Elijah Haven has already scored more touchdowns than any player in Louisiana high school football history with another year still remaining.
The Dunham star set new state records this fall for passing touchdowns (62) and total touchdowns (73) to also surpass the previous career mark with 180 total touchdowns.
He earned Louisiana’s Gatorade Player of the Year honors during the playoffs, then LSWA Class 2A Outstanding Offensive Player and Louisiana Mr. Football during the past two weeks and now adds Louisiana vs. All Y’all’s first Leonard Fournette III Offensive Player of the Year to his already-overloaded résumé.
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For the impressive quality and quantity of his statistical achievements, Haven has been quick to brush aside the individual milestones in favor of focusing on his Tigers’ first state championship since 2004.
But, as coach Neil Weiner pointed out, the 6-foot-5, 215-pound quarterback’s prolific performance was critical in the team’s storybook season.
“He started Dunham in the sixth grade and was instantly obviously the best athlete in the class and was successful in football and basketball,” Weiner said. “And I once overheard a group of kids kind of bragging on him and saying how how great he was, and he even as a sixth-grader was deflecting the attention and talking about how the team won the tournament and stuff like that. So he’s always been such a humble and just graceful winner, and it’s just rare these days to see that. And I think that’s why all of his teammates rally around him so much.
“He knows he’s been blessed athletically obviously, and I think he appreciates that. But I know he enjoys being a part of a a team and doing things with his friends and with his teammates, so I think he truly just sees all this success and these accolades and truly being a part of something that’s bigger than just him.”
Haven finished his junior campaign 240-for-331 (72.5%) for 3,929 yards and 62 touchdowns to just seven interceptions through the air, while running 127 times for another 847 yards and 11 scores.
His career totals now sit at 9,311 yards, 135 touchdowns and just 17 interceptions on 572-for-842 (67.9%) passing with another 2,485 yards and 45 touchdowns on 399 rushes.
And while his most recent outing, the 34-17 Division-III Select title against Calvary Baptist, might not have set new single-game records, the performance has to be considered among his best considering the stage, significance and caliber of opponent aiming to slow him down.
Haven shook off an early three-and-out to lead touchdown drives on five of Dunham’s next seven completed possessions and finished 21-for-29 (72.4%) for 271 yards and three touchdowns with another 136 yards and two scores on 27 rushes.
“He’s phenomenal,” said Calvary Baptist coach Rodney Guin, who agreed that Haven does bear some resemblances to his former Haughton star Dak Prescott now of the Dallas Cowboys. “He’s gonna play on Sundays. I can promise you that. That guy will play on Sunday three or four years from now, and it’s just tough because they’ve got good receivers. If you don’t drop enough guys to try to cover ’em, then he just throws it all over you. and we drop a bunch of guys, and then he can run the ball on you. So, he’s just a handful. He’s the No. 1 quarterback for a reason, and we ain’t the first team he gave trouble to, I can promise you.”
Other finalists for Louisiana vs. All Y’all’s inaugural Leonard Fournette III Offensive Player of the Year included Evangel Christian quarterback Peyton “Pop” Houston, Edna Karr quarterback John Johnson III, Ascension Catholic running back Trevin Simon and Lafayette Christian quarterback Braylon Walker.
The award is named for former St. Augustine and LSU star Leonard Fournette III, one of the top players in Louisiana high school football history.
Fournette compiled 7,619 yards and 88 touchdowns rushing alone as a four-year starter for the Purple Knights and a staggering list of state and national awards.
The New Orleans native earned three consecutive LSWA Class 5A all-state selections and became the state’s fifth USA Today Offensive Player of the Year and first-ever two-time Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year winner (with Haven recently becoming just the second-ever junior winner).
Fournette enjoyed a decorated three-year career at home-state LSU, including All-SEC recognitions every season and a consensus All-America selections as a sophomore before being hampered by injuries his junior season.
He finished his college career with program records for yards per carry (6.2), rushing yards per game (119.7), 200-yard rushing games (5) and consecutive 100-yard rushing games (9) and among the Tigers’ leaders in rushing yards (3,830) and touchdowns (40), all-purpose yards (4,981) and all-purpose yards per game (155.7) and total touchdowns (42) and scoring (252).
Fournette was taken No. 4 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2017 NFL Draft and went on to a seven-year professional career highlighted by a memorable performance during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Super-Bowl run following the 2020 season.