Nicholls State’s Dai’Jean Dixon named Greater New Orleans Athlete of the Month October

NEW ORLEANS – Dai’Jean Dixon, a star receiver for the Nicholls State football team, has been selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month for October. Monthly award-winners are selected by the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Dixon, a 6-4, 200-pound graduate of Edna Karr High School, had a spectacular October, collecting 34 passes for 474 yards (13.9 yards per catch) with five touchdowns. His high-water mark for the month came against Southland Conference rival Southeastern Louisiana on Oct. 9, as he grabbed 11 passes for 171 yards and two scores despite facing double coverage. He also had nine catches for 120 yards in a loss to nationally-ranked Incarnate Word. For the season, the senior has 61 catches for 867 yards and eight touchdowns – all three of those stats rank in the top six in the nation for FBS. His career stats are 226 receptions for 3,667 yards and 35 scores – he is the all-time leading scorer in Nicholls history with 216 points.

Dixon earned the honor over three other football players and a talented tennis tandem.

• Harlem Berry, a freshman running back for St. Martin’s Episcopal, had a sensational October. In the four games, the 5-11 back had 96 carries for 1,292 yards – an eye-popping 13.5 yards per carry and 323 yards per game. He also scored 19 touchdowns. He opened the month with 351 yards and six touchdowns in a 49-32 win over Ascension Christian (10/1) and also led his team to a 47-6 win over Springfield (10/15), running for 331 yards and five scores. In a 45-38 loss to Riverside (10/22), Berry tallied 354 yards and five more TDs. On Oct. 8, Country Day “held” him to 256 yards and three TDs in a 49-26 loss.

• Jesuit High School quarterback Jack Larriviere led the Blue Jays to a perfect 5-0 record in October and put Jesuit on the precipice of winning its first Catholic League title in a decade. He accounted for 941 yards and 22 touchdowns (seven rushing, 15 passing) in five games while completing 38-of-52 passes (73.1 percent) for 592 yards. He also rushed 66 times for 349 yards (5.3 average). He was named Great American Rivalry Series player of the year for his performance against Holy Cross, in which he completed 13-of-14 passes (all in the first half) for 199 yards in a 51-7 victory. Larriviere was also named Crescent City Sports and Friday Night Football metro player of the week for his performance in 17-13 victory over John Curtis, in which he completed 10 of 14 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another 44 yards in posting the Blue Jays’ first victory over the Patriots since the Division I state championship game in 2014.

• Keytaon Thompson, a graduate of Landry-Walker High School in his second year at Virginia after graduating from Mississippi State, has been touted as a “football player” and not as a one-position player by the Cavalier staff. In four games in the month of October, he had 31 catches for 376 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 91 yards and a pair of scores. For the season, Thompson is second on the team in receptions (51), receiving yards (663) and rushing touchdowns (3) and third in rushing yards (216).

• Jacobi Bain and Juan Ramirez turned in an exceptional October for the Xavier University of Louisiana men’s tennis program. The duo earned runner-up honors at the NAIA Gulf ITA Regional in New Orleans Oct. 1-3. They were also the runner-up in the NAIA division of the ITA Cup championships at Rome, Ga., Oct. 14-17. Despite being unseeded in the ITA Cup, Bain and Perez defeated Georgia Gwinnett’s second-seeded Daniel Czepielewski and Federico Bonacia 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-2) in the quarterfinals (Oct. 15) and San Diego Christian’s third-seeded Nick Nienhaus and Chris Papa 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4) in the semifinals (Oct. 16). Bain is a freshman from Nassau, Bahamas, while Ramirez is a senior from Cartago, Colombia.

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, 99 Hall of Fame players, 51 Hall of Fame coaches and 19 Heisman Trophy winners in its 87-year history. The 88th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will feature top teams from the Big 12 and the SEC, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 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 $2.7 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.