Nine top senior football student-athletes from North Louisiana will receive $1,000 scholarships from the S.M. McNaughton North Louisiana Chapter of the National Football Foundation at an upcoming banquet.
The nine picks from the 318 area code, and nominated by their coaches, include selections from Bossier City, Jonesboro-Hodge, Monroe, Ruston, Shreveport, Stonewall and West Monroe.
The awardees will be recognized Feb. 20 at a banquet at Shreveport’s East Ridge Country Club. The group was selected from 18 senior finalists. Each of the nine will receive a scholarship with one designated as the McNaughton Chapter’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. That finalist will be recognized at the NFF’s College Football Hall of Fame Museum in Atlanta and will be eligible for the NFF’s national honors.
The honorees include Cole Cory of North DeSoto, Carter Doyal of Loyola Prep, Jaydan Gladney of Airline, Sam Greer of Byrd, Landon Hall of Cedar Creek, Christian McGuire of Jonesboro-Hodge, Cooper Russell of Ouachita Christian, Parker Todd of West Monroe and Abram Wardell of Calvary Baptist.
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Another finalist will be recognized as the Johnny’s Pizza/Griffin’s Game Ball Scholar-Athlete of the Year in honor of former McNaughton Chapter board member Bob Griffin, who died in 2020.
According to an NFF release, requirements for the 40-year-old postseason scholarship program include a cumulative high school grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, along with 2024 all-district honors on the playing field and extracurricular activities. Scoring in the evaluation process follows national NFF guidelines and is evenly divided at 40% emphasis each for scholarship and football achievement, with leadership and community/campus service scored for the remaining 20%.
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Along with the nine scholar-athletes, the McNaughton Chapter will also present awards to three adults including an NFF Distinguished American Award, one for their contributions to Amateur Football Award and one to the chapter’s choice as Coach of the Year in north and central Louisiana.
Recent winners of the coaching award include former Many High coach Jess Curtis, former Haughton coach Jason Brotherton and former Airline coach Bo Meeks.
Tickets, table purchases and sponsorship opportunities for the Feb. 20 festivities are available by contacting Toni Goodin at (318) 347-4453 or emailing 318nffchapter@gmail.com. An extensive silent auction of college and professional football gear, memorabilia and other items will be conducted during the evening.
Tickets for the banquet are $45 each or $360 for a table of eight. Sponsorships are $1,000 with all revenue going to fund the scholarships for the nine winners.
Jimmy Watson covers Louisiana sports for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.

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