BATON ROUGE - Glen Oaks' sophomore wide receiver and defensive back found himself against stiff competition for this week's Fans' Choice: Dunham QB Elijah Haven, who is committed to the University of Alabama, and three-star recruit Knox Kiffin, the son of LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin.

But still, after Tickles' nine-catch, 252-yard, two-touchdown performance against Belaire, the fans voted for the young sophomore.

"So you have an Alabama commit, one of the best quarterbacks in the country," said Glen Oaks head football coach Byron Wade. "You have the son of the best coach in the country. And here it is, this 10th grader who doesn't know how good he is. We're trying to use that to our advantage... Having him on the field puts us in a position to win every game we play"

But there's one more element to Tickles' performance against Belaire. After one of his touchdowns against the Bengals, Tickles strapped up on the defensive side of the ball and reeled in an interception.

The idea for Tickles to play both ways was apparently his own. After the Panthers lost a district game to Istrouma 12-6, Tickles reached out to Coach Wade.

"Melvin texted me, and he said, ' Coach, I think it'll be better if I played both ways," said Coach Wade. "When you have a player that has his type of talent, of course, you're going to answer that request."

And Tickles has been able to excel, both as a wideout and as a defensive back.

"I feel like since I'm an athlete, and I'm good at receiver, I feel like I could play both sides of the ball and provide for my team," said Tickles. "It's a great feeling, you know, scoring a touchdown, then coming back the next drive and catching a pick."

Tickles and the Panthers play Helix Mentorship Academy on Friday, Oct. 29, for their next game.