High School Football Preview

The Daily Advertiser | theadvertiser.com Friday, August 21, 2015 | Page 7D

2015 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW

When coach Gary Adkinssays he doesn’t quite know ev-eryone at Abbeville’s name yet,it isn’t because he’s apathetic to-ward the task.

He just honestly hasn’t hadenough time.

Adkins has only been theWildcats’ head coach for 23days, but has been tasked withturning around an Abbevilleprogram that has struggled inrecent years to be competitivein an increasing competitivedistrict.

Abbeville only won one gamelast season and has only won 11games since 2009-10 season.

The Wildcats have a very ex-perienced defense, returning 10of the 11 starters on that side ofthe ball including five seniors.

Adkins will rely upon his ex-perienced defense to under-

stand his new scheme and keepthe Wildcats in games as he im-plements his style.

On offense, the Wildcats arereturning their starting quar-terback (Demarcus Collins)and leading running back(Matt Johnson) to lead the of-fense, as well as two offensivelineman.

Collins is a team leader andgives the Wildcats a veteranpresence under center, whichshould help in any close gamesthey find themselves in.

With any team that has strug-gled in recent years, expecta-tions for returning players haveto be tempered, but with theWildcats it seems as if Adkinshas instilled a high level of con-fidence in his group.

The Wildcats will improveunder Adkins thanks to his ener-gy – Abbeville’s overall num-bers are up from last season –and internal improvement.

ABBEVILLE HIGH WILDCATS

Gary Adkins trying to rebuild WildcatsTREY [email protected]

PAUL KIEU, THE ADVERTISER

Running backs Buford Bolden (4), Jose Pendroza (28), Matt Johnson (20), Kavon Brown (15) and quarterbackDemarcus Collins are looking to help start the rebuild at Abbeville.


Defensive back Trey Joseph (7), linebacker Matt Simon (53), defensive end Ashton Greene (32), linebacker MontelCormier (52) and linebacker Chris Selvin (44) lead an experienced Wildcats defense into the season.

2015 Schedule

September4 Kaplan11 BERWICK18 Welsh25 SOUTH PLAQUEMINESOctober2 North Vermilion9 Cecilia16 BREAUX BRIDGE23 ST. MARTINVILLE30 WHITE CASTLENovember6 Westgate

2014 In Review

Lost VINTON 35-0Lost St. Louis 42-0Lost Rayne 32-9Lost PORT BARRE 12-8Lost Loreauville 39-14Lost ERATH 42-10Lost NORTH VERMILION 14-10Lost Kaplan 22-14Beat West St. Mary 21-0

Projected Starters

OffenseTE: Allen Arclies* (6-3, 218 pounds,Jr.)WR: Ja’Kennet Batiste (6-1, 178pounds, Jr.)OT: Noah Vaughn (6-3, 299 pounds,Soph.)OG: Hunter Duhon (6-2, 242 pounds,

Soph.)C: Tyler Duhon* (6-3, 220 pounds,Sr.)OG: Garrett Hebert (6-3, 226pounds, Soph.)OT: Danny Huntsberry* (6-3, 231pounds, Sr.)QB: Demarcus Collins (6-1, 178pounds, Jr.)RB: Matt Johnson (5-11, 198 pounds,Sr.)RB: Kavon Brown (6-0, 178 pounds,Sr.)RB: Jose Pendroza (5-7, 162 pounds,Jr.)*DefenseDE: Matt Simon (5-11, 188 pounds,Sr.)DE: Ashton Greene (6-0, 195 pounds,Sr.)DT: Coredell Jordan (6-2, 263pounds, Jr.)DT: Trey Bourque (5-11, 220 pounds,Sr.)LB: Montel Cormier (6-0, 232pounds, Jr.)LB: Chas Shelvin (5-11, 219 pounds,Jr.)LB: Kavon Broussard (6-0, 178pounds, Sr.)LB: Ceasar Gamez (5-9, 172 pounds,Jr.)DB: Jase Pedroza (5-9, 165 pounds,Jr.)DB: Trey Joseph (6-0, 165 pounds,Sr.)DB: Jay White (5-9, 155 pounds Sr.)

Anytime you’ve got two of the most suc-cessful coaches in the state in one district, it’sgoing to be tough to compete for the topspot.

But with the top two teams with questionmarks at the all-important quarterback spot, achallenger might assume the district throne.

Both Catholic of New Iberia’s Brent Indestand Notre Dame’s Lewis Cook have proved tobe master motivator’s through the years andthey’ll need to be back at it again after losingJason Pellerin and Brad Stoma, respectively.

Pellerin and Stoma were two of the bestquarterbacks in the state and while bothteams will compete again for the 5-2A title,they’ll have to find consistency at that positionto travel as deep into the playoffs as their fanbases have grown accustomed to.

Both Opelousas Catholic and Loreauville,coached by Dane Charpentier and Trent Dela-houssaye respectively, have talented squadand are ready to pounce at any signs of weak-ness from the Panthers and the Pios.

OC has an athletic, experienced squad andCharpentier has high expectations for his teamafter returning several players from last year’s10-win quarterfinal team.

The Vikings got the short end of the sched-uling stick, though, and will have to play bothNotre Dame and Catholic-NI in hostile territorythis season, although Loreauville will travel toplay the Vikings.

The game that could decide the district is onNov. 6 when the Panthers take on the Pios atNotre Dame on the last week of the season.

DISTRICT 5-2A PREVIEW

LESLIE WESTBROOK, THE ADVERTISER

Notre Dame running back Lance Bertrand (34) is one of the returning Pios hoping to challenge for a districttitle.

DISTRICT 5-2APOLL

COACHES POLL

TEAM (1ST PLACE VOTES) PTSNotre Dame (5) 55Catholic-NI (3) 53Loreauville 43Opelousas Catholic 41Delcambre 29West St.Mary 27Sacred Heart-VP 22Jeanerette 18

ADVERTISER POLL

TEAM (1ST PLACE VOTES) PTSNotre Dame (4) 39Catholic-NI 33Opelousas Catholic (1) 32Loreauville 26Delcambre 15Sacred Heart-VP 14West St. Mary 12Jeanerette 9

TREY [email protected]

kowski, although the tightend also had half a dozenreceptions from Brady,including a pair in the endzone.

While the Saints didn’ttry to sugar-coat their per-formance on defense,they weren’t about to pan-ic. Not only is it early inthe preseason, but New

Orleans’ entire startingsecondary — cornerbacksBrandon Browner andKeenan Lewis, and safe-ties Jairus Byrd and Ken-ny Vaccaro — sat outpractice.

“They did some thingsto us. Any time you goagainst Brady, he’s one ofthe best,” veteran Saintsdefensive end Parys Ha-ralson said. “You go back,you look on film. … Youunderstand what they sawand what we can do betterand just kind of take it as a

learning experience.”Veteran Saints defen-

sive lineman Kevin Wil-liams added, “Everybodyknows Brady’s a Hall-of-Fame guy. He was makinghis calls, making hischecks, kind of at his ownpace out there, doing histhing. I mean, he’s a greatquarterback. What morecan you say?”

While Brady has beentaking the clear majorityof first-team practicesnaps, it remains unclearif he’ll play when the reg-

ular season starts. An NFL probe conclud-

ed that Brady conspiredwith Patriots employeesto improperly deflatefootballs he used in lastseason’s AFC champion-ship game. Brady was sus-pended four games, andCommissioner RogerGoodell rejected Brady’sappeal.

Brady then sued in fed-eral court, where he couldpotentially win an injunc-tion allowing him to playuntil the case is resolved.

Notes: Moss, who is 38,was asked if he’s certainhe’ll never play again. “Iwould say never, but …let’s leave it at that,” hesaid with a grin, thenturned and strode awayfrom the cluster of mediainterviewing him. … Alsoattending practice wasformer Patriots receiverTroy Brown, who playedin college at Marshall andnow lives in Huntington,West Virginia. … Saintscornerback DelvinBreaux, who had not prac-

ticed since leaving thepreseason opener at Balti-more last week, was backin uniform and participat-ing in drills. … Saints de-fensive lineman AkiemHicks, who left practiceWednesday with an undis-closed injury, did notpractice on Thursday. …Other celebrities at prac-tice included pro basket-ball great Jerry West, whois a West Virginia native,and pro golfer Bubba Wat-son, who has a home inWhite Sulphur Springs.

BradyContinued from D

The Daily Advertiser | theadvertiser.com Wednesday, August 26, 2015 | Page 5D


Question Marks

While the coaching staff workedtirelessly in the offseason to im-prove the defense, the players willstill have to go on the field andshow it.

Desormeaux is confident his rundefense will be better, but with atough start to the schedule theBlue Gators will have to prove thatthey have improved from lastseason.

The biggest question on offensehas to be Linzer’s health. Anytimea running back is coming off aserious knee injury the questionmarks are there whether he will beback to full health. Linzer has putin hard rehab work, but beforehe’s totally confident in his abilityto plant that leg and cut up field ina game situation he won’t betotally back.

Bottom Line

This is an extremely talentedsquad with plenty of experience tofall back upon when times gettough.

Arceneaux is a team leader fromthe quarterback position andworks hard to perfect his craft atthat position. If the defense canmake strides forward, this is ateam that could be poised for adeep playoff run.

— Trey Labat, prep sports re-porter

Strengths

The Blue Gators are an experi-enced squad with eight startersreturning on offense and ninestarters returning on defense. JakeArceneaux leads a talented unit onoffense from the quarterbackposition and after this season willmove on to become a Ragin’ Ca-jun. Ronald Leblanc provides Arce-neaux with a giant target (6-4) onthe outside with explosive leapingability. But the big man in thebackfield, Ja’Ceiry Linzer, is theheart and soul of the Blue Gatorsoffense and if he can return to thesame type of form he displayedbefore the knee injury he sufferedin the Blue Gators’ playoff defeatat the hands of Southern Lab,Desmormeaux’s unit will be load-ed.

The Blue Gators return ninestarters on defense from last sea-son and Desormeaux hopes be-cause of that experience the unitwill show some improvement fromlast season. Andre Roth, last sea-son’s leading tackler, is back andwill again look to provide a steadypresence in stopping the run. Butperhaps the biggest addition toAscension Episcopal’s defense isLinzer, who will play more middlelinebacker this season, especiallyearly in the season as the coachingstaff makes sure he’s fully recov-ered, and his athleticism and sizeshould be a huge help on that sideof the ball.

SCOUTING REPORT

SCOTT CLAUSE, SPECIAL TO THE ADVERTISER

Peyton Adams (11), Jake Vascocu (7), Andre Roth (24), Josh Hebert (3) andSam Lofton lead an experienced defensive group into the season.

ASCENSION EPISCOPAL BLUE GATORS


Jake Arceneaux (18), Ja’Ceiry Linzer (23), Mark Hodge (75), RonaldLeblanc (6) and Zach Ronquillo (5) headline an explosive offense.

2015 SCHEDULESEPTEMBER4: East Beauregard11: CATHOLIC-PC18: Delcambre25: HANSON MEMORIAL

OCTOBER2: Gueydan9: VERMILION CATHOLIC16: Centerville23: HIGHLAND BAPTIST30: LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN

NOVEMBER6: Central Catholic

2014 IN REVIEWBEAT Grand Lake 28-0BEAT FALSE RIVER 35-6LOST Opelousas Catholic 49-6BEAT HANSON MEMORIAL 35-16BEAT ASCENSION CHRISTIAN 63-0BEAT Lafayette Christian 28-21LOST CENTRAL CATHOLIC 28-21BEAT Gueydan 46-6BEAT HIGHLAND BAPTIST 34-32LOST Vermilion Catholic 46-28

PLAYOFFS:BEAT Hamilton Christian 21-16LOST SOUTHERN LAB 44-19

LAST 5 YEARS:2014: 8-4

2013: 5-6

2012: 0-10

2011: 3-7

2010: 5-4

PROJECTEDSTARTING LINEUPOFFENSETE: Jack Leoni* (5-10, 165 pounds,Soph.)WR: Ronald Leblanc (6-4, 190 pounds,Jr.)WR: Zach Ronquillo (6-0, 185 pounds,Jr.)LT: Kelly Jones (5-9, 205 pounds, Jr.)LG: Mike Remondet (6-3, 235 pounds,Soph.)C: Mark Hodge (6-1, 265 pounds, Sr.)RG: Zach Gachassin (5-10, 210 pounds,Soph.)RT: Josh Poynot (6-1, 185 pounds, Jr.)QB: Jake Arceneaux (6-1, 185 pounds,Sr.)RB: Ja’Ceiry Linzer (6-3, 235 pounds, Sr.)RB: Jake Vascow (5-10, 185 pounds,Soph.)

DEFENSELB: Andre Roth (5-10, 185 pounds, Jr.)DE: Peyton Adams (6-2, 190 pounds, Sr.)DE: Kelly Jones (5-10, 190 pounds, Jr.)NG: Joe Tappel (5-7, 238 pounds, Sr.)DT: Mark Hodge (6-1, 262 pounds, Sr.)FLEX: Sam Lofton (6-2, 205 pounds, Sr.)ILB: Ja’Ceiry Linzer* (6-3, 235 pounds,Sr.)OLB: Camp Juneau (5-8, 140 pounds,Jr.)S: Jake Vascocu (5-10, 177 pounds,Soph)S: Josh Hebert (5-9, 155 pounds, Jr.)CB: John Hathorn (5-9, 145 pounds, Sr.)CB: Mac Kelly (5-9, 150 pounds, Soph.)

*Denotes new starter

HEAD COACH:Mike Desormeaux

CAREER RECORD:13-9

FROM THE ARCHIVES

ADVERTISER FILE PHOTO

Ascension Episcopal defensive players Colton Duval (65), Seth Weger (55), John Malbrough (25) and Parker Perra are shown during picture day in 2009.

Ja’Ceiry Linzer, RB6-3, 235 pounds, Sr.

Linzer is a beast in the backfieldand is tough for anyone on the fieldto bring down. If he’s able to breakinto the second level of defenses,

watch out because there might notbe many defensive backs in the state

capable of taking him down.

Jake Arceneaux, QB6-1, 185 pounds, Sr.

The UL commit is the hardestworker on the team and has a mas-tery of Desormeaux’s passing attack.By limiting turnovers and taking his

shots when he gets them, Arceneauxcan lead the Blue Gators far this

season.

Ronald Leblanc, WR6-4, 190 pounds, Jr.

Leblanc is an explosive leaperand doubles as a basketball star in

the spring. If his technique is on parwith his raw athleticism, Leblanc

gives Arceneaux the type of targetnot many quarterbacks in the state

have the luxury of having.

Josh Hebert, S5-9, 155 pounds, Jr.

Hebert led the team in intercep-tions as a sophomore and has hadone more year to grow into the

defensive system and get stronger.

Mark Hodge6-1, 265 pounds, Sr.

Hodge is one of the four return-ing starters along the offensive line,but the only senior. His experience

will help Linzer bust open playsdown the middle of opposing de-

fenses.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

D | Sunday, August 9, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Sunday Advertiser


Strengths

The Wreckin’ Rams are the two-time Class 5A statechampions and they’ll try to ride the confidence fromthat winning tradition again this fall. Acadiana will alsohave to ride a talented defensive unit until the inexperi-enced offense finds its way.

Back on the line is Malik George at defensive end,Kevin Moore at linebacker and the secondary duo of Ja-vonte Edmond and Jayrin Wilson in the secondary.

There are a lot of newcomers around them, but tal-ented ones. Dylan Brown and Blaise Davis will be count-ed on in the middle of the line, while Kyle Pierre, Dono-van Collins and Joel Julien are embroiled in a tight battlefor playing time at linebacker. Bralen Trahan at corner-back and Jourdan Quibodeaux are the newcomers in thesecondary, but are expected to shine. Wide receiverBrandon Duhon and Alex Courtier could provide somedepth at corner.

Offensively, Javonis Isaac moves back to tight end tokeep that spot top-notch, but only two starters return onoffense.

Question Marks

Doubters of Acadiana are usually proven wrong, butthe Rams are filled with questions entering this season.Many of those holes are on offense, where the four-manhalfback rotation of Kesean Carter, Ladathian Levine,Ziggy Francis and Brian Lebon brings a combined careervarsity total of zero touchdowns into the season.

In fact, only Isaac and Duhon have ever scored a varsi-ty touchdown on offense and that’s just a combined totalof two. Quarterback Myles Hutchinson got some snapslast fall and should be more prepared after a season asthe basketball team’s point guard, but still has a lot toprove.

Meanwhile, coach Ted Davidson said he likes the phys-ical approach of his new offensive line, but it’s still fournew starters. One of the big questions there is, shouldthe staff start promising sophomore tackle DequanisRobinson right away?

The punter and kicker remain a question mark as well.

The Bottom Line

There’s no question the Rams remain a top contenderin the 3-5A race and the state overall, but Acadiana cer-tainly isn’t as dominant on paper as it was two years ago.The defense will need to steady things early on while theoffense gains some experience.

With overall numbers down, depth could be an issue iscertain spots, even for a 5A power like the Rams.

SCOUTING REPORT

PAUL KIEU/THE ADVERTISER

Acadiana High defensive standouts Joel Julien (44), Malik George (90), Kevin Moore (7),Javonte Edmond (12), Jayrin Wilson (2) and Donovan Collins (22).

ACADIANA WRECKIN’ RAMS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 NORTHSIDE11 Ponchatoula18 CARENCRO25 Barbe

October

2 SULPHUR9 Comeaux16 Lafayette High23 SAM HOUSTON (HC)30 Open

November

5 NEW IBERIA

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 11-4.BEAT Northside 55-6LOST Shades Valley, Ala. 39-21LOST Rummel 34-9BEAT LAFAYETTE HIGH 15-12LOST Barbe 17-14BEAT COMEAUX 28-0BEAT Sulphur 35-20BEAT SAM HOUSTON 28-21LOST Carencro 24-17BEAT NEW IBERIA 42-14PlayoffsBEAT ST. AMANT 37-0BEAT Ponchatoula 38-28BEAT Mandeville 28-14BEAT ZACHARY 9-3BEAT Destrehan 23-7

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 11-4.2013: 14-1.2012: 8-3.2011: 8-3.2010: 10-5.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

OFFENSEWR Brandon Duhon (5-9, 160, Sr)*WR Logan Bourque (5-10, 165, Sr)TE Javonis Isaac (6-3, 225, Sr)OT Dequanis Robinson (6-4, 275,Soph)OG Ethan Bellman (6-0, 220, Sr)*C Bailey Snyder (5-10, 275, Sr)OG Cameron Babineaux (6-0, 260,Jr)OT Jonathan Simon (6-1, 255, Jr)QB Myles Hutchinson (6-1, 160, Jr)RB Kesean Carter (5-8, 170, Sr)RB Ladathian Levine (5-9, 165, Jr)

DEFENSEDE Andre Landry (6-4, 250, Jr)DT Dylan Brown (6-0, 270, Jr)DT Blaise Davis (6-1, 210, Jr)DE Malik George (6-3, 195, Sr)*LB Kevin Moore (6-0, 200, Sr)*LB Kyle Pierre (5-11, 190, Jr)LB Donovan Collins (5-10, 185, Sr)*LB Javonte Edmond (5-10, 160, Sr)*CB Javonte Edmond (5-10, 160, Sr)*CB Braylon Trahan (6-0, 170, Jr)SS Jourdan Quibodeaux (6-0, 185,Jr)*FS Jayrin Wilson (5-11, 165, Sr)*

*Denotes returning starter

Head Coach:Ted Davidson.

