Louisiana Championships: Uncommitted Prospects in Division III

A Louisiana high school football season once uncertain to even occur will close this week with nine final intriguing matchups. Northwestern State in Natchitoches will host the LHSAA’s Prep Classic event — as opposed to its usual home at the Superdome in New Orleans — because of concerns related to COVID-19. But, for all the abnormalities and adjustments, the significance, excitement and levels of talent remain high as ever. Prep Redzone Louisiana will look at three to seven of each matchup’s remaining unsigned and uncommitted prospects. &nbsp; <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PK6h2rflrGg" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe> &nbsp; <strong>Division III</strong> <strong>No. 2 St. Charles Catholic vs. No. 5 Lafayette Christian</strong> <strong>Monday, 3:00 p.m.</strong> Lafayette Christian makes its fourth straight state championship appearance and second straight against St. Charles. And, with a victory, the Knights would become just the sixth program in LHSAA to win four straight. LCA rolled past the Comets, 41-14, in Lafayette for last year’s title and are considered heavy favorites again despite the lower seed. LSU signee [player_tooltip player_id="63550" first="Sage" last="Ryan"] is the face of the program, but the slew of talented juniors listed below gives some insight as to the depth of the roster. A slew of other 2021 prospects — such as lineman [player_tooltip player_id="63721" first="Tyrrell" last="Lockett"], defensive end Sean-Charles Ned, cornerback Anthony Richard and Caemon "Speedy" Scott — could also warrant places on a longer list. Tulane signee [player_tooltip player_id="63599" first="Mandel" last="Eugene"] leads a well-coached, hard-nosed St. Charles group under coach Frank Monica, with at least a couple of his fellow seniors garnering some college attention. <strong>2021 Recruiting Class</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="63733" first="Kamren" last="Campbell"] — 6-0, 190 DB — St. Charles </strong> Louisiana College is the only offer thus far for Campbell, who earned a position in Prep Redzone’s preseason rankings for Louisiana’s 2021 class. Along with Eugene, the senior cornerback is a major piece of the Comets’ stingy defense. <strong>Keenan Gauff — 5-10, 175 RB — St. Charles</strong> The senior running back, also with an offer from Louisiana College, is the most explosive piece of the Comets’ offense capable of breaking big gains on the ground or proving a weapon in the passing game as a receiver. <strong>2022 Recruiting Class</strong> <strong>Jordan Allen — 5-10, 180 DB — Lafayette Christian</strong> One of Louisiana’s best cornerback prospects in his class, Allen enters this state championship fresh off the most impressive performance of his young career. He opened the Knights’ semifinal game with a long kickoff return to the red zone to set up his team’s first score in a low-scoring game, then proceeded to lockdown LSU target A.J. Johnson for no completions in 15 targets to their side of the field. Arkansas became his most recent offer on Christmas, joining Mississippi State, Minnesota, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Tulane, Virginia, Memphis, and Louisiana Tech among others. <strong>B[player_tooltip player_id="63612" first="Rylan" last="Green"] — 5-10, 165 DB — Lafayette Christian</strong> The Baby Honey Badger makes as many, if not more, plays as any other player on the field every week, no matter the opponent. The Knights play him at safety and use him all over the field from blitzes and run support to man-on-man coverage or playing over the top. Mississippi State, Kansas, Colorado, Memphis, South Alabama and Grambling State are among his offers. <strong>Masey Lewis — 6-4, 240 DL — Lafayette Christian</strong> Kansas and South Alabama are the first two offers for the big defensive end. His size makes him one of the first players to stand out, via the eye test, but he is also athletic enough that the Knights will actually occasionally split him out as a big target in the passing game on offense. <strong>Darian Riggs — 5-8, 165 ATH — Lafayette Christian</strong> In some ways, Riggs may be the B[player_tooltip player_id="63612" first="Rylan" last="Green"] of the Knights’ offense — a versatile weapon that gets overlooked because of his size, but makes as many plays as anyone on the field on any given Friday night. Lafayette Christian will hand Riggs the ball out of the backfield or throw his way out of the backfield, slot or wide, and he has continued to prove his receiving chops throughout the season. <strong>Fitzgerald West Jr. — 6-2, 310 — Lafayette Christian </strong> The big defensive tackle tackle was among the first names of his 2022 recruiting class to start garnering college attention as a freshman, with Colorado and Tulane among his offers and LSU, Alabama and others still monitoring his development. The second half of this season has probably represented his best football to date — both as a disruptive force on the defensive front, as well as proving himself a willing and effective blocker on offense when increasingly called upon there.