Class of 2022 Recruit Spotlight: Archbishop Hannan High School Punter McKaden Thompson

by Jennifer Williams

McKaden Thompson is a punter out of Archbishop Hannan High School in Covington, LA. The Hawks may have had a losing season finishing 2-7, but that did not stop Thompson from being a great punter and student. Thompson stands at 5’10” and 195 pounds. This season, Thompson was able to complete a 41.2 yard average on 24 punts, with 13 punts being inside the 20 yard line, and his longest punt being 59 yards. Thompson is also an excellent student with a 3.85 grade point average and 31 ACT score. Although he is smart off the field, he claims his greatest strengths include his leadership ability and versatility. “I have always been able to play pretty much any position on the field in both football and baseball,” he says. Thompson started playing football at the age of five. His dad Jeremy Thompson introduced him to the game as soon as he was old enough to comprehend it. His father also played at the collegiate level as a punter and was a potential NFL draftee before being injured his junior year. Thompson says his favorite punter is Pat McAfee because he is unlike other punters. He says McAfee has always been the standout and that he was loud and has a big personality.

Currently, Thompson is talking with multiple s in hopes of playing football for them. Some of these include Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Trine University, and Rhodes . Not only is Thompson looking for a school to play football, he says “All I need in a is a good engineering program and a good football program.” After his football career is complete, he says his plans are to enroll in graduate school or attend law school. Thompson says he will miss the atmosphere of the locker room most of all. “I won’t get to experience the relationships that I did in high school, in . The atmosphere of the locker room and the chemistry I had with my high school team will never be matched.” His favorite memory from football is from his freshman year, his first varsity game ever. During this game, he was put in for a drive at the end of the Pope John Paul II High School game. Three plays into the drive, on his third varsity carry, he broke an 85-yard run that resulted in a touchdown. He says, “To this day it is still one of the coolest moments I’ve experienced.” With Archbishop Hannan’s season, Thompson faced adversity, which he says he took adversity in stride. He says the past few years have been hard due to COVID-19 and missing six weeks of practice and lifting due to Hurricane Ida.

McKaden Thompson has definitely faced difficulties throughout his athletic career, but he has not let it bring him down, as he has remained a phenomenal athlete and student.

Click the link to check out McKaden Thompson's senior highlights:

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/12850221/61a9306bb018d00a2434e71c

Jennifer Williams is originally from Southwest Virginia. In high school, she was the chief editor of the school’s yearbook for two years and sports photographer. She graduated as an honor student with a 3.66 GPA. She is currently a senior at Louisiana State University majoring in Sport Administration with a concentration in Sport Commerce and minors in Business Administration and Sociology. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys watching and attending football and basketball games, trying out new restaurants, traveling, and spending time with her dog, Bea.

We have exciting news that for the 25th year, we will release our Louisiana Football Magazine preview editions. Also, for the fifth straight year, we will have our North and South LA issues and both are now available to pre-order! Both issues will continue to cover all the Louisiana s as well as all the high schools in state, but there will be eight pages that will focus on North Louisiana as well as South Louisiana. Along with our print editions of both magazine issues, our digital magazine editions will also be available to pre-order. Just like with our print versions, our digital editions will be available to you when both magazines are available.

For more information, please check the following link to where you can either order our print or digital version of the magazine of your choice. Also, below are the two covers as well as where you can order both magazines on our website.

Buy Print/Digital Magazine Here: https://www.lafootballmagazine.com/2021-magazines/

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