Career rec-ord: 122-37 over-all; 116-33 at Aca-diana.

From the Archive


The Acadiana Wreckin’ Rams have long been known for running the ball, but they have thrown it some over the years. This group, including tight endKimmy Zeno, Mike Alford, Craig Martin and quarterback Chad Anderson, threw it some in the late 1980s.

KEVIN MOORELB, 6-0, 200, Sr.

The bad news for opposing offenses isthat the current plan is for Moore tobe a full-time defensive standout thisseason after taking over the quarter-back position and leading the Wreck-in’ Rams to the 5A state crown a yearago. A Division I prospect, Moore is asideline-to-sideline tackle machine.

JAVONIS ISAACTE, 6-3, 225, Sr.

As a sophomore, he was the tight endfew talked about playing behindKeithan Mouton. As a junior, he was aplaymaking defensive end. This fall,Isaac is back at tight end as an Arkan-sas State commitment, providing nodrop-off at that spot now that Mou-ton is at LSU. He can still play DE whenneeded.

ETHAN BELLMANRG, 6-0, 220, Sr.

The only returning starter on the of-fensive line. The leadership of thetwo-year starter will be a key elementin the Rams’ offense this season ascoach Ted Davidson tries to carve outa productive offense, despite a hostof new faces.

LADATHIAN LEVINERB, 5-9, 165, Sr.

First-year starter, but the Rams have ahistory of halfbacks who becomestars in a hurry in this offense. Of thefour new halfbacks in the rotation,Levine has the most big-play poten-tial. Acadiana is counting on hisquickness providing for a potentrushing attack.

JAYRIN WILSONFS, 5-11, 165, Sr.

Returning starter at free safety,bringing incredible athletic ability tothat centerfield position. His speedand explosiveness allows Wilson towreck opposing passing games. Don’tbe surprised if his interception totalsrise this season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


Acadiana High offensive standouts Brandon Duhon (1), Bailey Snyder (68), EthanBellman (53), Javonis Isaac (81), Logan Bourque (3) and Myles Hutchinson (20).

DL: Tyler Shelvin,Northside

(6-3, 320 pounds, Jr.)There’s a reason Shelvin is

wanted by every college teamin the nation. He has the sizeto occupy and beat double

teams in the run game and theexplosiveness to sack the quar-

terback on passing downs.

DL: Jaise Meche,Kaplan

(5-10, 232 pounds, Sr.)Meche is a hard-nosed, high-

motor end who uses everyounce of his energy to disrupt

as many opposing plays inthe backfield as he can.

DL: Zi’yon Hill,Catholic

(6-1, 280 pounds, Jr.)Hill has been nothing butproductive in the Panthers

defense and has bulked up alittle this season, which shouldmake him even more effective.

DL: Gaige St. Cyr,Opelousas Catholic

(5-11, 240, Jr.)Opelousas Catholic coach DaneCharpentier thinks St. Cyr willbe a nightmare for opposingquarterbacks this season and

with his physicality he’ll help inthe run game as well.

OL: Alan Zaunbrecher,Notre Dame

(6-0, 250 pounds, Sr.)Zaunbrecher is a real team

leader for what is a very tightsenior class for the Pios. Hehas violent hands and has

proven his worth through theyears.

WR: Tyler Derouen, VC

(5-11, 185 pounds, Sr.)Derouen just catches passes,man. The shifty senior alwaysseems to be open in Vermil-ion Catholic’s high-octane

passing attack and racks upbig yardage.

WR: Lebronze Allen,New Iberia

(6-3, 180 pounds, Sr.)A prototypical new-age

receiver, Allen has the speedand the size to terrorizedefenses on the outside.

ATH: Trevor Begue,STM

(5-11, 181 pounds, Sr.)Begue will line up at running

back, outside the hash marks, inthe slot and return some kicksfor the Cougars this season asthe coaching staff looks to getevery ounce of value they canout of their elite athlete in his

senior season.

QB: Cole Kelley,Teurlings

(6-7, 230 pounds, Sr.)With Shea Patterson gone

from Calvary Baptist, Kelley isarguably the best quarter-back in the state. With his

cannon arm, Kelley will putup monster numbers this

season.

RB: Ty’Von Griffin,Crowley

(6-0, 215 pounds, Sr.)Griffin is a bowling ball with

legs. He uses his size andgood pad level to break awayfrom would-be tacklers and is

a force at the goaline.

RB: Raymond Calais,Cecilia

(5-9, 172 pounds, Sr.)Calais signature attribute ishis speed and after runningfrom 2,200 yards last season,coach Terry Martin thinks he

can get even more.

RB: Tyriek Campbell,Carencro

(5-11, 190 pounds, Sr.)Campbell almost never goes

down on first contact and willbe a major part of the young

Bears’ offense.

TE: Javonis Isaac,Acadiana

(6-3, 225 pounds, Sr.)Isaac has legit next level

speed and will be a majorproblem for teams trying tocover him down the seam.

With Keithon Mouton gone,Isaac will be the main target

in the passing game.

OL: Taylor Fondal,Westgate

(6-3, 295 pounds, Sr.)Fondal is the immovable object

and the unstoppable forcecombined. In pass protectionhe uses his long arms to stop

pass rushers in their tracks andhe becomes an absolute road

grader in run blocking.

OL: Tyler Elliott,Church Point

(6-2, 235 pounds, Sr.)Elliot is protecting Troy

Matte’s blindside and the bigsenior has proven through theyears that he’s as reliable as itgets when it comes to keeping

the quarterback clean.

OL: Wyatt Richtofen,Catholic-NI

(6-4, 310 pounds, Sr.)Richtofen is a monster at the

tackle position for the Panthersand will play an integral role asthe young skill position playersfind their footing this season.

OL: Lee Castille,Loreauville

(6-4, 320 pounds, Sr.)Another monster, Castille is anabsolute road-grader for Trent

Delahoussaye’s offense and does agood job of disengaging and gettingto the second level to create more

big-yard running plays.

LB: Korey Louis,Breaux Bridge

(6-1, 190 pounds, Sr.)Louis is a thumper in the

middle of the Tigers defenseand combines that hitting

power with sideline-to-side-line speed to wallop oppos-

ing ball carriers.

LB: Kevin Moore,Acadiana

(6-0, 200 pounds, Sr.)According to multiple coach-es in the area, Moore mightactually be unblockable. TheAcadiana product has blind-ing speed for his size and will

be a menace for opposingoffenses throughout the

season.

LB: James Brauns, STM

(6-0, 215 pounds, Sr.)Brauns has been there downthat in the Cougars’ defen-sive system and will once

again be a rock in Jim High-tower’s run defense.

LB: Jaquandre Allen,Westgate

(6-1, 225 pounds, Sr.)Allen is a four-year starter

who maintains a 4.0 GPA inthe classroom. A coach on thefield, Allen is the quarterback

of Westgate’s defense.

DB: Jayrin Wilson,Acadiana

(5-11, 165 pounds, Sr.)Wilson is your prototypicalball-hawking safety when

playing centerfield in the Rams’defense. Wilson gets his handson plenty of balls and if he canturn a few of those deflections

into interceptions he couldhave a truly special season.

DB: Hayden Bourgeois,Notre Dame

(6-0, 190 pounds, Sr.)Bourgeois is a hard-hittingsafety and the last line of

defense in the Pios’ defensiveunit. The talented defensiveback has picked up an offer

from Stephen F. Austin.

DB: Travis Godfrey,Eunice

(6-3, 215 pounds, Sr.)Godfrey is huge for a corner,almost a prerequisite for suc-

cess at the next level now, andcan run with just about anyone.

DB: Justin Murray,Teurlings

(6-0, 185 pounds, Jr.)Murray has shutdown abilityon the outside and will play ahuge role in the Rebels suc-

cess this season.

ATH: Frederick Williams,Church Point

(5-9, 175 pounds, Sr.)Williams is a returning all-state safety and with hisspeed and toughness willonce again be one of the

premier defensive backs inthe state this season for the

Bears.

K: Bailey Raborn, STM

(6-0, 205 pounds, Sr.)Raborn has a strong, accurate leg an

earned his scholarship to UCLA by beingthe best kicker in the state.

P: Gabe Duffy, Carencro

(5-10, 190 pounds, Sr.)Duffy is an elite athlete and could see

time at corner, quarterback, kicker andpunter this season. Possessing a strongleg, Duffy also gives the Bears options

for some trickery on special teams

Return Specialist: Jacq’coPrice, Crowley

(6-1, 170 pounds)Price is a receiver and corner for the Gentsand his primetime athletic ability will seehim break plenty of long touchdowns on

offense, defense and special teams.

The Daily Advertiser | theadvertiser.com Thursday, August 27, 2015 | Page 7C


When you have a two-time defending statechampionship team inyour district, it can oftenbe a foregone conclusionwhich team will be thepreseason favorite thefollowing August.

Well, that’s not the casein District 3-5A when itcomes to the AcadianaWreckin’ Rams.

And really thereshouldn’t be a lot of peoplesquawking about it either.For starters, the Ramsonly ran the table in dis-trict play once in theirfour state title seasons.That was during the 2013season and even that onerequired a blocked field

goal on the last play ofregulation against Barbe.

Indeed, Barbe’s Bucshave often been a thorn inAcadiana’s side over theyears in 3-5A play. Conse-quently, it shouldn’t bemuch of a shocker that theBuccaneers of LakeCharles squeaked past theRams in both the coachesand Advertiser polls toclaim the favorite’s tagthis season.

Secondly, the Rams dohave some questions. TheRams fumbled too muchlast season and didn’t set-tle on a starting quarter-back until week 10. MylesHutchinson hopes to fillthat role from day one thistime around. He’ll be hav-ing to do so, though, withvery little seasoning

around him.The four running

backs expected to carrythe load this season forAcadiana have a com-bined zero touchdowns onthe varsity level.

Acadiana, though, hassuccessfully made thetransition to more of a de-fensive squad of late andthis season should be noexception. From MalikGeorge on the line to Kev-in Moore at linebacker toJayrin Wilson in the sec-ondary, the Rams areloaded with playmakerson defense, which willneed to carry the Ramsearly on while the offensediscovers its truestrengths.

Barbe, meanwhile, isBarbe. Hoping to con-

tinue that recent historyof sustained excellence isa team that returns five ondefense and two on de-fense. The Bucs are led byquarterback Gavin Net-tles, running back Kirk-land Banks and 6-4, 310-pound guard Collin Foun-tain.

Sulphur was pickedthird thanks to six return-ing starters on both de-fense and offense. TheTors are led by quarter-back Byron Walker on of-fense and free safety To-by Duhon defensively.Running back J’Cobi Skin-ner rushed for 2,228 yardsand 21 touchdowns lastseason.

The dark horse in 3-5Athis season may just bethe New Iberia Yellow

Jackets. After being in thethick of the race two yearsago, the Jackets had theirfirst subpar season in fiveyears last season at 2-8.That rebuilding, though,left coach Rick Hutson’sclub with a pretty potentoffense entering 2015.

Meanwhile, the La-fayette High Lions andthe Comeaux Spartansare hoping to be that sur-prising squad as well. TheLions have the prospectsfor a solid defense. If inju-ries allow, the offensemay get a boost from animproved passing game.

The Spartans are un-der new head coach DougDotson, who is going tothe spread, hoping to turnjunior slot receiver Tana-rious Achan into a star.

DISTRICT 3-5A

Champion Rams look to deal with challengersKEVIN [email protected]

DISTRICT 3-5A POLL

COACHES POLLTeam PtsBarbe (4) 41Acadiana (3) 40Sulphur 31New Iberia 26Sam Houston 21Lafayette High 20Comeaux 17

ADVERTISER POLLTeam PtsBarbe (3) 33Acadiana (2) 32Sulphur 19New Iberia 18Lafayette High 16Comeaux 15Sam Houston 7

(1ST PLACE VOTES)

PRESEASON ALL-ACADIANA FOOTBALL TEAMOFFENSE DEFENSE

SPECIALISTS

The Daily Advertiser | theadvertiser.com Saturday, August 1, 2015 | C


StrengthsThe Tigers have a fast, athletic

linebacker duo in Kirkland Josephand Korey Louis to anchor theirfive down lineman system. Bothhave the range to cover sideline-to-sideline in what will be a fasterdefense then in years past. Theloss of Joseph Williams will hurt,but the rest of the Tigers’ second-ary is experienced an athletic andshould be able to compete at ahigh level.

The offense has a young, butexperienced offensive line pavingthe way for a more wide-open of-fensive system. The Tigers aretransitioning from a traditionaltwo-back system, to a one-backbackfield in order to get morespeed on the field. It will be up tosenior quarterback Drake Guidryto get the ball in the hands of hisplaymakers.

Question MarksThe Tigers’ defensive strength

of top-end speed could end upbeing a weakness, as BreauxBridge is smaller at the point of at-

tack than coach Paul Broussardwould like. The Tigers could strug-gle against old-fashioned,ground and pound teams thatwear down the middle of theirdefensive unit.

On offense, the Tigers haveathleticism to be an explosiveunit, but might take a couple ofweeks to truly hit their stride withso much new blood in the startinglineup.

Guidry will have to be accurateand quick with his decisions,something he’s capable of, for theTigers to fully utilize their speedon the outside.

Bottom LineThis is a hard team to read.

They will compete with Cecila fora district title, but for anythingelse Broussard and company haveto hope their new talent performswell in clutch situations. The Ti-gers definitley have talent, but itremains to be seen if the offensewill mesh on the field and if a fast,but small defense can hold up atthe point of attack.

SCOUTING REPORT

KELLY BRIGGS/SPECIAL TO THE ADVERTISER

Breaux Bridge offensive standouts are: Xavrian Antoine (1), Ruben Hypolite (2), Desmond Wiltz (70), Drake Guidry (11), Cornelius Williams (58), JudeBoudreaux (19) and Kenneth Davis (73).

BREAUX BRIDGE TIGERS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 NEW IBERIA11 NOTRE DAME18 Rayne24 TEURLINGS

October

2 Carencro8 ST. MARTINVILLE16 Abbeville23 WESTGATE30 Cecilia

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 7-4.Beat New Iberia 22-3Lost Notre Dame 51-21Beat COMEAUX 28-14Beat Westgate 26-7Lost TEURLINGS 31-15Beat Northside 40-0Beat ST. MARTINVILLE 14-0Beat CECILIA 20-18Lost St. Thomas More 25-7

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPOFFENSETE Devin Riverol (5-11, 205,Jr.)*WR Jude Boudreaux (5-9, 165,Sr.)*WR Peyton Broussard (6-0, 180,Jr.) *LT Desmond Wiltz (5-11, 270,Sr.)*LG Greg Randle (5-11, 220, Jr.)*C Marcellino Cruz (5-9, 181,Sr.)*RG Cornelius Williams (5-9,225, Sr.)RT Kenneth Davis (5-10, 345,Sr.)QB Drake Guidry (5-9, 165, Sr.)RB Ruben Hypolite (5-6, 162,Sr.)*SB Xavrian Antoine (5-9, 165,Sr.)*DEFENSEDE Kaelen Onezine (5-10, 225,Sr.)*DE Tylar Wiltz (5-11, 175, Jr.)*DT Daryon Wiltz (5-6, 205, Sr.)DT Brandon Potier (5-10, 225,Sr.)*DT Tariq Alexander (5-6, 285,Jr.)*MLB Korey Louis (6-1, 190 Sr.)MLB Kirkland Joseph (5-11,185, Sr.)*CB Corinthian Joseph (6-0, 175,Sr.)CB Sabarian Alexander (5-8,160, Jr.)FS Izrael Ledet (5-5, 150, Sr.)SS Tylar Thibodeaux (5-10, 160,Jr.)


SPECIAL TEAMSK: Bailey ThibodeauxP: Julian Leon

Head coach:Paul BroussardCareer Record:41-19


Breaux Bridge defensive standouts Kirkland Joseph (4), Daryon Wiltz (34), Kirkland Joseph, Izrael Ledet (7), Korey Louis, Brandon Potier (59) andCorinthian Joseph (6).

From the Archives


Breaux Bridge head coach Paul Broussard during his days as anassistant coach with such players as current baseball coach KyleCormier (4).

KOREY LOUISLB

The heart and soul of the Tigers de-fense now that Joseph Williams andOrel Ledet have moved on, Louis’ mo-tor and physicality earned him ascholarship to UL.

JULIAN LEONQB

Senior Drake Guidry is the incumbentstarter, but Leon pushed Guidry forplaying time during offseason work-outs. With the Tigers adopting a morewide-open offense, watch for Leon topotentially get more playing time ifGuidry struggles.

RUBEN HYPOLITERB

Hypolite is an explosive athlete with asurprising amount of power for hisframe that will get the first crack atbeing the full time back in the Tigersoffense. He exploded for a couple oflong touchdowns last season in spotduty, and an expanded role could seehim become a force.

KIRKLAND JOSEPHLB

Joseph wasn’t a starter last season perse, but saw a lot of playing time andproved himself to be a quality playerduring his junior campaign. Josephwill team with Louis in the Tigers two-linebacker system for a formidableduo.

CORINTHIAN JOSEPHCB

Last season Joseph had the securityblanket of the All-State Williams be-hind him last season, and as the Tigerstop cover man will have the tough jobof locking up opposing playmakersevery week.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

The Sunday Advertiser | theadvertiser.com Sunday, August 23, 2015 | Page 7D


The Beau Chene Gators willhave a revamped look on offensethis season in the third year ofcoach Josh Guidry’s tenure,shifting to the Georgia Tech-style wishbone system.

A young, but experienced of-fensive line will be key in the re-vamp.

The coaching staff is confi-dent in their athletic ability tokick out on the outside and get tothe next level to seal off lanes forthe Gators running backs toshoot through.

The offensive line group saidthey were excited by the switchin offensive strategies and afterthe original difficulties of learn-ing the new system they are nowcomfortable with their blockingresponsibilities.

The big addition to the Gatorssquad this season through is DraDuplechain, who transferredfrom North Central and will be atthe helm of the offense.

