Catholic High School junior KK Reno was named first team Class 2A All-State by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association after leading the Acadiana area in rushing and scoring 19 touchdowns for the Panthers.

Catholic High’s Mason Boutte and Carson Stiles and Loreauville High School’s Calep Jacob, Collin Jacob and Bryan Patout each were named honorable mentions by the LSWA.

“He had a phenomenal year, and honestly I think he could’ve had six or eight more touchdowns and 200 to 400 more yards had we not pulled him out of some games” to prevent risking injury, CHS head coach Scott Wattigny said. “His numbers were really good but not indicative of what he could’ve done.”

Lafayette Christian athlete/return specialist Sage Ryan and Many defensive back Tackett Curtis were the All-State team MVPs after leading their teams to titles at the LHSAA Prep Classic.

Reno, who was named to the All-State team as a running back, was and will remain the CHS quarterback, Wattigny said, but also will get some playing time at receiver and running back as he did in 2020. He also will see an expanded role on defense in 2021, Wattigny said, both to help Reno expand his college opportunities and to help the CHS football team.

“I think it was his style of running,” Wattigny said of what caught people’s attention about the junior.

That attention-grabbing style has gotten him some interest from college teams already, and as he continues to grow — Wattigny said Reno played at 195 pounds as a junior after being 170 the year before, and is up over 200 pounds now — he also will be recruited as a defensive player.

The coach said he wants to make sure that Reno has the opportunity to make a decision on where he wants to play college football based on which position he wants to play, and at the school he feels most comfortable with, and playing him more on defense will give colleges more film to evaluate his defensive potential, and therefore give Reno more options. It also will help CHS defensively, the coach said.