NEW ORLEANS – Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt, who has led the Green Wave to an 8-1 record, 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.
Greater New Orleans Amateur Athletes of the Month
In the month of October, Pratt led Tulane to a 3-0 record and a national ranking of No. 19 in the Associated Press poll – the Green Wave’s first national ranking since 1998’s perfect season (they have since climbed to No. 17). In the three victories, Pratt completed 70 of 98 passes (71.4%) for 813 yards (271 yards/game) and five touchdowns and he rushed 34 times for 73 yards and four more scores. He passed for 326 yards and a pair of touchdowns while running for another score in a 24-9 win over East Carolina (10/8) and then threw for 329 yards and had four total TDs in a 45-31 road win over USF (10/15). The 6-3, 220-pound junior then directed the Green Wave to a 38-28 Homecoming victory over Memphis, collecting two more touchdowns before the largest crowd in Yulman Stadium history. Tulane now sits at 8-1 overall and a perfect 5-0 in American Athletic Conference play – the winner of the AAC is expected to have an excellent chance at a New Year’s Six bowl bid – which would mean a slot in the Cotton Bowl this year.
Pratt and the Green Wave return to action this Saturday when they host No. 22 UCF at Yulman Stadium in a 2:30 p.m. game that will be televised on ESPN2. It’s the first time since 1949 that Tulane has hosted a game between two teams ranked in the AP Top 25 since 1949.
Pratt earned the honor over a pair of high school football stars and a fleet-footed cross country runner:
Christopher “Jetta” Armstrong completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 933 yards and 18 touchdowns with just one interception in October for John F. Kennedy football team. The Cougars were 4-0 in October, posting wins over Reed (56-0), Livingston Collegiate (48-0), Haynes (61-0) and Patrick Taylor (47-6). For the season, he is the leading passer in the metro area (through Nov. 3) with 2,240 yards and 34 TDs while completing 64 percent (121-of-188) of his passes and tallying just five interceptions. He is a primary reason for the Cougars’ District 9-3A championship with a 9-1 record.
Ariana Jimenez led the UNO women’s cross country team to its first-ever Southland Conference championship and just the third women’s conference championship in any sport in UNO history. Jimenez finished second overall with a time of 20:52.48 on the six-kilometer course to earn first-team all-conference recognition. The Privateers won by 55 points with the lowest Southland point total since 2014. Jimenez is a 5-1 sophomore from Apopka, Fla.
A senior quarterback, AJ Samuel led Edna Karr High School to a 3-0 record in October and helped put his team in position to play for the District 9-5A title this week against John Curtis. In three games in October, Samuel accounted for an average of 314.3 yards per game in total offense and 12 total touchdowns. The dual-threat quarterback completed 39 of 53 passes (73.6 percent) for 727 yards and nine touchdowns, and also rushed 25 times for 216 yards and three scores as the Cougars outscored their three opponents 122-38.
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.
Recent Greater New Orleans Amateur Athletes of the Month:
2022
October Michael Pratt Football Tulane University
September P.J. Martin Football De La Salle High School
August Chris Olivier Baseball New Orleans Boosters
July Gavriella Smith Tennis Lusher Academy/Penn
June Alia Armstrong Track & Field LSU
May Ismael Kone Track & Field University of New Orleans
April Tristyn Baugh Softball Archbishop Hannan High School
March Myles Burns Basketball Loyola University
February Kelsey Major Soccer Dominican High School
Jaylee Womack Basketball Ponchatoula High School
January Derek St. Hilaire Basketball University of New Orleans
2021
December Kyle Cannon Football St. Charles Catholic High School
November Kate Baker Volleyball Dominican High School
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.
{Courtesy: release from the Allstate Sugar Bowl}