Duplechain said while the of-fense is completely differentthen what he ran at Northwest,he feels it fits his skill set.

“He’s been great for us, he’sbeen a leader and he’s a very tal-ented player,” Guidry said.

Guidry was worried about theGators’ depth, especially after aslew of injuries during summerworkouts further hamperedBeau Chene’s numbers.

Gators’ star Savion Brous-sard is back, but with Duplechain

taking the reins on offense,Broussard will primarily be usedas a running back this season.

Broussard rushed for morethan 700 yards last season, andwill work less on defense thisyear than he did last year as theGators’ free safety.

For the Gators to improve ontheir 3-7 record, Broussard andDuplechain will have to be theworkhorses on offense and be ef-fective in the option game.

The Gators’ defense will be

able to run with anyone in thesecondary, with a rangy group ofathletic cornerbacks, but the de-fensive line will have majorproblems if they experience anymore injuries.

Guidry has been on record asnot being happy with the new4-4A district and the Gators havea very difficult district slate, butthey do get Teurlings, Northsideand Carencro at home this sea-

son, which should help.If the offense can prove suc-

cessful and the defense can holdup at the point of attack the Ga-tors have the chance to finishwith a .500 season.

BEAU CHENE GATORS

Revamped Gators hoping to compete in new 4-4ATREY [email protected]

FREDDIE HERPIN/SPECIAL TO THE ADVERTISER

Dustin Richard (63), Blair Quebedeaux (72), Scout Glass (71), Konnor Darbonne and Konner Robin play a pivotal roleas the offensive linemen in coach Josh Guidry’s revamped offense.

2015 Schedule

September4 WEST ST. MARY11 PINE PRAIRIE18 Port Barre25 False RiverOctober2 St. Edmund9 St. Thomas More16 TEURLINGS CATHOLIC23 Opelousas30 NORTHSIDENovember6 CARENCRO

2014 In Review

Lost CHURCH POINT 35-7Lost Cecilia 40-14Beat Port Barre 14-13Lost Crowley 38-6Beat Bolton 21-20Beat Opelousas 23-6Lost WASHINGTON-MARION 26-14Lost LaGrange 43-3Lost RAYNE 41-21Lost Eunice 47-7

There’s a clear power structure in District 5-3A,with Church Point dominating the district in recentyears and now Eunice coming down from 4A toadd another talented teams to the mix.

Church Point has sustained success through thepast couple of years with a combination of talentand great coaching from J.C. Arceneaux.

And Church Point should compete for anotherdistrict title this season thanks to some returningtalent from last year’s successful squad.

Church Point quarterback Troy Matte will beasked to do more on offense this season as theBears look to open up their passing game. Couplethat with returning All-State defensive back Fred-erick Williams and the Bears have two solid build-ing blocks to rely on during the season.

Williams will also work in the backfield groupthis season for the Bears as they try to utilize hisathleticism as much as possible.

But the Bears will have tough competition fromthe Eunice Bobcats this season, who return atalented defense and have coach Paul Trosclairback closer to full strength after a health scare lastseason. Moving down from 4A, the Bobcats knowwhat it takes to win and had an undefeated sea-son as recently as 2012.

Travis Godfrey is a stud defensive back for theBobcats and is back for his senior season and willpartner with other returning members to form aneffective defensive backfield.

The Bobcats offense is a little on the inexperi-enced side, but will rely on a strong running attackto anchor the offense.

The main challenger to the two schools thisseason will be an improved Northwest squad

under coach Chris Edwards.Edwards has instilled a strong sense of confi-

dence in his squad, and the Raiders will be an-chored an experienced defense that returns eightof their 11 starters this season.

The offense gets back stud running back ChrisLee, who was the Parish MVP last season afterrushing for 20 touchdowns and 1700+ yards on 177carries. Lee is tough to bring down and uses his

explosive athleticism to break open big plays.Pine Prairie, Port Barre and Ville Platte represent

the other teams in the district, and while all ofthem are talented they will struggle to compete inthe murderous district.

Look for Church Point to ride their top leveltalent and coaching to another district title thisseason, but for the rest of the teams to not make iteasy on them.

CHURCH POINT, EUNICE BATTLE IT OUT IN 5-3ADistrict 5-3A poll

COACHES POLL

Team (1st place votes) PtsChurch Point (5) 31Eunice (1) 27Northwest 23Port Barre 17Ville Platte 17Pine Prairie 11

ADVERTISER POLL

Team (1st place votes) PtsChurch Point (4) 29Eunice (1) 25Northwest 20Port Barre 14Ville Platte 12Pine Prairie 6



Versatile Frederick Williams will play a big part in Church Point’s success this season.

Lafayette Kiwanis Jamboree

(Thursday at Clark Field)6 p.m. – Comeaux vs. LaGrangeCarencro vs. St. Martinville(Thursday at Cajun Field)6 p.m. – Lafayette Christian vs. OpelousasCatholicTeurlings Catholic vs. South LafourcheNotre Dame vs. St. Thomas More(Friday at STM’s Cougar Stadium)6 p.m. – Westminster vs. VermilionCatholicAscension Episcopal vs. Hanson

Catholic Catholic vs. Catholic-NI(Friday at Cajun Field)6 p.m. – Acadiana vs. CeciliaNorthside vs. JenningsBreaux Bridge vs. Lafayette High

Acadia Parish Jamboree(Thursday at Crowley’s Gardiner Me-morial Stadium)6:30 p.m. – Church Point vs. Iota8 p.m. – Crowley vs. Rayne

Iberia Parish Jamboree(Friday at Lloyd G. Porter Stadium)

5:30 p.m. – Delcambre vs. Jeanerette6:45 p.m. – Highland Baptist vs. Loreau-ville8 p.m. – New Iberia vs. Westgate

Vermilion Parish Jamboree(Friday at Abbeville’s Wildcat Stadi-um)5:30 p.m. – Gueydan vs. Abbeville JV7 p.m. – Erath vs. Kaplan8:30 p.m. – Abbeville vs. North Vermilion

Joe Nagata Jamboree(Friday at Eunice High)

6:30 p.m. – St. Edmund vs. Notre Dame JV8 p.m. – Eunice vs. Sacred Heart-VP

St. Landry Parish Jamboree(Friday at Donald Gardner Stadium inOpelousas)6 p.m. – North Central vs. Port Barre7:15 p.m. – Beau Chene vs. Eunice8:45 p.m. – Northwest vs. Opelousas

Evangeline Parish Jamboree(Friday at Basile High)6 p.m. – Ville Platte vs. Pine Prairie7:30 p.m. – Basile vs. Mamou

Area Football Jamboree Schedule

BRISTOL, Tenn. — JoeyLogano spoiled what wasexpected to be a rout byJoe Gibbs Racing at Bris-tol Motor Speedway.

Logano won the Bristolnight race for the secondstraight year, grabbingthe lead on the final re-start Saturday night whenhe zipped past TeamPenske teammate BradKeselowski. He had to

hold off a handful of chal-lenges from Kevin Har-vick, but ultimatelycruised to his third win ofthe year.

Logano has won on asuperspeedway in theDaytona 500, on the roadcourse at Watkins Glenand now Bristol’s shorttrack. He has won twicethis month as he readiesfor the start of the Chasefor the Sprint Cup cham-pionship.

There are two more

races before the playoffsbegin.

“We are hitting it at theright time, that’s forsure,” Logano said. “I feellike we are right where weneed to be. I can’t wait forthe Chase to start.”

Logano led 176 laps,second only to JGR driverKyle Busch, who led arace-high 192 laps.

Harvick finished sec-ond for the 10th time thisseason. The reigningSprint Cup champion has

a career-best 17 top-fivefinishes this year and hadhis 250th career top-10finish in 526 starts.

Many believed JGRwould pick up its 10th winof the season, particularlyafter Denny Hamlin,Busch and Carl Edwardsswept the top three spotsin qualifying. Then Buschwon Friday night’s Xfini-ty Series race.

Although Busch dom-inated early, he had fadeda bit as the laps clicked

off. Then he was hit with aspeeding penalty on the fi-nal round of pit stops andfinished eighth. Edwardsled 74 laps but had a tirego flat when he was outfront and it cost him twolaps.

“Damn,” Edwards saidon his radio. “All right,we’ll still get this. We’vegot a good car.”

He finished seventh.Matt Kenseth, the win-

ner for JGR in the springrace at the track, had no

chance to sweep the sea-son. An engine issue 177laps into the race endedhis night. He finished42nd and said he had nowarning that his enginewas faulty.

“They never warn you,it would be cool if theywould send you a text orsomething,” Kenseth said.“It broke in the middle ofthe straightaway — it hadthat hop and that noise thatit makes when you knowyou dropped a valve.”

NASCAR

Logano defends Bristol victory, holds off Gibbs driversJENNA FRYERASSOCIATED PRESS

C | Thursday, August 6, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


On the defensive side, despitereturning eight seasoned perform-ers, Carencro did lose one keylinemen, one top tackler at line-backer and its top two defensivebacks. So questions remain there aswell.

The Bottom Line

It’s very difficult to gauge exactlyhow well the Golden Bears will dothis fall after winning the District3-5A crown a year ago. In additionto all of the holes that must befilled on offense, Carencro moveddown to Class 4A during the offsea-son.

While the Bears try to sort outtheir new district path, as well as allthe new personnel on offense, thedefense will need to stabilize thingsearly on.

Lagniappe

In addition to potentially beingan option at quarterback at somepoint this season, Duffy remains theteam’s punter, is expected to addkicking duties to his list this yearand certainly has the athletic abilityto play other positions if needed.

While the Bears will be in Class4A this season, Carencro’s scheduleisn’t dramatically different. TheBears won’t be playing Barbe orLafayette High, but still play famil-iar foes Westgate, New Iberia,Acadiana and Sam Houston. Fur-thermore, St. Thomas More andNorthside were on Carencro’snon-district slate the last two sea-sons.

— Kevin Foote

Strengths

The Golden Bears have two bigfactors in their corner heading intothe 2015 season – a returningstarter at running back that iscapable of carrying the load andeight starters back on defense.

On the offensive side of things,Campbell does have two returningoffensive linemen to help aid thetransition on offense, but manyissues are still left to resolve in thatarea.

On the defensive side, the Bearsreturn three seasoned performerson the line, two at linebacker andthree in the secondary.

Question Marks

The athletic ability is certainlythere to turn many of these ques-tion mark into solutions, but thereare too many unproven areas tonot label them as questions at thispoint. For instance, wide receiversTrevor George and Eric Toliverstand 6-2 and 6-3, respectively, andlook the part. Time will tell.

Perhaps the most importantquestion comes at quarterback,where junior Carl Randall enterscamp as the starter. Another poten-tial option is 2014 starting corner-back Gabe Duffy. Randall is moreof a pocket passer and Duffy arunner.

An exciting question mark forCarencro’s coaches is how willKendarious and Mondarious Poul-lard fit into the offense? They bothstand around 5-6 and perhaps 140pounds with a bundle of energy –sort of a double dose of lightningin a bottle.

SCOUTING REPORT

COURTESY OF SUSAN GUIDRY

Carencro High offensive weapons include Mondarius Poullard (44),Sampson Smith (81), Braylon Simon (68), Tyreik Campbell (10) andKendarius Poullard (23).

CARENCRO GOLDEN BEARS

KEVIN FOOTE/THE ADVERTISER

Carencro defensive standouts Kevin George (5), Rashaad Harding (42), Cory Augustine (70), Treylon Barnaba (11) and Kordell Williams (7).

2015 SCHEDULESeptember» 4: WESTGATE» 11: New Iberia» 18: Acadiana» 25: SAM HOUSTON

October» 2: BREAUX BRIDGE» 8: Opelousas» 16: ST. THOMAS MORE» 23: Northside» 30: TEURLINGS

November» 6: Beau Chene

2014 IN REVIEWOverall record: 8-3.

Regular Season» Beat: WESTGATE 20-6» Beat: NORTHSIDE 28-19» Lost: St. Thomas More 56-21» Beat: BARBE 35-21» Beat: Comeaux 24-21» Lost: SULPHUR 42-31» Beat: Sam Houston 42-28» Beat: New Iberia 28-24» Beat: ACADIANA 24-17» Beat: Lafayette High 21-17

Playoffs» Lost: Covington 34-0

LAST FIVE YEARS» 2014: 8-3.» 2013: 3-7.» 2012: 7-3.» 2011: 12-2.» 2010: 6-5.

PROJECTEDSTARTERSOffense» WR Trevor George (6-2, 180, Sr)» WR Eric Toliver (6-3, 165, Sr)» TE Sampson Smith (6-0, 200, Sr)» OT Chase Melancon (6-0, 250, Jr)» OG Tyric Portalis (5-11, 250, Sr)» C Braylon Smith (6-0, 215, Sr)*» OG Gabe Dupelchain (6-1, 180, Sr)» OT Ken Mouton (6-4, 260, Jr)*» QB Carl Randall (6-0, 175, Jr)» RB Tyreik Campbell (5-11, 190, Sr)*» RB Kendarious/Mandarious Poul-lard (5-6, 140, Jr)

Defense» DE Wendall Barras (5-11, 245, Sr)*» DT Gerrun Phillips (6-2, 295, Sr)*» DE Cory Augustine (5-11, 250, Jr)*» LB Austin Gary (6-1, 200, Sr)*» LB Rashaad Harding (6-2, 190, Sr)*» LB Jalen Angelle (6-2, 200, Soph)» CB Traylon Barnaba (5-11, 185, Jr)*» CB Devonte Bossier (5-9, 140, Sr)» SS Kordell Williams (5-9, 180,Soph)*» SS Blakeston Noel (5-8, 175, Sr)» FS Kevin George (6-3, 185, Sr)** - Returning Starters

Next up: Crowley Gents

Head coach:Rip Eveland.

Career record:11-10.

FROM THE ARCHIVES


The Carencro Golden Bears’ offensive line was right in the middle of theaction as the program began to reach new heights in the early 1990s.

Tyreik CampbellRB 5-11190 Jr

After struggling through an injury-plagued junior season, the Bears arelooking for a dynamic rushing cam-

paign this fall. Campbell is moremature and should be up to the

task.

Gabe DuffyP/PK/QB 6-0 195 Sr

There’s no telling how many differ-ent positions Duffy might play this

season after breaking onto thescene as a cornerback a year ago. He

punts, he kicks, he can still playdefense if needed and he may even

see time at quarterback this fall.

Cory AugustineNG 5-11 250 Jr

Second-generation Golden Bearwho is expected to fill a primary

run-stopping role in the middle ofCarencro’s new 3-3-5 defense. Ex-pected to emerge as one of the

defense’s leaders this season.

Rashaad HardingLB 6-2 190 Sr

One of the Bears’ leading tacklersfrom a year ago and brings the kindof athleticism and seasoning to bethe leading tackler this fall in Ca-

rencro.

Kevin GeorgeFS 6-3 185 Sr

Looks the part, George can be botha downhill run stopper as well as adeep threat to spoil the plans of

opposing passing games. With somecrucial losses to graduation in the

secondary, a lot of eyes will belooking his way.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Raymond Calais RB 5-9, 170 Sr

Calais is one of the fastest men inpads in the state, and although hemissed some of the summer work-outs recovering from a hamstringinjury sustained in the state trackmeet he will be the focal point of

the Bulldogs offense. As Calais goes,the Bulldogs go on offense.

Darius GordonNT 5-11, 320 Sr

Gordon is a rock in the center of thedefense and his presence at the

point of the attack will set the tonefor the Bulldogs rush defense.

Landon RobertsQB 5-11, 190 Sr

Roberts has some experiencedreceivers on the outside and will be

charged with making the rightdecisions in the passing game to

keep the offense running effective-ly. If Roberts proves effective it willopen running lanes for Calais to do

what he does best.

Trenton GuidryOT 6-4, 275 Sr

Guidry is a 6-foot-4, 275 poundmountain of a human and if he can

continue his high level of perfor-mance he will be one of the bestlineman in the state this season.

Keldrick ZenoFS 5-10, 180 Sr

While the Bulldogs’ front seven ispretty much locked down, Zeno willbe the centerfielder for their some-

what inexperienced secondary.

Page 6C | Monday, August 3, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


Strengths

The Bulldogs start and endwith Raymond Calais Jr. at runningback. Coach Terry Martin will ridehis workhorse all season to thetune of 25-plus carries per gamebehind an experienced, physcialoffense line. While Cecilia lostoutside burner Damien Bernard, ithas a couple of explosive athleteson the outside for quarterbackLandon Roberts to spray the ballaround to. With a little morevariety and explosiveness on theoutsides, Calais should have moreroom to work with on the inside.

The defense is anchored in themiddle by two 320-pound (ormore) defensive tackles in DariusGordon and Chris Broussard andwith that kind of beef in themiddle clogging things up, theBulldogs can get creative withtheir looks.

Kale Boudreaux and BraylonDaigle round out the defensiveline and provide the foundationfor what should be a dominantfront-seven.

Question Marks

Anything here is nitpicking, butwhile Martin has confidence in thepass catchers slated to replaceBernard as ‘the guy,’ none of themhave been in that role before andit might take some getting usedto. The offensive line has somedepth issues, and an injury or twocould make things dicey for Calais.

On defense, depth is a concernand while their defensive line iscertainly a strength right now, itcould become a weakness if theyoung guns aren’t ready for anexpanded role.

Bottom Line

This is an experience, talentedteam that on paper should com-pete for more than a district titleand perhaps more. But it’s a teamthat will have to learn how to winand become the hunted ratherthan the hunter. How they per-form in the early weeks could givethem confidence that will carrythrough the district season andmaybe into the playoffs.

SCOUTING REPORT

KELLY BRIGGS / SPECIAL TO THE ADVERTISER

Cecilia's offense is set to have an explosive year behind running back Raymond Calais and an experienced and talented offensive line.

CECILIA BULLDOGS

2015 SCHEDULESeptember» 4: COMEAUX» 11: Northside» 18: CROWLEY» 25: St. Louis

October» 2: Lafayette» 9: ABBEVILLE» 16: Westgate» 23: New Iberia» 30: BREAUX BRIDGE

November» 6: St. Martinville

2014 IN REVIEWOverall record: 4-7.

Regular Season» Lost: Comeaux 28-20» Beat: BEAU CHENE 40-14» Lost: Church Point 40-36» Lost: Teurlings 55-25» Lost: ST. THOMAS MORE 41-12» Beat: St. Martinville 47-23» Beat: WESTGATE 34-6» Lost: Breaux Bridge 20-18» Beat: NORTHSIDE 41-40» Lost: South Terrebonne 49-20

Playoffs» Lost: Landry-Walker 38-29

LAST FIVE YEARS» 2014: 4-7.» 2013: 2-8.» 2012: 1-9.» 2011: 4-7.» 2010: 5-6.

