Signing Day at Parkview Baptist High School!

Signing Day at Parkview Baptist High School

by Jace LeJeune

What a day for Louisiana High School football as some of the best football players sign their letter of intent to the college of their choice. There are so many talented players in the entire state of Louisiana, and it is great that they are recognized for not only what they do on the football field, but in the classroom as well. Today, Louisiana Football Magazine covered National Signing Day for four different schools. The first school that we are covering tonight is Parkview Baptist. What a senior class it has been for the Eagles. It is one of the most successful senior classes in Parkview Baptist football history with what they were able to accomplish on the football field. Over a four year period, this senior class went 38-15 overall, and more incredibly, made an appearance in the state championship game for four straight years including winning the state championship in 2015. Five talented football players signed their letter of intent earlier today for the Eagles and the following players are ATH Trent Kavanaugh, QB/DB McKane Kinchen, LB Matthew Murla, K Wade Simmons, and finally, OL/DL Dauton Sibley, who transferred to Parkview Baptist from Denham Springs after the devastating flood earlier this year. Each player had their different path, but all five ended on their high school journey with a chance to continue pursuing their promising football careers. We caught up with Parkview Baptist Head Coach Jay Mayet as he talked about these guys as players and what they mean to the Parkview Baptist program. Below are the following players and where they are going to play football in college:

ATH Trent Kavanaugh (5’11, 220)

• Signed with Georgetown
• Trent Kavanaugh was one of the most versatile players to go through the Parkview Baptist program. He is capable of playing any position on the football field. He has played running back, safety, linebacker, special teams, etc. This preseason, he was named on our 1st Team All-Louisiana team and did not disappoint. Georgetown is getting themselves a major steal in a guy like Kavanaugh on their team.
• Coach Mayet: “Trent Kavanaugh is the most complete player that I have seen since I have been at Parkview Baptist. He falls between the cracks in recruiting because teams just don’t know where to play him. Georgetown actually wants him to play both ways. He is a good person off the field as well as a great football player and has a chance to do great things.”

 

QB/DB McKane Kinchen (6’2, 185)

• Signed with Northwestern State
• McKane Kinchen had a different football path than Kavanaugh. Unlike Kavanaugh, who started playing since he first came to Parkview, Kinchen had to wait his turn. Over the last couple of years, former great quarterback Reggie Hayes, who is currently with Navy, took the snaps for the Eagles until this year when Kinchen got his first opportunity to start at quarterback. The wait paid off as Kinchen led the Eagles to their fourth consecutive state championship appearance.
• Coach Mayet: “McKane Kinchen was also a great deep snapper for us as well. We didn’t want him to deep snap this year because we didn’t want him to get hurt. We needed him at quarterback. He is a program guy because when Reggie was playing, he didn’t quit and waited his turn. As a result, he had a great senior year and led us to the state championship game. He will have a great opportunity to either long snap or play quarterback for Northwestern State.

 

LB Matthew Murla (6’1, 230)

• Signed with Air Force
• Like Kavanaugh, Matthew Murla is another versatile guy who has played a lot of positions during his time at Parkview Baptist. He played most of the time at linebacker, but has also played other positions such as tight end and fullback. Air Force is getting themselves a tough football player who can play almost anywhere.
• Coach Mayet: “Matthew Murla was a good, solid player for us. He played linebacker most of the time for us, and it is interesting that Air Force is recruiting him to play fullback. He even played a little fullback for us for some time. The most impressive thing about Matthew is that he won our highest award at the sports convention a couple of weeks ago, which is the Eagle award. He is going to have a great career at Air Force.”

K Wade Simmons (5’6, 150)

• Signed with Louisiana College
• Wade Simmons is one of the most underrated kickers in the Baton Rouge area this season. He is actually one of the best kickers in Parkview Baptist history as he holds many records. If he can continue to improve, he can become a really good kicker at the next level.
• Coach Mayet: “Wade Simmons is a 4.0 student and really good in the classroom. As a kicker, he broke many of our records. This season, I believed he only missed two field goals. He was perfect in extra point attempts and has made multiple field goals over 40 yards. Wade can have a solid career once he builds the power in his kicking leg.

 

OL/DL Dauton Sibley (6’5, 280)

• Signed with Louisiana College
• Out of the five seniors who signed, Dauton Sibley had the most unusual journey to National Signing Day. Before the season started, I caught up with Sibley when he was at Denham Springs where he was a starter for the last couple of years. A couple of weeks later, the flood came and hit his home as well as Denham Springs hard. For his senior season, he moved to Baton Rouge and transferred to Parkview Baptist with just a couple of days to go before the school year started. Transitioning to two different teams and two offenses, Dauton Sibley handled himself well to help the Eagles make another championship appearance.
• Coach Mayet: “Dauton Sibley was a flood victim this year and moved to Baton Rouge. He actually came the week before we even started school. At Denham Springs, he was in a spread offense while here, we run the triple option offense. Some people say that it doesn’t matter what offense an offensive lineman is because their job is the same to block, but there are differences. In a spread offense, he had to back peddle a lot and in this offense, he didn’t. He is a good athlete for a big kid. Dauton can blossom and have himself a really good career.”