Other than possibly Lakeshore in 2019, there might not have been a more impactful senior class among football programs in St. Tammany Parish over the past five years than the one at Mandeville this fall.
With 17 senior starters, the Skippers made it to the Class 5A quarterfinals for the second consecutive season before running into one of the stateâs top teams â regardless of classification â in No. 1 Acadiana a couple of weeks ago.
That fact showed on Early Signing Day on Dec. 16, as three of those seniors inked their names on the dotted line to play college football.
Quarterback DeVon Tott, who led the parish in passing yards, touchdowns and fewest interceptions, signed with McNeese State, while 6-foot-8 offensive lineman Mackey Maillho is headed to Louisiana-Lafayette and the stateâs top kicker, Caden Costa, made his choice of Ole Miss official.
Itâs not written anywhere, but common sense dictates sports writers arenât supposed to have favorites. Even when human nature takes over, and we canât help ourselves, weâre certainly not supposed to talk about it.
Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to find out I prefer transparency over antiquated rules that are impossible to follow.
Itâs different for those who cover prep sports than it is for my colleagues who have more concentrated beats. Chris Dabe in New Orleans, Kevin Foote in Acadiana, the queen and dean of Louisiana prep coverage, Robin Fambrough, and myself see hundreds of games across multiple sports each year.