PROJECTEDSTARTING LINEUPOFFENSE» TE Rusty Robin (6-1, 180, Sr.)» WR Noah Livings (6-1, 165, Jr.)*» OT Trenton Guidry (6-2, 275, Sr.)» OG Brylan Ray (5-10, 265, Sr.)» C Trent Bergeron (5-11, 290, Sr.)» OG Dreylan Duffy (5-9, 275, Sr.)» OT Trenton Dartez (6-1, 270 Sr.)* » QB Landon Roberts (5-9, 185, Sr.)» RB Raymond Calais Jr. (5-9, 172, Sr.)» WR Kenya Dartez (6-1, 185, Sr.)

DEFENSE» DE Braylon Daigle (6-3, 210, Jr.)*» DE Kale Boudreaux (5-10, 215, Jr.)» DT Chris Broussard (5-10, 320, Sr.)» NT Darius Gordon (5-11, 330, Sr.)» LB Sonny Angelle (5-5, 180, Sr.)» LB Adam Chung (5-10, 225, Jr.)» WLB Devin Briscoe (5-8, 170, Soph.)» CB Tarik Davis (5-9, 165, Sr.)» CB Chance Goodie (5-10, 160, Sr.)* » FS Keldrick Zeno (5-10, 185, Sr.)» SS Terrell Chevalier (5-10, 170,Soph.)*

SPECIALISTS» PK Gavin Knott» P Sonny Angelle

* - New Starter

Head coach: Terry Martin.

Career Record: 58-65.

From the Archives


Former Cecilia High assistant coach Mickey Autrey with some of theprogram’s building blocks of the 1990s Superdome runs, includingLeonard Etienne (25) and Scott Picard (9).

KELLY BRIGGS / SPECIAL TO THE ADVERTISER

Cecilia's defense is loaded with quality athletes and has the coaching staff excited about the season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

D | Wednesday, August 12, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


Strengths

The returning state runner-upPanthers are still led by the mas-ter of the Wing-T in Brent Indest.Much like is the case with Acadi-ana High’s veer machine, whenthe biggest question mark on an

Indest-coached team is the of-fense, that in itself can be astrength. That’s indeed the caseas Catholic enters the 2015 sea-son.

Catholic’s defense has six start-ers back and that unit as a wholemay need to steady the Panthers’ship in the early going. Catholic’shopes start with dominant DE Zi-

’yon Hill, who has two seniorswith him on the line and three re-turning starters at linebacker, ledby senior Saint George Schwing.

The secondary will be an-chored by senior cornerback Jer-emy Touchet, who also will play abig role in the running game.

On offense, there are morequestions than proven strengths.Senior tackle Wyatt Richthofen isthe only starter back on the linethat figures to start three under-classmen. Also carrying a hugeload on offense will be senior RBSeth Pierre, as well as Touchet.

Question marks

It starts in the offensive back-field and moves forward. At 6-3and 185, sophomore Diallo Lan-dry is another big QB like depart-ing Jason Pellerin, but naturallyhas a long way to go. The seasonwill be a process of Landry endur-ing Indest’s demands and earn-ing his coach’s trust to executemore of the playbook.

Making it even more of a chal-lenge for Landry is he may have asophomore in the backfield withhim, not to mention four newstarters on the line in front withonly one of them being a senior.

The receiving corps is new aswell with junior Brennan Bryantand junior cornerback Ja’Vaughn

Narcisse entering camp as the topcandidates, as well as first-yeartight end Kent Langlinais.

Defensively, the questions arefew, but the Panthers will becounting on two first-year start-ing juniors at safety.

The bottom line

Don’t be too thrown off by allthe new starters on offense. ThePanthers are now an establishedprogram with a veteran headcoach used to winning. With thatsaid, there are legitimate con-cerns on offense.

Last year’s unit was highly in-telligent upfront and loadedwith talent and experience in thebackfield.

This year’s group is very greenupfront and mostly unseasonedin the backfield. The defense willhave to take the lead role early.The days of consistently posting50 and 60 points may have beenover for a while, but that’s not re-quired to win games.

Lagniappe

Tight end Kent Langlinaiscould be an ace in the hole in theCatholic’s offense this year afterthat position was not used in thepassing game a year ago

– Kevin Foote


Catholic High of New Iberia defensive standouts Trey Gary (42), Marvin Ambroise (43), Patrick Covington (81), Zi’yon Hill (5), Saint George Schwing (59)and Brandon Potier (11) will be counted upon to carry the Panthers in the early going.

Catholic-NI panthers

PAUL KIEU/THE ADVERTISERZ

Catholic High of New Iberia offensive standouts include Derek Junca (53), Stephen Russell (57), Jeremy Touchet (1), Seth Pierre (24), Kent Langlinais (10)and Wyatt Richtofen (74).

SCOUTING REPORT

2015 SCHEDULE

September3 Vermilion Catholic11 Erath18 PATTERSON25 West St. Mary

October

2 DELCAMBRE8 LOREAUVILLE16 Jeanerette23 OPELOUSAS CATHOLIC30 SACRED HEART-VP

November

6 Notre Dame

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 12-1Beat VERMILION CATHOLIC 42-14Beat ERATH 63-7Beat PATTERSON 28-25Beat E.D. White 47-14Beat Notre Dame 56-28Beat JEANERETTE 63-6Beat Westminster 61-0Beat Opelousas Catholic 42-26Beat LOREAUVILLE 69-12Beat DELCAMBRE 42-0PlayoffsBeat NORTHLAKE CHRISTIAN 55-14Beat Newman 55-35Lost Calvary Baptist 27-24

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPOFFENSEWR Brennan Bryant (6-0, 160,Jr)TE Kent Langlinais (6-1, 220, Sr)OT Wyatt Richthofen (6-4, 310,Sr)*OG Stephen Russell (5-10, 190,Jr)C Derek Junca (6-1, 185, Sr)OG Joseph Bourg (5-10, 170, Jr)OT Harrison Schexnayder (5-11,170, Soph)QB Diallo Landry (6-3, 185,Soph)RB Seth Pierre (5-9, 180, Sr)*RB Ben Landry (5-7, 155, Soph)WB Jeremy Touchet (5-8, 155,Sr)*DEFENSEDE Zi’yon Hill (6-1, 280, Jr)*NG Marvin Ambrose (6-1, 190,Sr)DE Patrick Covington (6-1, 220,Sr)LB Saint George Schwing (5-10,190, Sr)*LB Trey Gary (5-10, 215, Jr)*LB Brandon Potier (5-11, 200,Jr)*CB Jeremy Touchet (5-9, 155,Sr)*CB Ja’Vaughn Narcisse (5-11,170, Jr)SS Taylor Hernandez (5-9, 160,Jr)SS Jacob Boudreaux (5-9, 165,Jr)FS Will Mullen (5-11, 175, Sr)*


Head Coach:Brent IndestCareer record:141-66 overall;21-5 at Catholic-NI

From the Archive


The Catholic High of New Iberia Panthers of the late 1990s beganbuilding a winning foundation that caught fire in the 2000s undercoach David Comeaux.

ZI’YON HILLDE, 6-1, 280, Jr.

Some defensive linemen are purelyobstacles. That’s not the case with thisguy. Hill is a big-time playmaker onthe line. Catholic coaches will be mov-ing him around as they need to wreckhavoc on opposing offenses.

SETH PIERRERB, 5-9, 180, Sr.

In last year’s incredibly talented of-fense, Pierre was a complementaryrusher. As a senior, he figures to be-come the Panthers’ top rushingthreat and leader of an offense withtwo sophomores in the backfield withhim.

JEREMY TOUCHETCB/WB, 5-9, 155, Sr.

Coach Brent Indest calls him “one ofthe most underrated players in theAcadiana area.” Indeed, Touchet willbe helping the Panthers on both sidesthis season – as an elite cover cornerand as a secondary Wing-T rushingthreat.

WYATT RICHTHOFENOT, 6-4, 310, Sr.

The only returning starter on the of-fensive line and one of only three re-turning starters on Catholic’s offenseoverall. Figures to carry a huge bur-den as he tries to lead an inexperi-enced line in front of a sophomorequarterback.

SAINT GEORGE SCHWINGLB, 5-10, 190, Sr.

No area returns more experiencethan linebacker for the Panthers thisseason and Schwing is the leader ofthat group. Whatever ball carriers arefortunate enough to get past Hill willquite often meet up with Schwing.

PLAYERS TO WATCH



Strengths

The Spartans appear awfully strong in the trench-es entering the 2015 season.

No group looks the part more than the defensivefront wall. That unit has size, speed and depth, not tomention three returning starters, led by senior tackleKain Fogg. The offensive line is also promising. In ad-dition to a pair of returning starters, the most talent-ed one is junior newcomer Shane Vallot. The unit hasgood size overall.

The Spartans’ new spread offense will be orches-trated by junior quarterback Brett Dotson, but it’s de-signed to take full advantage of the enormous phys-ical skills of slot receiver Tanarious Achan, who playedquarterback last season.

Another key cog for the Spartans is junior Latre-vian Thomas, who is the only returning starter in thesecondary.

Question Marks

For starters, new head coach Doug Dotson bringsthe spread offense, so there’s the natural transitionfrom the Wing-T. Dotson said the goal from the startwas to make it as easy as possible on the line andmake the adjustments on the run behind the line.

A quick glance at the starting lineups indicates an-other potential obstacle with just three starters backon offense and four on defense, and Achan is actuallyplaying a new position. That’s somewhat deceiving,however, because several of the new starters are po-tential standouts, particularly Shane Vallot at tackleand D’Von Ward at receiver and cornerback.

There will be a big transition on defense as well,transitioning from a 4-3 to the 4-2-5 defense. Theback seven on defense only has one returning starterand two juniors are starting for the first time at line-backer.

The Bottom Line

Once the learning process slows down, Comeaux’ssuccess will depend largely on keeping Achan healthyand how creative the staff can be getting him the ballin open spaces. With that said, the word ‘spread’means repeated passing in the minds of some, butthe Spartans want to and need to establish a consis-tent running game behind their sizable offensiveline.

The defensive front will need to dominate at timesearly on while the inexperienced back seven matures.

SCOUTING REPORT


Comeaux High’s highly touted defensive front of Jaylen Brown (6), Phillip Williams (94),Tristan Greene (21), Kain Fogg (83), Antonio Bourgeois (96) and Devante Lee (97) areexpected to carry the Spartans’ defense this season.

COMEAUX SPARTANS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 Cecilia11 WESTGATE18 NORTHSIDE25 SULPHUR

October

2 Sam Houston9 ACADIANA16 St. Martinville23 BARBE30 New Iberia

November

6 Lafayette High

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 3-7.Beat CECILIA 28-20Beat ALEXANDRIA 36-9Lost Breaux Bridge 28-14Lost Sam Houston 45-7Lost CARENCRO 24-21Lost Acadiana 28-0Beat LAFAYETTE HIGH 28-6Lost Barbe 50-37Lost New Iberia 36-29Lost SULPHUR 27-7

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 3-7.2013: 6-5.2012: 4-5.2011: 4-6.2011: 1-9.


OFFENSEWR D’Von Ward (6-0, 190, Sr)WR Alec Toups (6-01, 185, Sr)TE Austin Toups (6-0, 195, Sr)OT Shane Vallot (6-1, 300, Jr)OG Hunter Lewis (6-0, 210, Sr)C Andrew Brasseaux (5-10, 260,Sr)*OG Alejandre Perez (6-2, 245,Sr)*OT Tyler May (6-3, 245, Soph)QB Brett Dotson (6-1, 170, Jr)RB Justin Martin (5-7, 155, Sr)SB Tanarious Achan (5-7, 150,Jr)*DEFENSEDE Tristan Greene (6-2, 210, Sr)*DE Jaylen Brown (6-1, 210, Sr)*DT Kain Fogg (6-3, 270, Sr)*DT Antonio Bourgeois (6-1, 245,Jr)LB Hayden Parker (5-9, 185, Jr)LB Kody Duhon (5-9, 190, Jr)CB D’Von Ward (6-0, 190, Sr)CB Isaiah Johnson (5-7, 150, Jr)SS Blaine Spell (5-9, 175, Jr)SS Brendan McAlister (6-0, 165,Jr)FS Latrevian Thomas (6-1, 195,Jr)*


Head coach:Doug Dotson.

Overall rec-ord: 27-26 overall;1st year as headcoach at Comeaux

From the Archive


The 1993 Comeaux Spartans were still transitioning from the veer to a spread passing offense, and that effort did produce a gem in UL’s best all-timereceiver and Super Bowl champion Brandon Stokley (14). Among his Spartans teammates in this photo were: Chris Williams (40), Mike Jackson (33),Carrell Travis (22), Reggie Flugence, Howard Tessier and Philip Johnson.

TANARIOUS ACHANSB, 5-7, 150, Jr.

Moving to slot receiver from quarter-back in the Spartans’ new spread of-fense. Comeaux hopes to turn himinto an elite playmaker by gettinghim the ball in the open field in everyway imaginable, including as the pri-mary kickoff and punt return special-ist.

D’VON WARDWR/CB, 6-0, 190, Sr.

A rare two-way performer at the 5Alevel, Ward figures to be a full-timestarter at cornerback, as well as play-ing a big part in the Spartans’ wide re-ceiver rotation. Both roles are big, butWard will be counted upon heavily asan athletic new starter in an unsea-soned secondary.

SHANE VALLOTOT, 6-1, 300, Jr.

Not a returning starter for the Spar-tans on the offensive line, but thecoaches have high hopes for this ju-nior tackle. He brings that meanstreak to the unit that the staff hopesto take advantage of in the newspread offense.

KAIN FOGGDT, 6-3, 270, Sr.

Leader of Comeaux’s most promisingunit in the defensive line. Big, fast andpowerful, Fogg is expected to play ahuge role on the Spartans’ defensivefront. That unit carries a big load withjust one returning starter on the restof the defense.

TRISTAN GREENEDE, 6-2, 210, Sr.

Another standout returning per-former from the Spartans’ defensivefront, bringing the kind of experienceand athletic ability to create troubleon the edge for opposing offenses.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


Comeaux’s offensive line of Tyler May (59), Alejandre Perez (65), Andrew Brasseaux (55),Hunter Lewis (51) and Shane Vallot (74) has made the adjustment from the Wing-T to thespread during this offseason.

D | Friday, August 14, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


Strengths:The Bears five best players can

compete with just about anyonein the state. Defensive back Fred-erick Williams is a stud, and willmake plays on both defense andoffense all season and the samething goes for Trey Babineaux.

Quarterback Troy Matte willhave to use his experience in theBears’ offense to avoid mistakesand find his athletes on the out-side so they can make plays withtheir speed. The Bears will have afast unit, a hair faster than thelast couple of teams coach J.C. Ar-ceneaux has had, and will try touse that speed to outrun oppos-ing defenses for big plays.

The same speed the offensehas transfers over to the defense.With more and more teamsswitching to a more pass-heavy,wide-open approach having afast defense is a must in modernfootball. An experienced line-backer corps, with returning Lo-gan Lavergne at the helm willhelp the Bears limit opposingteam’s running games, and Wil-liams and Babineaux will give op-posing quarterbacks somethingto think about when trying totake their shots down the field.

Question Marks:The Bears aren’t young, but

they are inexperienced. Withonly six total returning starters,

Arceneaux has to hope some bitplayers from last season can stepup into bigger roles and thrivethis season.

The offensive line is the big-gest question on offense, onlysenior Tyler Elliott was a full-timestarter last season, and they willbe charged with protectingMatte throughout the season.

If they can keep Matteupright long enough for thequarterback to find open receiv-ers down the field the Bears of-fense should run smoothly, but ifMatte is running for his life it willbe tough to get things going.

The Bears’ strength on de-fense also doubles as perhaps aweakness. While the Bears are in-

credibly fast and will be able torun with anyone, teams who lineup and try to smack Church Pointin the mouth might have somesuccess on a defensive line lack-ing size. Technique and effortcan make up for some lack ofsize, but how much remains to beseen.

Bottom Line:It would be a surprise if the

Bears didn’t return to the play-offs for a fifth consecutive seasonon the strength of Matte, Wil-liams and Babineaux alone.

How far they go after that willdepend on how the new startersmake the transition to their newroles.

SCOUTING REPORT

FREDDIE HERPIN, GANNETT LOUISIANA

The Church Point defense, led by defensive backs Trey Babineaux andFrederick Williams, is primed for a successful season.

CHURCH POINT BEARS


Senior quarterback Troy Matte (12) leads an inexperienced Bears offenseinto the season.

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 Rayne11 Iowa18 Kaplan25 JENNINGS

October

2 FRANKLINTON9 PORT BARRE15 Pine Prairie23 EUNICE30 Northwest

November

6 VILLE PLATTE

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 10-2.Beat Beau Chene 35-7Beat Kaplan 30-0Beat CECILIA 40-36Beat LOREAUVILLE 49-33Beat North Vermilion 41-3Beat PINE PRAIRIE 55-6Beat Northwest 59-20Beat PORT BARRE 56-14Beat Ville Platte 34-14Lost LIVONIA 24-21PlayoffsBeat BRUSLY 42-7Lost NORTH WEBSTER 21-16

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 10-22013: 9-42012: 6-52011: 8-32010: 4-6


OFFENSEQB: Troy Matte, 6-2, 180 pounds, Sr.RB: Frederick Williams, 5-9, 175pounds, Sr.*RB: Trey Babineaux, 5-11, 185pounds, Soph.*RB: Kylance Castille, 5-9, 215pounds, Sr.*WR: Larenz Smith, 6-1, 160 pounds,Sr.*C: Connor Higginbotham, 5-8, 190pounds, Sr.*OG: Tanner Matte, 6-0, 185 pounds,Sr.*OG: Patrick Savoie, 5-10, 185 pounds,Sr.*OT: David Menard, 5-8, 215 pounds,Sr.*OT: Tyler Elliot, 6-2, 235 pounds, Sr.

DEFENSEDB: Frederick Williams, 5-9, 175pounds, Sr.*DB: Trey Babineaux, 5-11, 185pounds, Soph.*DB: Collin Latiolais, 6-1, 165 pounds,Sr.DB: Larenz Smith, 6-1, 160 pounds,Sr.LB: Dylan Henry, 5-10, 220 pounds,Jr.LB: Logan Lavergne, 5-9, 170pounds, Sr.*LB: Alex Higginbotham, 5-9, 195pounds, Sr.*DE: Bryce Elliott, 6-2, 175 pounds, Sr.DT: Joel Briceno, 6-0, 200 pounds, Jr.DT: Damon Joseph, 5-10, 190pounds, Sr.DE: Kylance Castille, 5-9, 215pounds, Sr.*Denotes new starter

Head coach:J.C. Arceneaux

From the Archives


The Church Point Bears have emerged as an area football powerhouse in recent seasons. Back in the 1990s, however, the Bears were still fighting forrespectability.

