit .333 with 18 kills, including nine in the final set. Wade won two Red River Athletic Conference Attacker of the Week awards during the month.

The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee has been selecting an Amateur Athlete of the Month each month 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.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 100 Hall of Fame players, 51 Hall of Fame coaches and 20 Heisman Trophy winners in its 88-year history. The 89th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will feature top teams from the SEC and the Big 12, is scheduled to be played on December 31, 2022. 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 $2.2 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.