For the second time this year, a quarterback has won the Gridiron Football Player of the Week award, and for Week 4, that honor went to Grand Lake High School (Lake Charles, LA) QB JJ Labove.
In his first year as the starting quarterback for the Hornets, Labove has already looked like a veteran in leading the team to a perfect 5-0 record, but it was his Week 4 game that he really went off in a 62-34 win over Montgomery completing 8/16 passes for 136 yards and 3 TDs while running the football 14 times for 176 yards and 4 TDs. Altogether, he accounted for 312 total yards and 7 total touchdowns. It was such a great performance that even Labove’s head coach Jeff Wainwright was amazed by the numbers he posted.
“Yeah, it was just an outstanding game, and it was one of those deals where they had a tremendous offense as well. You didn’t get a chance to really think about how good a night JJ was having because every possession was critical. So, when we were kind of sitting back at the end of the game, my brother keeps the stats for me. He said, man, the quarterback had a crazy night, and I was like, what do you mean? He said, listen to those numbers, and I was like that was impressive.”
Grand Lake HC Jeff Wainwright
For Labove, he thought it was a good performance, but he even believes that there was even more left out there.
“I’d probably say I would grade myself an 8 out of 10. I know I can do better. Montgomery, they were a good school. We played really good against them. My targets got open. My offensive line blocked how they were supposed to, and we just had a great game that game.”
Grand Lake QB JJ Labove
When it comes to throwing and running, Labove can do both as he is a multisport athlete that also excels in throwing the javelin for the track team and also as a standout basketball player. However, if he has to choose between passing or running, he wants to make sure his teammates get the love.
“I love passing the ball. It’s so fun out there being able to sling the rock and get it to my guys out there. In fact, my favorite play was at the beginning of the game. I threw a little screen pass to one of my receivers, Kelan Vazquez and he caught it and he ran it for a touchdown. That kind of got us going for the rest of the game.”
Grand Lake QB JJ Labove
As mentioned earlier, the Hornets are rolling right now to a 5-0 undefeated record and it has been the play of Labove that has really helped lead the way. Despite playing quarterback, Labove also plays on defense playing at a small school. This experience of being a two way player has helped him even more as a quarterback.
“Playing quarterback gives me the advantage on defense. Coach has me at corner and safety and it helps me be able to match up with the taller receivers and the bigger guys. It also helps me be on the offensive side. I’m knowing what the corners are doing because I play that position. I kind of know where my throws are going for offense and then it also helps on defense.”
Grand Lake QB JJ Labove
An area to Labove’s game that he wants to improve on more is his accuracy.
“I definitely think I can improve on accuracy a little bit more. In some of the times where I overthrow my guys and stuff like that so I think I could just place the ball a little bit better, but that’s coming with experience and coming with just getting the throws up and practicing in games.”
Grand Lake QB JJ Labove
While Labove’s performance got him in the running for the Gridiron Football Player of the Week award, it was the fans that helped him secure the award as he received an impressive 27,782 votes.
“Our community is great. They’re a small town. They show out to every game away or home. They’re always going to be there to support us so they had my back on this one definitely.”
Grand Lake QB JJ Labove
The community is also excited about their football team and Labove feels that this can continue to be a special season for the Hornets.
“We have a lot of hard workers and I know we can make a fast run in the playoffs if we just keep working hard like we have been. We have some really good skill guys. Our defense has really been stepping up in the second half of games. They’ve just been getting better every week so I know we have a pretty lethal team this year, and we can go far.”
Grand Lake QB JJ Labove
As far as college athletics are concerned, JJ Labove has a couple of different options because of the type of athlete he is, but he is also considering football at the next level especially with the way he has been playing this season.
“I feel like I’m a hard worker. I’ll go out there every day and just give it all I got. That’s all I can really say.”
Grand Lake QB JJ Labove
Here are the winners this year so far for the Gridiron Football Player of the Week! Week 4’s finalists will be revealed right here at www.gridironfootballusa.com on Monday afternoon!
Week 1: St. Amant (LA) 2026 QB Cooper Babin
Week 2: Pine (LA) 2026 LB Cadyn Stogner
Week 3: Buckeye (LA) 2026 LB Ty Curtis
67
0
24.77k
20