TROY MATTEQB, 6-2, 180 pounds, Sr.

Matte is one of the only returningstarters on the Bears’ offense, andcoach Arceneaux plans to open upthe team’s passing offense to tailor toMatte’s skill set.

FREDERICK WILLIAMSRB/DB, 5-9, 175 pounds, Sr.

Williams is a returning All-State de-fensive back and his ball-hawkingskills will go a long way in making upfor some early-season mistakes by allthe new starters on the Bears’ de-fense. Williams will also get a crack inthe backfield this year and his explo-siveness could lead to some big plays.

TREY BABINEAUXRB/DB, 5-11, 185 pounds, So.

Despite his youth, Babineaux is one ofthe best players in the area, if not thestate. A returning All-District per-former, Babineaux will make up oneof the best secondary duos in thestate with Williams. He’ll also get ashot at carrying the rock in the back-field.

LOGAN LAVERGNELB, 5-9, 170 pounds, Sr.

Lavergne was a tackling machine lastyear and at his inside linebacker posi-tion he will have to locate and ex-plode onto opposing ball carrierswith the same effectiveness as lastseason.

TYLER ELLIOTTOT, 6-2, 235 pounds, Sr.

Elliott is the only returner along theBears’ offensive line and will betasked with protecting Matte’s blind-side. If Matte goes down, the Bears’season is in serious jeopardy, so Elliotthas perhaps the most important jobon the team.

PLAYERS TO WATCH



Strengths:

The Gents will have an explo-sive offense this season poweredby experienced signal-caller PateBroussard and a host of talentedskill position players.

Broussard has the bruisingrunning back Ty'Von Griffin andthe speedy Keith Wilson to workwith in the backfield, to go alongwith Terrell Thomas, Jacq’coPrice, Maikel Hebert, XavierJohnson and John Marceaux inthe passing game. The Gents willbe explosive and should be ableto keep up with anyone in thestate.

The secondary is big and ath-letic and will be able to limit bigplays in the passing game. WithTy’Von Griffin playing more snapson defense this season, the Gentsinside linebacker corps gets aboost. Ed Yokum is an experi-enced rush linebacker on the out-side for the Gents. If the linemancan occupy enough blockers inCrowley’s 34 scheme it’ll open uproom for those experienced line-backers to make plays.

Question Marks:

On offense, the Gents are ab-solutely loaded at skill the skillpositions it’s the size up front thatleaves a little to be desired. It’s anextremely experienced groupthat has the talent to succeed,but against bigger teams just thesheer lack of size could pose aproblem if the line doesn’t haveexceptional technique with theirhands. And as with any team, acouple of injuries at some keyspots could really hurt the Gents,as they lack depth in certainareas.

Bottom Line:Fontenot is extremely confi-

dent in his group’s talent, maturi-ty and chances for this season.

The offense will keep up withanyone, and if the defense cangel quickly and force turnovers

and get important stops theGents could be primed for a deepplayoff run.

SCOUTING REPORT

CROWLEY GENTS

SCOTT CLAUS/SPECIAL TO THE ADVERTISER

Crowley Gents’ explosive offensive weapons John Marceaux (40), Jacq’Co Price, Ty’Von Griffin (4), Mikal Hebert(7), Pate Broussard (3), Xavier Johnson (9) and Terrell Thomas (2).

SCOTT CLAUSE/SPECIAL TO THE ADVERTISER

Crowley High Gents’ defensive standouts Jackson Hetzler (48), Quentron Gallow (21), Ed Yokum (8), Ty’Von Griffin(4), John Ortiz (89), Desmond Harmon (43), Quanterral Robinson (38) and Jardell Delco (27).

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 Iowa11 WESTLAKE18 Cecilia25 Eunice

October

2 DEQUINCY9 DERIDDER15 LaGrange23 WASHINGTON-MARION30 LEESVILLE

November

6 Rayne

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 8-3.Beat Wossman 62-27Lost WESTLAKE 17-14Beat NORTHWEST 39-14Lost Beau Chene 38-6Beat OPELOUSAS 45-12Beat Washington-Marion 22-21Lost LAGRANGE 43-24Beat Rayne 33-21Beat EUNICE 41-21Beat Madison 44-20PlayoffsLost EAST JEFFERSON 38-19


OFFENSE

TE: John Marceaux, 6-2, 180, Sr.WR: Terrell Thomas, 6-1, 170, Sr.OT: Nick Deville, 5-10, 235, Sr.OG: Matt Mire, 5-11, 250, Jr.*C: Christian Breaux, 6-0, 275, Sr.OG: Zack Bergeron, 6-0, 230, Jr.QB: Pate Broussard, 5-9, 160, Sr.RB: Ty’von Griffin, 6-0, 215, Sr.WR: Jacq’co Price, 6-1, 170, Sr.DEFENSE

DE: Jackson Hetzler, 6-1, 215, Jr.*DE: Luke Stutes, 5-10, 240, Sr.*NT: Desmond Hormon, 5-10, 225,Soph.*OLB: Ed Yokum, 5-10, 215, Sr.OLB: Quentron Gallow, 6-0, 190,Sr. *MLB: Quenterral Robinson, 6-0,205, Jr.MLB: Donald Francis, 5-9, 175,Soph.*DB: Mikal Hebert, 5-10, 175, Sr.DB: Xavier Johnson, 6-2, 185, Jr.DB: John Marceaux, 6-2, 180, Sr.DB: Paul Dugar, 5-8, 160, Soph.*


LAST FIVE YEARS

» 2014: 8-3.» 2013: 8-4.» 2012: 2-8.» 2011: 4-6.» 2010: 7-5.

Head coach:Josh FontenotCareer Record:18-15

From the Archives


This group of Crowley Gents from the mid-1980s helped to lay the foundation for the program’s Class 3A state championship under coach Lewis Cook in1989.

PATE BROUSSARDQ/B, 5-9, 160, Sr

Broussard isn’t the tallest or fastestquarterback around, but when itcomes time to get things done he’sgot the absolute confidence of hiscoaching staff. Leader of a well-disci-plined, senior-laden Gents squad.

JOHN MARCEAUXDB/TE, 6-2, 180, Sr

Another two-way athlete, Marceauxis a lights out safety for Crowley aswell as providing an option over themiddle in the passing game. But withthe Gents opening up the offense inmore four receiver sets, Fontenot iscounting on Marceaux to make a bigimpact on the defensive side.

JACQ’CO PRICEWR/DB, 6-1, 175, Sr

Price is one of the best athletes in thestate and will compete on both endsfor the Gents. Price is a vital memberfor an experienced secondary theGents are relying on to limit big plays.

KEITH WILSONRB, 5-6, 150, Soph

Wilson is the Gents secret weapon onoffense this season, and will be reliedupon in both the running and passinggames. Fontenot compared Wilson toDarren Sproles, and said he would’veplayed a large role in the Gents of-fense as a freshman but broke his leg.

TY’VON GRIFFINRB, 6-0, 215, Sr

Griffin will play both running backand linebacker for the Gents this yearafter playing primarily at runningback last season. He will be the closerfor the Gents on offense, coming inlate in games to pound defenseswhen they are tired.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

D | Saturday, August 15, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


StrengthsOn offense, the Panthers have

senior Oliver Nunez back in hisrole in the backfield, where hewill be expected to produce atthe same level he did last season.The Panthers are inexperiencedon the offensive end, but coachMarc Broussard said they hadnear 100 percent attendance atsummer workouts and felt hisunit had gotten stronger andfaster. The Panthers’ real

strength will be their experi-enced defense, where they re-turn six starters, including threein the secondary. They’ll have tokeep opposing team’s offenses incheck to help the offensethrough any bumps they experi-ence early in the season with sucha young unit.

Question MarksThe Panthers will inevitably

struggle with some facets on of-fense with 10 new starters. Quar-

terback Cole Delcambre has atough job with a brand new of-fensive line and will have to takesome hits early in the season aseveryone settles into their newroles.

Even though the program hasgrown (only 26 on the team lastseason, now the Panthers have37), with a small program depthwill be an issue once again. Inju-ries would be a death spell for athin squad, so Broussard has tohope for an injury-free season.

Bottom LineBroussard coaches a tough

unit and the Panthers will com-pete in every game they play in.The defense will hang tough, butagainst the real heavyweightsdepth in the front seven will be aconcern. The Panthers will hangaround the four wins they gotlast season, and if they catch theright breaks they could get to.500 on the season.

SCOUTING REPORT

SPECIAL TO THE ADVERTISER

The Delcambre Panthers are gearing up for football season.

DELCAMBRE PANTHERS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 ERATH11 Hanson18 ASCENSION EPISCOPAL24 Loreauville

October

2 Catholic of New Iberia9 JEANERETTE16 Opelousas Catholic23 NOTRE DAME30 WEST ST. MARY

November

6 Sacred Heart

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 4-7Beat BERWICK 14-13Lost Lake Arthur 28-8Lost Elton 26-20Lost CATHOLIC PC 42-21Beat Port Barre 35-14Beat WESTMINSTER CHRISTIAN 22-7Lost Loreauville 50-22Beat JEANERETTE 28-0Lost OPELOUSAS CATHOLIC 20-3Lost Catholic of New Iberia 42-0PlayoffsLost Venton 28-6

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 4-62013: 2-92012: 3-72011: 3-62010: 5-6


OFFENSETE: Hunter Delcambre, Jr.SE: Matthew DeriseLT: Monty Rogers, Jr.LG: Tyrese LewisC: Triston Menard Jr.RG: Gage Hebert, Sr.RT: Nick Goins, Soph.QB: Cole Delcambre, Jr.TB: Oliver Nunez, Sr.TB: Caine Hamilton, Sr.TB: Trevor Peltier, Sr.DEFENSEDE: Monty Rogers, Sr.DE: Broc Trahan, Jr.DT: Michael Billiot, Soph.LB: Byker Broussard, Fr.LB: Gage Hebert, Sr.LB: Dalton Duplantis, Soph.LB: Zachary Frederick, Sr.CB: Caine Hamilton, Sr.CB: Oliver Nunez, Sr.FS: Trevor Peltier, Sr.SS: Dylan Valecrelle, Soph.

Head Coach:Marc Broussard

Record atSchool: 0-0

From the Archives


Back in 1990, the Delcambre Panthers’ passing game centered around quarterback Chad Langham (4) and wide receivers Bart Baudoin (10) and DustinViator (1).

OLIVER NUNEZDB/RB, Sr.

Nunez will act as the Panthers’ top op-tion in the backfield on offense andthe top cover man on defense. His ex-plosiveness will create big plays forcoach Marc Broussard’s offensewhere he’s the only returning starter.

MONTY ROGERSDE/LT, Sr.

Rogers is back as an interior rusher forthe Panthers’ 3-4 defense, but willalso double down as the team’s lefttackle this season. After trying to beatoffensive linemen, Rogers’ techniqueas chief pass protector should bestrong.

COLE DELCAMBREQB, Jr.

Delcambre is the Panthers’ new start-ing quarterback and is the leader ofan inexperienced offense. If Del-cambre can limit turnovers and effec-tively manage his offense, it will go along way in helping the offense settlein.

TREVOR PELTIERFS/TB, Sr.

Peltier plays the centerfielder role forthe Panthers’ defense and will use hisexperience and athleticism to limitbig plays for opposing offenses.

GAGE HEBERTLB, Sr.

Another returning member in an ex-perienced unit, Hebert will operate inthe middle of the Panthers’ defenseand will be charged with helping toshut down opposing running games.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


KLAF SCHEDULESept. 4: No gameSept. 11: Cecilia at ComeauxSept. 18: Notre Dame atTeurlingsSept. 25: Hanson at AscensionEpiscopalOct. 2: Breaux Bridge atCarencroOct. 9: Acadiana at LafayetteHighOct. 16: Acadiana at ComeauxOct. 23: St. Thomas More atTeurlingsOct. 30: LCA at AscensionEpiscopalNov. 6: Comeaux at LafayetteHigh

COX4 SCHEDULESept. 4: New Iberia at BreauxBridgeSept. 11: Patterson at Hahn-villeSept. 18: Plaquemine at St.Thomas MoreSept. 25: E.D. White at KaplanOct. 2: Sulphur at AcadianaOct. 9: Barbe at Lafayette HighOct. 16: Cecilia at WestgateOct. 23: Carencro at NorthsideOct. 30: Teurlings at CarencroNov. 6: Catholic-NI at NotreDame

KPEL 1420 AMAll Acadiana High games(Oct. 30, LCA at AscensionEpiscopal)(Jamboree: Carencro vs. St.Martinville on Thursday;Acadiana vs. Cecilia and BBHSvs. Lafayette High on Friday.)

KPEL 96.5 FMSept. 4: Catholic-NI at Vermil-ion CatholicSept. 11: Loreauville at LCASept. 18: Woodlawn at La-fayette HighSept. 25: Lafayette High atNew IberiaOct. 2: Westgate at NorthsideOct. 9: Barbe at Lafayette HighOct. 16: Abbeville at BreauxBridgeOct. 23: Carencro at NorthsideOct. 30: Comeaux at NewIberiaNov. 6: LCA at VermilionCatholic

KFTE 105.1 FMSept. 4: New Iberia at BreauxBridge Sept. 11: Notre Dame atBreaux BridgeSept. 18: Crowley at CeciliaSept. 24: Teurlings at BreauxBridgeOct. 2: Cecilia at LafayetteHighOct. 8: St. Martinville at BreauxBridgeOct. 9: Gueydan at LCA Oct. 16: Comeaux at St. Mar-tinvilleOct. 23: Westgate at BreauxBridgeOct. 30: Breaux Bridge atCeciliaNov. 6: Cecilia at St. Martinville

KROF 960 AMAll Ascension Episcopal games

KOGM 107.1 FMAll Carencro High games

KLWB 103.7 FMAll St. Thomas More game

KYMK 106.3 FMAll Teurlings Catholic games

KANE 1240 AMSept. 4: New Iberia at BreauxBridgeSept. 10: Highland Baptist atJeaneretteSept. 11: Catholic High atErathSept. 18: New Iberia at West-gateSept. 24: Vermilion Catholic atHighland BaptistSept. 25: Catholic High atWest St. MaryOct. 2: Delcambre at CatholicHighOct. 8: Loreauville at CatholicHighOct. 9: Highland Baptist atCentral Catholic-MCOct. 16: Catholic High atJeaneretteOct. 23: Opelousas Catholic atCatholic HighOct. 30: Westgate at St. Mar-tinvilleNov. 5: New Iberia at Acadi-anaNov. 6: Catholic High at NotreDame

KSIG 1450 AMAll Crowley High games

KSIG 106.7 FMAll Notre Dame games

PURECOUNTRY1067.COMAll Rayne High games

PREP FOOTBALLTV SCHEDULE

PREP FOOTBALLRADIO SCHEDULE


District 3-4A will once againprove to be a tight battle at thetop between an experiencedRayne squad, an explosiveCrowley offense and a toughLaGrange unit that has provendifficult for both teams thepast two years.

The three teams beat up oneach other last season, withRayne pulling out a 14-12 vic-tory at home against LaGrangein week five, an angry La-Grange squad hammering theGents 52-27 in week seven inLake Charles and then theGents pulling out a 52-48 win inweek eight over Rayne.

Both Rayne and Crowley re-turn good portions of theirteams from last season, withthe Wolves getting back quar-terback Jaylin Reed and mon-ster defensive lineman Austin

Coleman; two players who im-pressed during summercamps.

Crowley gets back theirquarterback as well in PateBroussard and also star run-ning back Ty’Von Griffin and aslew of other skill positionplayers including wide receiv-er and defensive back Jacq’coPrice.

The Gents get both La-Grange and Rayne on the roadthis season, a huge challenge totheir chances of winning a dis-trict title this season. La-Grange proved last seasonthey could handle their busi-ness against the Gents withtheir brand of smash-mouthdefense keeping Crowley’shigh-octane offense out ofrhythm.

LaGrange gets Crowley athome, but Rayne on the roadagain with the Wolves provingto be a tough task on their hometurf, while Rayne gets bothteams at home with the Wolveswinning the scheduling lottery

this season.The Gators will have to pull

the double off, as they getRayne and Crowley in back-to-back weeks, while the Gentsand the Wolves square off –perhaps for all the marbles —in the last week of the season.

With the Gators murderousearly out-of-district schedule(Notre Dame, Sam Houston,Westgate and Evangel Chris-tian) I think they pull off theaway win against Rayne, butfalter due to fatigue at home toCrowley and split the two.

That means the districtmost likely comes down toRayne and Crowley in the finalweek of the season, and I’ll givethe Gents the win because ofBroussard’s senior leadershipand Griffin being more freshtoward the end of the seasonthanks to a big year from soph-omore running back Keith Wil-son.

DISTRICT 3-4A PREVIEW

LaGrange, Crowley andRayne set to battle it outTREY [email protected]

DISTRICT 3-4A POLL

COACHES POLLTeam PtsLaGrange (5) 31Crowley 26Rayne (1) 23Washington-Marion 17DeRidder 14Leesville 14

ADVERTISER POLLTeam PtsCrowley (3) 28LaGrange (2) 24Rayne 22Leesville 13DeRidder 10Washington-Marion 8

(1ST PLACE VOTES)

BATON ROUGE — LSU seniorsafety Jalen Mills had surgeryon his ankle early this week, andLSU coach Les Miles was un-sure how much longer that willkeep him out of action this sea-son.

“He did,” Miles said Tuesdaynight when asked about Mills’recent surgery. When askedhow that has changed theamount of time Mills may be outof action, Miles said, “I don’tknow. I’m still harboring per-sonal feelings that we can gethim back sooner rather than lat-er. I don’t know exactly howsoon that is.”

Mills injured his ankle lastweek at practice and at the timewas expected to miss LSU’sfirst two or perhaps threegames this season. The No. 14Tigers open the season a weekfrom Saturday againstMcNeese State in Tiger Stadi-um.

The Tigers held a scrimmageof about 100 plays at Tiger Stadi-um until about 9 p.m. Tuesday.

“It was a very productivescrimmage. It ones versus twosand scouts. Good workout,”Miles said.

“Didn’t appear that we hadany serious injuries in any way.I thought we threw and caughtthe ball well.”

AP

LSU safety Jalen Mills (28) hasalready had surgery, but there isnot timetable on his return from aleg injury.

Tigers safetyMills hassurgeryGLENN [email protected]

LSU FOOTBALL

Here’s a breakdown of the funni-est comments by each coach, as wellas the most interesting fact abouttheir teams on the eve of the KiwanisJamboree.

(Coaches are listed in order ofappearance)

1. Doug Dotson,Comeaux

Funniest Joke:“I was hoping I wouldn’t be first so

I could see how other people did, butI guess I won’t get the chance to dothat. Well, I won’t be the funniestcoach up here I know that,” Dotsonsaid. “But thanks to (Acadiana coachTed) Davidson at least I won’t be theoldest and thanks to (Carencro coachRip) Eveland I won’t be the ugliest.”Most Interesting Tidbit:

Dotson said his team lost threestarting offensive lineman during thesummer, one when his family movedto Houston, one to an ACL injury andone to another knee injury.

Also, former LSU receiver JoshReed now coaches the Spartans widereceivers.

“Carencro has All-SEC and All-American Kevin Faulk and Northsidehas All-SEC, All-American Trev Faulk,”Dotson said. “Well, now we cancompete on that level.”

2. Rip Eveland,Carencro

Funniest Joke:With Carencro moving down to

4A, Eveland joked about how hekeeps hearing from fans how itmight be easier for the Bears nowthat they are out of 5A.

“When you move down it meansyou have less kids to use. You get aninjury and all of a sudden you’ve gota bunch of 15-year-olds on youroffensive line.”Most Interesting Tidbit:

Eveland is very excited about hisdefensive unit, which has a lot ofplayers coming back from last seasonand thinks it could help the Bears’offense get in a groove early on inthe season.

“We played a little intra-squadscrimmage and the defense had us at3rd and 27. I told them we ought tojust go ahead and punt now,” Eve-land said.

3. Vincent Derouen, St.Martinville

Funniest Joke:Derouen told tales of his two years

of teaching kindergarten betweencoaching jobs.

“Teaching kindergarten, man y’alldon’t know. Bless those teachers’hearts that do that every year, I wentto work terrified every day,” Derouensaid. “First day of school they werecrying with their moms and it onlytook them two days to learn that Iwas wimp. And they poured it onme.

“Kindergarten girls are the mean-est people on the planet.”Most Interesting Tidbit:

Derouen kept it light-heartedthroughout most of his speech, butdid delve into how deep the rivalry isbetween St. Martinville, Cecilia andBreaux Bridge in football; even if itwas in a joking manner.

In fact, some of the fans even hada problem with the Tigers’ brandnew turf field.

“The fans keep asking me, coachwhy did you make the grass colorgreen like Cecilia, why did you makethe pylons burgundy like BreauxBridge,” Derouen said. “I thought allfields were pretty much the same,but I guess not.”

4. Ted Davidson,Acadiana

Funniest Joke:“Our running back is quite the

mathematician, you know,” David-son said. “He told me that he wasgoing to run for 1,000-to-1,500 yardsthis season. Whichever came first.”Most Interesting Tidbit:

The Rams are widely expected tobe one of the best defenses in thestate this season with several return-ing players who could eventually playDivision I football, but Davidson wasmost concerned with the offenseafter their scrimmage.

“We had botched snaps betweenthe center and the quarterback, wehad the quarterback bring his armback for a throw and drop it twice,”Davidson said. “If you set it to musicit could’ve been up there with NFLFollies.”Bonus Joke:

Davidson fired back at Dotson,who poked fun at the Rams’ coach’sage in the first speech, with a barb ofhis own.

“Doug, I may be the oldest, but atleast I’ve still got more hair thanyou,” Davidson joked.

5. Logan Duplechain,Cecilia

Funniest Joke:Duplechain poked fun at his head

coach Terry Martin for calling in aringer to deliver the speech, andwaiting to the last second to tell himhe would be doing it.

“We came in from the scrimmage

and coach Martin pulled up the faxfrom Kiwanis and said, ‘Here, don’tforget to be funny,’” Duplechainsaid.

6. John Simmons,Northside

Funniest Joke:Simmons was another ringer

called upon by the head coach, andhe detailed how Northside’s headcoach Trev Faulk eventually bulliedhim into doing the speech.

“I told him I wasn’t going to do itand Trev’s a pretty intimidating guy,”Simmons said. “Well, he was handingout shirts to all the coaches and hegave me a medium. I told him thathe gave me the wrong shirt size andhe asked if I was doing the CryingTowel speech, I said no — and hetold me that he hadn’t given me thewrong shirt.

“I told him nobody wants thisbelly popping out during a game so Imight as well do it.”

7. Russell Phelps,Jennings

Phelps kept it pretty cut-and-drythroughout his speech withoutthrowing out any comedy bits.

He did compare his situation toNorthside’s, as Jennings graduated 31seniors from last year’s squad.

“If you know anything about 3A,you know how tough it is. I wouldsay we are growing and rebuildingnow,” Phelps said.

8. Chris Garvey, BreauxBridge

Funniest Joke:Garvey joked about how in what

will be his second full year in Louisi-ana he was still finding out thingsabout the culture.

“I heard a couple of kids tellingstories about Boudreaux and Thibo-deaux the other day at practice,”Garvey said. “I asked them, ‘Bou-dreaux did what?’ and they told menot to worry and that it was just ajoke.

“I couldn’t tell the differencebecause in Breaux Bridge all we’vegot is Boudreauxs and Thibodeauxs.”

9. Cedric Handy,Lafayette

Handy kept his speech short andsweet in the last spot and mostlythanked Lafayette High’s administra-tion and was thankful for the oppor-tunity provided to him.

“I just want to thank the coaches,because without y’all we wouldn’thave any football, so thank y’all fortaking the time to do this,” Handysaid.

TowelContinued from Page 1D

Continuing the Sean Paytontradition of never being totallyhonest about injuries, Breesdeclined to elaborate on what“something during the season”was.

So the entire discussionabout Brees’ weak armstrength in 2014 was accurate,but it wasn’t because he wasdeclining. It was because his

oblique muscle was torn like abag of Zapp’s potato chipsbeing opened by a 4-year-old.

Am I exaggerating? Maybe,but since the Saints are incapa-ble of giving a straight answerabout injuries, we will neverknow.

Brees dealing with a moder-ate-to-severe injury does may-be put his 2014 in perspective.It also makes those 33 touch-downs he threw more impres-sive.

Why is Drew Brees saying“I feel as good throwing theball as I’ve felt in a long time”

so important? Brees is theSaints’ best and most impor-tant player, and he just told ushis 2014 season wasn’t up to hisstandards and it was becausehe was hurt.

So all the talk of Brees de-clining physically and neverbeing as good as he was mighthave an easy explanation.

Brees still is 36, and 36-year-old quarterbacks aremore likely to get injured thanyounger ones, but right nowDrew Brees is still DrewBrees. Not “in decline and notas good as he used to be” Drew

Brees.Did you see that 45-yard

strike to Brandin Cooks onSaturday? Sure looked like2009-2011 Brees to me.

So while we worry about theSaints defense, who will be thethird receiver, and if the sec-ondary will ever get healthy,the news that Brees is com-pletely healthy and looks greatis the best news we will get allpreseason.

If Brees is, say, 15-20 per-cent better in 2015, how weview 2015 suddenly changes alot, doesn’t it?

BreesContinued from Page 1D

C | Monday, August 24, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


STRENGTHS

The Erath Bobcats may just be the most interesting team toattempt to handicap in the entire Acadiana area going into the2015 season. On one hand, there’s an awful lot of familiar faces.Coach David Comeaux returned nine starters on the offensiveside and five on defense.

But while’s a lot of field experience, then there’s the factthat Erath is switching from the Four-wide Pistol offense to theveer this season.

So returning three offensive linemen with perhaps one ofthe newcomers Stephen Vallot being as promising as any of hiscolleagues could be a big positive, but that unit has had tolearn a new way of blocking during the offseason.

While the line has some work to do, the starting quarter-back returns three targets — all standing at least 6-2 — and twoseasoned halfbacks, not to mention a promising newcomer.

On defense, the numbers are as big, but there’s two veter-ans back on the line, one at linebacker and two in the second-ary to spread out the experience. There are changes on thatside as well with Keith Calvert coming over from LafayetteHigh to be the new coordinator, although the Bobcats will re-main in their 4-2-5 scheme.

QUESTION MARKS

Again, with a new offense and a new defensive coordinator,even the strengths on paper have a hint of a question mark tothem. The biggest one may be how quickly the offensive lineadjusts to a much more aggressive approach required by theveer.

Then there’s the adjustment feature back Elijah Mitchell willhave to make. Being more of a traditional I-back, Mitchell willneed more of a quick-hit style in the split-back veer approach.

With as many as five guys playing on both sides of the ball,managing that workload is always an issue.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Bobcats appear to have enough talent to make progressand potentially be a dark horse in the 8-3A race. It’s simply amatter of their players – newcomers and veterans alike – mak-ing a smooth transition with all the changes afoot. If they do,the potential to be dangerous is there.

Many veer attacks have the tight end as a big part of thepassing game and the Bobcats have that in Jaylen Sinegal.

You need at least three quality halfback options, which theyhave when you sophomore Coy LeBlanc to the list. Starter ScottMoore just needs to respond quickly to missing some time incamp with an injury.

The Bobcats were one 27-24 overtime loss in week 10 awayfrom making the playoffs last season and they hope thesechanges will get them over the hump.

SCOUTING REPORT


Erath High’s top offensive weapons include receiver Luke Young (25),quarterback Ben LeBlanc (4), receiver Erik Belanger (7), halfback Coy LeBlanc(42), halfback Elijah Mitchell (3) and halfback Scott Moore.

ERATH BOBCATS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 Delcambre11 CATHOLIC-NI18 VERMILION CATHOLIC25 NORTH VERMILION

October

2 Berwick9 Franklin16 CATHEDRAL23 Patterson29 KAPLAN

November

6 E.D. WHITE

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 4-6.Lost IOWA 20-3Lost Catholic-NI 63-7Lost Vermilion Catholic 35-30Beat FRANKLIN 21-20Beat St. John 33-14Beat Abbeville 42-10Lost NOTRE DAME 41-0Lost Kaplan 30-14Beat WEST ST. MARY 47-12Lost NORTH VERMILION 27-24

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 4-6.2013: 3-7.2012: 5-6.2011: 4-6.2010: 3-7.


OFFENSEWR Erik Belanger (6-3, 170, Sr)*WR Luke Young (6-4, 170, Sr)*TE Jaylen Sinegal (6-2, 220, Sr)*OT Stephen Vallot (6-2, 260, Jr)OG Andre Touchet (6-2, 230, Jr)*C Layne Faulk (5-11, 220, Sr)*OG Canaan George (6-1, 260,Sr)*OT Jax Harrington (6-2, 270, Fr)QB Ben LeBlanc (6-0, 180, Sr)*RB Elijah Mitchell (6-1, 215, Jr)*RB Scott Moore (6-1, 185, Sr)*DEFENSEDE Jaylen Sinegal (6-2, 220, Sr)*DT Matt Anderson (6-0, 250, Jr)*DT Wyatt Primeaux (6-0, 320, Sr)DE Bryce Suire (6-0, 190, Sr)LB Layne Faulk (5-11, 220, Sr)*LB James Bryant (5-10, 180, Sr)CB Erik Belanger (6-3, 170, Sr)*CB Brynn Faulk (5-8, 160, Jr)SS Taylor Collins (6-0, 180, Sr)SS Coy Sonnier (5-11, 180, Sr)FS Mason Granger (5-11, 170,Soph)*


Head Coach:David Comeaux.

Career Rec-ord: 46-42 over-all; 4-6 at Erath.

From the Archives


Erath coach Jacob Byler with his offensive standouts back in 1990: Shannon Amos (11), Brodie Theriot (21), Kerry Richard (23), Jonathan Toups (22), RyanHebert (12) and Chad Mallet (26).

ELIJAH MITCHELLRB, 6-1, 215, Jr.

Mitchell has been in the news since hewas a freshman and he appears readyto take that big step forward this sea-son. In addition to playing the leadrole in the backfield on offense,Mitchell is also expected to spot playat linebacker.

BEN LEBLANCQB, 6-0, 180, Sr.

If the Bobcats’ big move to the veermachine is going to pay huge divi-dends, LeBlanc’s play at quarterbackwill have to be a big reason why. He’sgot the ability to handle the veerrushing duties, as well as throw theball when needed.

ERIK BELANGERWR/CB, 6-3, 170, Sr.

There are a handful of Bobcats thatwill be playing a lot on both sides thisfall. Belanger’s first duty will be as oneof LeBlanc’s tall receiving targets, buthe’ll also be a major option at corner-back as well.

LAYNE FAULKC/LB, 5-11, 220, Sr.

A gritty, throwback performer for theBobcats who figures to be in the mid-dle of everything this fall as both thestarting center in Erath’s new veerrushing attack and as a defense’s toptackler at linebacker.

JAYLEN SINEGALTE/DE, 6-2, 220, Sr.

Another one of those two-way stand-outs for the Bobcats. On offense, Si-negal’s tall frame should be an easytarget at tight end. Defensively, he’san athletic defensive end who canstop the run and get to the passer.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


Erath’s defense includes Kobe Baker (26), Jaylen Sinegal (80), Taylor Collins (8),Erik Belanger (7), Matt Anderson (46), Mason Granger (10), Jordan Lahasky (9),Layne Faulk (58) and James Bryant (33).

C | Tuesday, August 25, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


StrengthsThe main strength of the Bobcats will be their

defense, specifically their athletic secondary.Cornerback Travis Godfrey is an absolute stud hisplaying style and body type will remind a lot ofpeople of former Eunice star cornerback TharoldSimon.

Godfrey will couple with another big, athleticcorner in Deshaun Vigers, another 6-3 specimen,on the outside to make things very difficult foropposing cornerbacks. Linebacker Ajyh Johnsonis back again as well, and will bring the same typeof toughness and speed at the linebacker posi-tion that made him a First-Team All-District selec-tion last season.

On offense, the Bobcats are returning startingcornerback Alex Richard and starting runningback Darin Serie and will have to rely on thosetwo with a relatively inexperienced group sur-rounding them. Richard has his top targets backin the form of Godfrey and Terryl Poullard andboth will provide big targets outside the hashmarks.

Serie might find it tough sledding behind aninexperienced offense line that lacks a little size,but with his big-play ability if they give him aseam he’ll bust one for a touchdown.

Question MarksWhile the Bobcats secondary looks good on

paper, and the coaching staff is excited about theathleticism, Godfrey is the only true returningstarter. If the group can combine their athleticability with proper technique, they’ll be fine. Butin the opening weeks opposing quarterbacksmight be able to isolate certain members for bigplays.

The offensive line is the biggest questionmark on offense, lacking both starting experi-ence and prototypical size. Senior center JacobLacombe is the only starter over 240 pounds (he’s290), and teams with big defensive lines might beable to wear the Bobcats down in the trenches bythe fourth quarter.

Bottom LineEven with some real question marks, the Bob-

cats will compete for a district title. Coach PaulTrosclair knows his business and will have histeam ready to go for the start of the season. TheBobcats will return to the playoffs this seasonand pick up six or seven wins in the regular sea-son.

SCOUTING REPORT

FREDDIE HERPIN

Travis Godfrey (14) and Ajyh Johnson (45) lead a talented Eunice defense into the season.

EUNICE BOBCATS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 OPELOUSAS11 Jennings17 St. Martinville25 CROWLEY

October

2 RAYNE9 Ville Platte16 NORTHWEST23 Church Point30 PORT BARRE

November

6 Pine Prairie

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 4-6.Beat Northwest 28-21Lost JENNINGS 31-14Beat St. Martinville 28-12Beat Opelousas 48-0Lost WASHINGTON-MARION 26-20Lost LaGrange 43-6Lost RAYNE 20-13Lost VERMILION CATHOLIC 22-20Lost Crowley 41-21Beat BEAU CHENE 47-7

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 4-62013: 6-62012: 11-12011: 9-32010: 5-6

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPOFFENSETE: Lucas Deculus* (6-0, 195, Jr.)SE: Terryl Poullard (6-0, 195, Sr.)OT: Nick Victorian (5-9, 225, Sr.)OG: Damien Comeaux* (6-0, 230, Jr.)C: Jacob Lacombe* (6-0, 290, Sr.)OG: Jonas Granger* (5-9, 190, Sr.)OT: Shelton Langley* (6-0, 205, Jr.)QB: Alex Richard (6-0, 180, Sr.)RB: Darin Serie (5-9 185, Sr.)RB: Nic Powell* (5-10, 180, Sr.)RB: Georrein Dupre (5-9, 175, Jr.)

DEFENSEDE: Larry Rideau (6-0, 210, Sr.)DE: Cade Richard* (5-10, 175, Jr.)DTL Robert Dacus (5-10, 200, Sr.)DT: Shemar Guillory* (6-1, 210, Sr.)LB: Ajyh Johnson (5-10, 200, Sr.)LB: Tylar Allison* (5-9, 180, Sr.)LB: Brandon Ndubueze (6-1, 190, Jr.)LB: David Middlebrooks* (5-9, 175, Jr.)DB: Travis Godfrey (6-3, 210, Sr.)DB: Halen Jack* (5-10, 175, Sr.)DB: Deshaun Vigers* (6-3, 175, Jr.)DB: Wesley Hebert* (6-0, 205, Sr.)


Head Coach:Paul Trosclair

Career Rec-ord: 203-92

Record atschool: 164-74

From the Archive


Eunice High coach Paul Trosclair looks over the playbook with assistant coach Charlie Mahfouz and some of his Bobcats during his early days there.

TRAVIS GODFREYCB/WR, 6-3, 210, Sr.

Godfrey is one of the best coveragemen in the state and also provides abig target on the outside for the Bob-cats offense. Godfrey has developedinto a team leader and leads vocally aswell as by example.

AJYH JOHNSONLB, 5-10, 200, Sr.

Johnson is your typical hard-hittinglinebacker and the heart of the Bob-cats’ front seven. He led the team intackles last season as a junior and willlook to have the same type of produc-tion this season.

ALEX RICHARDQB, 6-0, 180, Sr.

Richard has a quick release and showsthe ability to put a pretty touch on hisdeep balls when he has the time to sethis feet and deliver. He displays goodtoughness when he runs the ball andhas the ability to break tackles if de-fenders underestimate his power.

DARIN SERIERB, 5-9, 185, Sr.

Serie was a big play threat for theBobcats last season while operatingprimarily out of the wing back posi-tion in Trosclair’s offense. He showedthe ability to catch balls out of thebackfield as well and will be reliedupon as a major piece in Eunice’s rush-ing attack.

TERRYL POULLARDWR/CB, 6-0, 205, Sr.

Poullard is a big play threat on of-fense and will be Richard’s top target.He’s got a big frame and good speedand will bust some big plays if oppos-ing defenses lose track of him.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

FREDDIE HERPIN

Alex Richard (3), Darin Serie (21) and Terryl Poullard (13) form a strong trio for the Bobcats’offense.

The Daily Advertiser | theadvertiser.com Thursday, August 20, 2015 | Page 7C


District 7-1A is aboutas tough and as deep as ithas been in years this sea-son, with four or fiveteams set to battle it outfor a district title.

The perennial con-tenders are there. Vermil-ion Catholic will be strongagain under head coachRussell Kuhns and Cen-tral Catholic has old warhorse Tommy Minton atthe helm to guide the Ea-gles through a toughschedule.

Many are also expect-ing Lafayette Christianand Ascension Episcopalto compete for the districtchampionship this sea-son.

AES has Mike Desor-meaux at the helm and un-der his direction the BlueGators have improved ev-ery season and a strong,disciplined senior classhas the coaching staff ex-cited for this season. Withsenior UL commit JakeArceneaux, the Blue Ga-tors are solid at the quar-terback spot, which is of-ten a big factor in tightdistrict races.

A big question markfor the Blue Gators,though, is whether seniorJa’Ceiry Linzer is healthyand ready to go for weekone. He’s a big part of boththe offense and defenseand will have influence onjust how far the Blue Ga-tors can go this season.

LCA continues to growand scored a major coupwhen old Westminstercoach Tommy Badonjoined the coaching staff.

With Badon and headcoach Derek Landry, withother quality assistants,the Knights have builtquite the coaching staff tohelp guide the young pro-gram to success.

Landry was excitedabout a talented fresh-man class, some of thosefreshman will even quitsignificant playing timethis season, and thoughthis team could challengefor a district title if theyplayed like they were ca-pable of on Friday’s.

Hanson Memorial hasa numbers problem, onlyin the mid-20s for totalroster number this sea-son, but coach Brett Bla-key runs a tight ship andhis team will compete tillthe final whistle in everygame they play in.

Highland Baptist is an-other upstart program

similar to LCA, coming upfrom the ChristianLeague, and while theyare still a growing pro-gram a couple of coachessaid they had seen signifi-cant improvement in

them from the first year.Centerville is new to

the district and coach An-thony Hicks will have atough task in his first sea-son in a competitive dis-trict. Hicks’ certainly hasa few athletes to workwith on both sides of theball, and his team’s athlet-icism could pose someproblems for teams.

Gueydan also has afirst-year coach at thehelm in Robert Helo. Helowas excited about hissophomore and freshmanclasses, the freshmanteam went undefeatedlast season in football andwon a district title in bas-ketball, but was con-cerned about his overallsize.

Overall, this seemslike a four-horse race be-tween Vermilion Catholic,Ascension Episcopal,Central Catholic and La-fayette Christian Acad-emy and could comedown simply to who playswho at home and on whatweeks to see who takeshome the district crown.

7-1A DISTRICT FOOTBALL

7-1A hopefuls stillchasing VC EaglesTREY [email protected]


The Ascension Episcopal Blue Gators are out to prove thattheir program is ready to make a run at dethroningVermilion Catholic in the 7-1A race.


Vermilion Catholic’s Screamin’ Eagles are hoping to continueto their recent dominance of District 7-1A.

DISTRICT 7-1A POLL

COACHES POLLTeam PtsVermilion Catholic (5) 59Central Catholic-MC (2) 49Ascension Episcopal (1) 47Lafayette Christian 41Highland Baptist 31Hanson 27Centerville 17Gueydan 15

ADVERTISER POLLTeam PtsVermilion Catholic (3) 34Ascension Episcopal 34Lafayette Christian (2) 31Central Catholic-MC 28Highland Baptist 18Hanson 16Centerville 12Gueydan 7

(1ST PLACE VOTES)

There’s some newblood in the District 5-1Arace this season.

Joining the district isBasile from anotherClass 1A league, whileWestminster Christianis dropping down from apowerhouse Class 2Adistrict.

Both are looking tomake life a little moreuncomfortable for de-fending 5-1A championSt. Edmund this fall. TheBlue Jays rolled throughthe 5-1A schedule lastseason with the closestdistrict game being apair of 16-point winsover outgoing SacredHeart of Ville Platte andCatholic High of PointeCoupee.

By comparison, theBlue Jays outscoredFalse River, North Cen-tral and newcomerWestminster by a com-bined total of 158-0 lastseason.

Basile, however,brings the thunder.

The Bearcats havereached the quarterfi-nals the last three years,only to fall to longtimeClass 1A powerhouseKentwood each time.The Bearcats crushedLaSalle 38-13 after get-ting a bye last year,rolled past Plain Dealing42-8 after a bye in 2013and beat Elton 17-16 andPlain Dealing 25-14 in2012.

St. Edmund handledCountry Day in the firstround last year, beforefalling to No. 2 St. Ma-ry’s, beat AscensionCatholic 48-34 after abye before falling to Ce-dar Creek 28-7 in quar-terfinals in 2013 and lostin the first round toCountry Day 37-13 in2012’s first round.

In other words, Bas-ile and St Edmund aretwo programs that havewon a lot of games andhave plenty of playoffexperience will be butt-ing heads as the clear-cut favorites to competefor this year’s 5-1Acrown.

Both are moving onwithout two all-time of-fensive greats in Basilerunning back KendrickCeasar and St. Edmundquarterback Drew

Brown. With Ceasargone, Gabe Fontenottakes over the lead backrole for the Bearcats,while Drake Brunettakes over at quarter-back for the Blue Jays.

On paper, the nextrace could be for thatthird spot. Catholic Highand Westminster appearto be the top candidatesthere, but many ques-tions surround those twoprograms.

The Crusaders are intheir second season un-der coach Vinnie Bulla-ra, so natural improve-ment is expected. If theinconsistencies thatplagued the Crusadersare minimized this fall,perhaps WCA could en-joy more success in2015.

Catholic High, mean-while, is welcoming anew coach in David Si-moneaux who has abackground at power-running Parkview Bap-tist as well as CentralHigh. So the district’scoaches will be waitingfor film before knowingfully what to expectfrom the Hornets.

DISTRICT 5-1A FOOTBALL

Basile, St. Edmundbattle for District5-1A supremacyBY KEVIN [email protected]

BOBBY ARDOIN/SPECIAL TO THE ADVERTISER

Basile coach Kevin Bertrand and his Bearcats are hoping tocontinue their recent success in the new District 5-1A.


The St. Edmund Blue Jays are hoping to continue theirrecent dominance of District 5-1A, despite the addition ofnew teams Basile and Westminster Christian.

DISTRICT 5-1A POLL

COACHES POLLTeam PtsBasile (5) 31St. Edmund (1) 27Catholic-PC 22Westminster 19False River 16North Central 11

ADVERTISER POLLTeam PtsBasile (4) 28St. Edmund (1) 26Catholic-PC 20Westminster 15False River 11North Central 6

(1ST PLACE VOTES)

Offensively, they’ve got to continueto control the clock and make thingseasier on the defense.

LAGNIAPPE

Like many Class 1A programs, theBears are forced to start multipleplayers on both sides of the ball.Liuzza foresees it being as many asfive or six this season. Overall, howev-er, the depth concern is “about whatit normally is” at Highland.

— Kevin Foote

STRENGTHS

The Bears can really run the foot-ball in their Wing-T offense. It startsup front where Highland is returningits entire offensive line. Then there’sthe fact that running behind that linesophomore running back BrontreGriffin, who rushed for over 1,700yards as a freshman a year ago. Join-ing Griffin in the backfield will besenior Jakob Deckard.

Being good in the trenches trans-fers over to the other side of the ballas well. Highland’s two lines average250 pounds a spot, so the Bearsshould be competitive upfront ondefense as well. Senior Brody Griffin(6-4, 255) is a key factor on both sidesat tight end and defensive end, whilejunior Claude Tremblay (6-3, 280) willplay center and defensive end. SeniorTyler Green (6-0, 220) is anothertwo-way starter at guard and noseguard.

QUESTION MARKS

For Highland, the question markstypically begin on defense. In the fivegames the Bears lost last season, theirdefense allowed over 40 points inthree, over 30 in another and 28 inthe fifth loss. Coach Artie Liuzza saidhe’s confident in his options at line-backer and at cornerback whereConnor Derouen and Matt Napierbring some experience to that key

position.The big question on defense is at

safety where a first-year junior startertries to take over for Gary Roberts.

Offensively, the passing game isalways a question for such a run-oriented offense. Senior Luke Hayestakes over at quarterback in only hissecond year of football. Of course, inthis offense his duties will be execut-ing the Wing-T more than throwingthe ball downfield.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The bar has been raised in District7-1A, which was highly competitive ayear ago. For example, betweenVermilion Catholic and Central Catho-lic at the top of the standings lastseason and Gueydan at the bottomwere four teams between 7-3 and 5-5.

In other words, Highland happensto be one of several programs on therise in pursuit of returning king of thehill Vermilion Catholic. The Bears mustfind a way to minimize the damagemore often on defense if they’regoing to threaten the upper echelonin the league.

HIGHLAND BAPTIST SCOUTING REPORT

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Highland Baptist leaders include Brody Griffin (8), Jakob Deckard (20), Brontre Griffin (36), Tyler Green (51) andClaude Tremblay (66).

2015 SCHEDULESEPTEMBER» 4: HOUMA CHRISTIAN» 10: Jeanerette» 18: West St. Mary» 24: VERMILION CATHOLIC

OCTOBER» 2: LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN» 9: Central Catholic-MC» 16: GUEYDAN» 23: Ascension Episcopal» 30: HANSON

NOVEMBER» 6: Centerville

2014 IN REVIEWOVERALL RECORD: 5-5.

» BEAT: Houma Christian 34-14» LOST: Berwick 28-21» BEAT: NORTH CENTRAL 39-6» LOST: Central Catholic-MC48-26» BEAT: GUEYDAN 56-6» BEAT: MENTORSHIP ACADEMY66-12» LOST: Vermilion Catholic 46-21» BEAT: HANSON 36-29» LOST: Ascension Episcopal34-32» LOST: LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN42-14



Strengths

The Pirates have eight startersback on offense, including theleading passer, two leading rush-ers and three on the offensive line.Kaplan has the experience ofthree playoff wins over the pasttwo seasons, as well as a startingquarterback who is a double-threat. The offense kicked it intohigh gear late last season andshould be a threat from day onethis fall.

Few teams bring back two1,000-yard rushers in Julius John-son and Grant Frick.

Defensively, the Pirates return

six starters, including three in thesecondary.

The kicking game should alsobe improved with the punter andkicker both back.

Question Marks

While the defense returns sixstarters, the coaches are con-cerned about a lack of depth onthat side of the ball. Kaplan lostone key starter at each level of thedefense that must be replaced. Asa result, Jaise Meche figures toface more double-teams thisseason at his defensive end spotwith two new starters around him

in the Pirates’ 3-3-5 defense.Chris Broussard, a transfer from

Breaux Bridge, will attempt tobolster the linebacking corps,while sophomore Trae Case tries tofill a hole in the secondary afterfinishing second at the state wres-tling tournament as a freshmen.

The Bottom Line

If the Pirates remain relativelyhealthy, especially on defense,more postseason success shouldcome this fall. The difference is alot more traveling in the newDistrict 8-3A with Patterson andE.D. White of Thibodaux as the

other top contenders for theleague title, not to mention Ber-wick and a non-district gameagainst Ascension Catholic inDonaldsonville.

Lagniappe

In addition to losing severalkey starters on defense, Kaplan’sdefensive coaching staff isn’t backintact. The Pirates not only lost ahead baseball coach when SamTaulli left to return to his almamater at Lafayette High, but also adefensive line coach.

– Kevin Foote

SCOUTING REPORT


Kaplan High offensive standouts Gabe Briolo (57), Judd Bertrand (14), Julius Johnson (11), Grant Frick (27), Jade Herpin (8) and Gage Morvant (51).

KAPLAN PIRATES


Kaplan High defensive standouts DeAngelo Martin (5), Jaise Meche (99), Chris Broussard (1), John Broussard (44), Savion Broussard (21) and T.J. Broussard.

2015 SCHEDULE

September4 ABBEVILLE11 Vermilion Catholic18 CHURCH POINT25 E.D. WHITE

October

2 Patterson9 NORTH VERMILION16 Berwick23 FRANKLIN29 Erath

November

6 Ascension Catholic

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 8-4.Lost Lafayette High 16-0Lost CHURCH POINT 30-0Beat Westminster 32-6Beat IOWA 28-14Beat ST. MARTINVILLE 32-7Beat NORTH VERMILION 41-14Beat West St. Mary 48-7Beat ERATH 30-14Beat Abbeville 22-14Lost Notre Dame 35-6PlayoffsBeat NORTHWEST 44-27Lost Union Parish 29-14

LAST FIVE YEARS» 2014: 8-4.» 2013: 9-4» 2012: 7-4.» 2011: 9-3.» 2010: 9-3.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPOFFENSEWR Judd Bertrand (5-9, 141, Sr)*TE John Broussard (5-10, 167,Sr)*OT Gabe Briolo (5-11, 206, Sr)*OG Gage Morvant (5-8, 171, Sr)*C. C.J. Crochet (5-9, 177, Sr)OG Jarrick Romero (5-9, 236, Jr)*OT Hunter Vincent (6-1, 303, Jr)QB Jade Herpin (5-10, 183, Sr)*RB Julius Johnson (5-9, 181, Jr)*RB Grant Frick (5-8, 165, Sr)*RB Flavers Caldwell (5-6, 156, Sr) DEFENSEDE Jaise Meche (5-10, 232, Sr)*DT Victor Stelly (5-8, 263, Jr)DE Peyton Gaspard (5-10, 175, Jr)LB D’Angelo Martin (5-10, 200,Sr)*LB Jude Hebert (5-8, 172, Sr)*LB Chris Broussard (5-10, 166, Sr)DB Mac Thibeaux (5-8, 157,Soph)DB Daniel Lotief (5-9, 160, Jr)*DB T.J. Broussard (5-11, 155, Sr)*DB Savion Meaux (5-10, 165, Sr)*DB Trae Case (5-9, 165, Soph)


Head coach:Stephen LotiefCareer Record:88-56 overall; 39-20 at Kaplan

FROM THE ARCHIVES


In the late 1980s, the Kaplan Pirates ran the ball and played a physical brand of defense, led by current Pirates’ assistant coach Shay Herpin (9).

JAISE MECHEDE 5-10 232 Sr

Returning All-District performer, butthe only one back on that unit. Whenteams ran away from Arizona Statesignee Jalen Bates last year, Meche

often made them pay. This year, theymay be running away from him.

JULIUS JOHNSONRB 5-9 181 Jr

Got off to a modest start a year ago,but picked up steam down the stretchfor the Pirates. Perfect fit as a straight-

ahead rusher in Kaplan’s Wing-Toffensive attack. Finished with 1,200yards and 16 touchdowns last season.

D’ANGELO MARTINLB 5-10 200 Sr

Returning All-District performer whocontinues to improve as a run-stop-ping linebacker in the middle of thePirates’ defense. One of two return-

ing starters at linebacker for thePirates.

JADE HERPINQB 5-10 183 Sr

Had to overcome an early-seasonconcussion, but still finished withalmost 700 yards passing for the

Pirates. Also a productive running,Herpin provides seasoned leader tooffense that returns eight starters.

JARRICK ROMEROOG 5-9 236 Jr

Top lineman on a unit that returnsthree starters. May not be the tallest,

biggest or fastest lineman around,but Romero showed how good he

was as a sophomore last season and isback for more as a junior.

PLAYERS TO WATCH



STRENGTHS

It starts off with a good amount of experience coming backwith six returning starters on offense and seven on defense. Thepicture looks better on the defensive side, where there’s bal-anced talent in each area.

On the line, there’s two senior veterans with run-stopper Ro-drigo Diaz and pass rusher Dylan Prejean. At linebacker, there’slast year’s combo of Khale Schexnayder and James Brown. Andthree return in the secondary with junior Luther Brooks beingthe newcomer.

The offense has seasoned halfback Trevin Kelly back, as well asa nice start to a steady offensive line with Dominique Williamsmoving from tight end to tackle to join left guard Ben Bertrand.

QUESTION MARKS

The biggest question is the health of three-year starting half-back Keshawn Young. Young suffered a shoulder injury in sum-mer 7-on-7 drills and it’s possible he could miss much of the firsthalf of the regular season.

That’s significant on several fronts. For starters, Young’s hardrunning will be missed, but also his potential replacements – suchas LB Brown and SS Thaquan Priestley – could affect the defense.

On the offensive side, Dwight Youngblood takes over as a full-time starting quarterback for the first time.

His progress is crucial for the Lions. Not being a shifty runner,Youngblood will need to establish a passing game that hasn’tbeen a big part of the Lions’ offense in recent years.

If not, then the full impact of having two returning wide re-ceivers won’t be as big and it’ll put more pressure on an offensiveline with three new starters and a backfield that could be missingits top rushers for much of the season.

The passing game, though, could also get a lift from new ju-nior tight end Hunter Merry, who figures to be more of a down-field threat than Williams was in recent seasons.

THE BOTTOM LINE

While some may say the Lions aren’t real close to contending,having not enjoyed a winning season since 2006, another per-spective may indicate otherwise.

In going 4-6 last season, Lafayette High lost to district champi-on Carencro by four points, runner-up Barbe by seven points andto eventual state champion Acadiana High by three points.

Now with that team returning 13 starters, coach Jay Domen-geaux’s Lions are hoping to be able to take that next step.

To do so, the passing game will need to be elevated and eitherYoung must return soon, or his replacements will need to be pro-ductive.

The early-season schedule is conducive to a quick start, butLHS must figure out a way to win those close games in District3-5A play.

SCOUTING REPORT


Lafayette High offensive standouts Dwight Youngblood (17), Archie Ducote (2),Trevin Kelly (31), Jaelyn Price (1) and Keshawn Young (10).

LAFAYETTE HIGH MIGHTY LIONS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 Peabody11 OPELOUSAS18 WOODLAWN24 New Iberia

October

2 CECILIA9 BARBE16 ACADIANA23 Sulphur30 Sam Houston

November

6 COMEAUX

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 4-6.Beat KAPLAN 16-0Beat Opelousas 40-7Beat ALEXANRIA 44-13Lost Acadiana 15-12Beat New Iberia 27-22Lost BARBE 27-20Lost Comeaux 28-6Lost SULPHUR 42-35Lost Sam Houston 42-21Lost CARENCRO 21-17

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 4-6.2013: 2-8.2012: 5-5.2011: 3-7.2010: 3-7.


OFFENSEWR Archie Ducote, Senior*WR Jaelyn Price, Senior*TE Hunter Merry, JuniorOT Dominique Williams, Senior*OG Ben Bertrand, Junior*C Evan Fisher, SeniorOG Michael LeBlanc, SeniorOT Briahn Auguillard, SeniorQB Dwight Youngblood, SeniorRB Trevin Kelly, Senior*RB Keshawn Young, Senior*DEFENSEDE Rodrigo Diaz, Senior*DT Sean Hebert, SeniorDT John Sinegal, JuniorDE Dylan Prejean, Senior*LB Khale Schexnayder, Senior*LB James Brown, Senior*LB Chance Anderson, JuniorCB Uche Utomi, Junior*CB Luther Brooks, JuniorSS Thaquan Priestley, Senior*FS Troy Williams, Senior*


Monday: Erath Bobcats

Head Coach:Jay Domen-geaux.

Career rec-ord: Overall 26-34; 14-26 at LHS.

From the Archive


Former Lafayette High assistant coach Frank Barousse with his Mighty Lion defensive front in the early 1980s, led by standout linebackers Cedric Figaro,back left, and Randy Guidry, back right.

DOMINIQUE WILLIAMSOT, 6-5, 250, Sr.

Played tight end the last two seasonsand could end up playing some thisyear, but the plan is to anchor the Li-ons’ offensive line to provide a potentrushing attack and more pass block-ing than usual.

JAMES BROWNLB, 6-2, 220, Sr.

Athletic linebacker who has battledinjuries throughout his career, but ap-pears to be primed for a fantastic fin-ish to his high school career. Couldalso see a little time in the backfieldthis season.

DWIGHT YOUNGBLOODQB, 6-2, 190, Sr.

Not quite the running threat thatmost Mighty Lions quarterbacks tendto be, but should bring more rawpassing skills to the table. With hisheight, Youngblood should be able toread defenses better than most andhas the necessary arm strength.

RODRIGO DIAZDL, 6-1, 220, Sr.

Returns for his third season as a start-er on the defensive line. Uses his skillsas an All-Acadiana wrestler to fightoff opposing offensive linemen toprovide an excellent run-stoppingforce to the Lions’ defensive front.

THAQUAN PRIESTLEYSS-RB, 5-10, 175, Sr.

Could end up being one of the mostimportant performers on this year’sclub. First, he’s a returning starter atstrong safety. Secondly, he may haveto get more carries in the backfielddue to a key summer injury to Kesh-awn Young.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


Lafayette High’s secondary of Luther Brooks (7), Troy Williams (9), ThaquanPriestley (39) and Uche Utomi (16) is hoping to catch many a pass fromopposing quarterbacks this season.

C | Saturday, August 22, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


StrengthsOne of the Knights’ biggest strengths

is their elite coaching staff. Head coachDerek Landry knows his business and hashelped grow the program in his twoyears on the job.

But the Knights also have Tommy Ba-don, an exceptional head coach in hisown right, who will run the defense andhelp get that side of the ball in order thisseason. With those two running theshow, along with a slew of quality assis-tants, the Knights have a crack coachingstaff molding a growing talent base.

Regan Miller is back as the Knights’quarterback and he proved last year thathe could get it done with his arm or withhis legs. New running back Colton Wil-liams gives Landry a new offensive toy toplay with in the backfield and shouldhave a big season. Treven Kately is backas the team’s top cover man on defenseafter picking off four passes last season,and anchors a young but talented unit.

Question MarksThe Knights are very young along the

offensive line and have three new start-ers in the unit. Getting five offensivelinemen all in sync is a tough job, andhow well that group plays together earlyin the season will go a long way in deter-mining the Knights’ overall success.

The defensive secondary is young aswell, with only Kately returning fromlast year’s unit.

Teams with strong passing attacks,such as in-district opponents VermilionCatholic and Ascension Episcopal, couldtake advantage of the inexperiencethere to put up some points on theKnights and force them to play from be-hind.

Bottom LineThe program keeps growing and Lan-

dry has more players than ever to utilize.Couple that with quality coaching andthe Knights are poised for a breakoutseason. Their district is murderous, butwith some breaks LCA could flirt withtheir first district title in football.

SCOUTING REPORT


Treven Kately (19), Eddy Suiza (74), Regan Miller (5), Colton Williams (21) and Bryce Badon will anchorthe Knights’ offense.

LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY KNIGHTS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 ELTON11 LOREAUVILLE18 Ville Platte25 CENTRAL CATHOLIC

October

2 Highland Baptist9 Gueydan16 Hanson Memorial23 CENTERVILLE30 Ascension Episcopal

November

6 Vermilion Catholic

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 5-5Beat Ascension Christian 34-0Beat Houma Christian 44-21Lost HAMILTON CHRISTIAN 26-13Lost VERMILION CATHOLIC 48-7Lost Hanson Memorial 25-20Lost ASCENSION EPISCOPAL 28-21Beat BERWICK 43-13Lost Central Catholic 17-7Beat GUEYDAN 42-0Beat Highland Baptist 42-14

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 5-52013: 6-52012: N/A2011: N/A2010: N/A


OFFENSETE: Noah JoubertWR: Treven KatelyWR: Bryce BadonWR: Hayden LassardLT: Eddy Suiza*LG: Chris Leece*C: Beau BadonRG: Wesley Thibodeaux*RT: Clay JacksonQB: Regan MillerRB: Colton Williams*DEFENSEDE: Zack HargraveDE: Hayden Lassard*DT: Caleb RobinsonDT: DeShayne Calais*OLB: Wyatt MoreauOLB: Colton Williams*MLB: Kobe ThibodeauxCB: William Daniels*CB: Treven KatelyFS: Zack Clements*SS: Cameron Sonnier*


Head Coach:Derek Landry

Record: 11-11

From the Archive


Unlike most schools in the Acadiana area, the Lafayette Christian Knights only go back two seasons in LHSAA play. This group helped start the processthat has already displayed signs of a positive future.

REGAN MILLERQB, 6-0, 170 pounds, Sr.

Miller is one of the Knights’ topathletes and a leader on and off thefield for coach Landry. He’ll use bothhis running ability and arm to carveup opposing defenses this season.

COLTON WILLIAMSRB, 5-10, 173 pounds, Jr.

Williams is the Knights’ new start-ing running back and will be a hand-ful for opposing defenses to bringdown. A hard-nosed runner, Williamswill tandem with Miller as theKnights’ top options in the runninggame.

TREVEN KATELYCB/WR, 5-11, 160 pounds Jr.

Only a junior, Kately is emergingas a top cover man in the area as wellas flashing his primetime athletic abil-ity on offense at the receiver position.If the Knights are able to get Kately inspace, watch out.

ZACK HARGRAVEDE, 6-3, 200 pounds, Sr.

Hargrave is a lanky edge rusher thatwill use his long arms and explosive-ness to disrupt plays in opposingteam’s offenses. He’s the anchor ofthe Knights’ defensive line and willhave to play up to his potential.

EDDY SUIZALT, 6-2, 240 pounds, Sr.

Suiza is a one of the three new start-ers on the offensive line and is one ofthe Knights physically biggest play-ers. If he can play with solid techniqueand use his size to his advantage he’llbe a serious weapon in the runninggame.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


Wyatt Moreau (8), Kobe Thibodeaux (17), Zack Hargrave, Will Daniels (20) and Cameron Sonnier makeup the Knights’ defense coached by Tommy Badon.




Loreauville High offensive standouts Shea Lee (21), Bryson Broussard (8), Jared Henry (7), Kameron Broussard (56) and Lee Castille (58).

LOREAUVILLE TIGERS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 FRANKLIN11 Lafayette Christian18 SOPHIE B. WRIGHT24 DELCAMBRE

October

2 NOTRE DAME8 Catholic-NI16 Sacred Heart-VP23 JEANERETTE30 Opelousas Catholic

November

6 WEST ST. MARY

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 7-5.Lost CENTRAL CATHOLIC 27-21Beat WEST ST. MARY 54-6Beat NORTH VERMILION 35-7Lost Church Point 49-33Beat ABBEVILLE 39-14Lost Opelousas Catholic 27-6Beat DELCAMBRE 50-22Beat Westminster 54-13Lost Catholic-NI 69-12Beat JEANERETTE 60-8PlayoffsBeat JONESBORO-HODGE 40-0Lost St. James 46-8

LAST FIVE YEARS» 2014: 7-5» 2013: 12-2» 2012: 9-3» 2011: 9-3» 2010: 11-2

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPOFFENSEWR Josh Simon (6-2, 190, Sr)WR Logan Thibodeaux (6-1, 180,Jr)WR Bryson Broussard (5-10, 180,Jr *OT Connor Landry (6-0, 185, Jr)OG Lee Castille (6-4, 320, Sr) *C Chase Clifton (5-10, 205, Jr) *OG Hunter Burch (5-11, 280, Jr) *OT Kameron Broussard (6-0,240, Jr) *QB Jared Henry (6-0, 175, Sr) *RB Shea Lee (5-9, 170, Jr) *RB Je’Dan Jacobs (5-11, 175, Jr)DEFENSEDE Trystan Pierre (6-0, 215, Jr) *DE Ronnie Jean-Louis (6-0, 190,Sr) *DT Matthew Baker (6-1, 210, Sr)*DT Kameron Broussard (6-0, 240,Jr) *LB Brennan Breaux (6-1, 215, Sr)*LB Brandon Williams (5-11, 185,Sr)SS Devon Morrison (6-0, 175, Sr) *SS Max Dugas (6-2, 185, Sr) *CB Josh Simon (6-2, 190, Sr) *CB Jordan Cole (6-0, 175, Jr) FS Jared Henry (6-0, 175, Sr) *


Head coach:Trent DelahoussayeCareer Record:Record: 66-28

From the Archive: Loreauville


For the Loreauville Tigers, preparing for big games were a commonoccurrence throughout the 1980s and the 1990s. Unlike in recentseasons, it was typically with old-school football – featuring a tough,physical defense and a power rushing attack, led by LHSAA Hall ofFame coach Kirk Crochet.

JARED HENRYQB/FS 6-0 175 Sr

Two-way performer at key spots forthe Tigers. He enters his second sea-son as the starter at quarterback,bringing a big-play running threat tothe offense. As a free safety, his in-stincts and athletic ability thrive asthe leader of Loreauville’s talentedsecondary.

LEE CASTILLEOG 6-4 320 Sr

Returning starter who seems primedto enjoy his most effective season yetblocking upfront for the Tigers. He’slisted at 320 and he’s lost weight,making his gifted feet and overallquickness for his size an even biggerasset.

BRYSON BROUSSARDWR 5-10 180 Jr

Gone is Rhashid Bonnette, so thatgives the full opportunity for BrysonBroussard to become Loreauville’sNo. 1 receiving threat. The Tigers fig-ure to run it more this season, but thatrunning game should create chancesin the passing game and that’s whereBroussard fits in.

SHEA LEERB 5-9 170 Jr

A year ago, Lee was battling an injuryand playing strong safety well. Thisfall, he’s expecting to be healthierand the coaching staff has removedhis defensive duties. As a result, Leeappears primed for a banner seasonin the backfield for the Tigers.

BRENNEN BREAUXLB 6-1 215 Sr

The classic run-stopping, all-over-the-field linebacker who is the best pre-season guess to lead the Tigers intackles this fall. The returning starterseems more than equipped to takeover for Mikal Pierre in that role. Italso should help that he’s got eight re-turning starters around him.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Strengths

The Tigers may have a littledifferent look in 2015. For thefirst time in the Trent Delahous-

saye era, it’s looking like thetrenches might be stronger thanthe skill positions. Four of thefive starters on the offensive lineand all four starters on the de-

fensive line return this fall for Lo-reauville.

List at 6-4 and 320 pounds,guard Lee Castille is ready tomatch up his performance withhis massive size this fall, meaningthe Tigers will be doing a lot ofrunning out of the spread forma-tion. Shea Lee will be that pri-mary rushing threat.

While the passing game won’tbe featured quite as much, QBJared Henry does have a sea-soned receiver back in junior Bry-son Broussard.

On the defensive side, as goodas the line appears, the second-ary might be better. Two-waystarters Henry and Josh Simonlead a secondary that figures tobe the best in recent memory.

Leading tackler from last year,Mikal Pierre, is gone, but Bran-don Williams replaces him andBrennen Breaux is ready to leadin the middle.

Question Marks

Depth is the number one con-cern for the coaching staff. Witha good number of two-way per-formers and an overall lack ofdepth, Loreauville would be

hard-pressed to replace verymany key losses.

And unless in previous sea-sons, the Tigers may strugglemore with third-and-long situa-tions this season with the reli-ance on the running game andthe graduation of Louisiana Techsignee WR Rhashid Bonnette.

Bottom Line

The Tigers have all the mak-ings of a better club than the 7-5edition a year ago. Problem is,Loreauville has some big obsta-cles on the schedule with a two-week stretch against NotreDame and Catholic High, as wellas a rematch with OpelousasCatholic.

Lagniappe

Another key element in Lo-reauville’s favor is team chemis-try. Delahoussaye describes thisyear’s team as “a fun group tocoach” and one that is tight-kniton and off the field, perhaps theclosest in Delahoussaye’s eightseasons at LHS.

– Kevin Foote

SCOUTING REPORT


Loreauville High defensive standouts Brandon Williams (41), Devon Morrison (14), Brennen Breaux (26), Max Dugas (15), Jared Henry (7) and Josh Simon(6).

D | Saturday, August 8, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


Strengths:Notre Dame will be able to pound the

rock down opposing defenses’ throats withJacob Vicknair and Alan Zaunbrecher open-ing up holes in the middle.

Fullback Justin Guidry is an explosiveathlete and will do a good job clearing theway for human bowling ball Lance Bertrandto get to the second level where defensivebacks will have a tough time bringing himdown.

Borill gives the Pios a reliable set ofhands on the outside and an experiencedroute runner to open separation and giveFaulk a little more room for error.

Defensively, big nose tackle Paul Guidry,6-foot, 280 pounds, will be able to hold hisground at the point of attack and let NotreDame’s experienced linebacker corps makethe plays they need to.

Opposing wide receivers and quarter-backs need to know where Hayden Bour-geois is at all times because he can makepeople pay with his ability to read thegame, as well as laying down the bone-crunching hits when he needs to.

Question Marks:The quarterback position is key for Pios

season. After relying on Brad Stoma’s bril-liance for the last three seasons, there willinevitably be kinks to work out, but if Faulkcan get rolling quickly it will help. Three of-fensive linemen are new starters, they havesome playing experience, but will need toprove they can crack it as a lead dog for thefirst time.

The kicking game is in question after los-ing Dustin Reiners, who handled all thekicking duties for Notre Dame the last threeseasons. As always, special teams can be anX-factor against tough opponents, so Cookwill have to hope they can get it figured outbefore the season begins.

Bottom Line:Notre Dame will be solid, if not spectac-

ular, and will have a solid season once again.To make a run deep into the playoffs,though, the Pios will have to hope Faulk cantransition into the starting role seamlesslyand the new starters show their maturity.

SCOUTING REPORT


Notre Dame's offensive standouts include (top row) Ethan Smith (47), Boedy Borill (80), CooperWingate (56), Alan Zaunbrecher (73), (bottom row) Lance Bertrand (34), Jacob Vicknair (60), and JoeFaulk (9)

NOTRE DAME

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 LAGRANGE11 Breaux Bridge18 TEURLINGS25 OPELOUSAS CATHOLIC

October

2 Loreauville9 Sacred Heart15 WEST ST. MARY23 Delcambre30 Jeanerette

November

6 CATHOLIC HIGH NEW IBERIA

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 9-3.Beat LaGrange 24-14Beat BREAUX BRIDGE 51-21Lost Teurlings Catholic 17-14Beat ST. LOUIS 34-3Lost Catholic New Iberia 56-28Beat WEST ST. MARY 58-0Beat Erath 41-0Beat Abbeville 57-0Beat North Vermilion 42-7Beat Kaplan 35-6PlayoffsBeat E.D. WHITE 41-7Lost University Lab 35-13

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 9-32013: 11-12012: 13-22011: 8-42010: 13-1


OFFENSETE: Ethan Smith, 6-3, 230 pounds, Sr.WR: Boedy Borill, 6-1, 190 pounds, Sr.OT: Cooper Wingate, 6-1, 255pounds, Sr.*OG: Alan Zaunbrecher, 6-0, 250pounds, Sr.C: Jacob Vicknair, 5-10, 220 pounds,Sr.OG: Austin Melancon, 5-10, 225pounds, Sr.*OT: Hunter LeJeune, 5-11, 215pounds, Jr.*WR: David Gonzales, 5-10, 170pounds, Sr.*FB: Justin Guidry, 5-8, 205 pounds,Jr.*HB: Lance Bertrand, 5-9, 190 pounds,Sr.QB: Joe Faulk, 6-0, 190 pounds, Sr.*

DEFENSEDE: Trey Vautrot, 6-1, 230 pounds, Sr.DT: Paul Guidry, 6-0, 280 pounds, Sr.*DT: Austin Thibodeaux, 6-0, 220pounds, Sr.*DE: Jake Reiners, 6-1, 215 pounds, Sr.OLB: Shae Zaunbrecher, 6-0, 215pounds, Sr.MLB: Patrick Burleigh, 5-11, 200pounds, Jr.*OLB: Jack Veillon, 5-11, 185 pounds,Sr.*CB: Michael Bourgeois, 5-9, 160pounds, Sr.*SS: Hayden Bourgeois, 6-0, 190pounds, Sr.FS: Pete Brown, 6-0, 175 pounds, Sr.*CB: Connor Fay, 5-11, 165 pounds,Sr.*


Head Coach:Lewis Cook


Record at No-tre Dame: 207-35

From the Archive


The winning tradition at Notre Dame goes back to the 1960s. While the Lewis Cook era has become the glory years of the program, the Pios have beenstate playoff regulars for decades.

HAYDEN BOURGEOIS6-0, 190 pounds, DB, Sr.

Bourgeois is the leader of a stingy No-tre Dame defense, and is a rangy, ath-letic safety. Bourgeois picked up anoffer from Stephen F. Austin thanks tohis play and will be one of the bestsafeties in the state this season.

BOEDY BORILL6-1, 190 pounds, WR, Sr.

Borill is a big target for quarterbackJoe Faulk on the outside and hasgood speed to go along with his lankyframe. Borill will work sideline routesand serve as the No. 1 option in thePios’ passing attack.

ALAN ZAUNBRECHER6-0, 250 pounds, OG, Sr.

Zaunbrecher is one of the two return-ing offensive linemen and serves as ateam leader. Working in tandem withcenter Jacob Vicknair, Zaunbrecherwill be relied upon to carve open bigrunning lanes in the middle.

JOE FAULK6-0, 190 pounds, QB, Sr.

Faulk has experience in Notre Dame’soffense, just not at the quarterbackposition. Faulk is transitioning to theQB spot and has big shoes to fill fromthe departed Brad Stoma. How Faulkplays early in the season will showhow good this Pios offense could bethis year.

LANCE BERTRAND5-9, 190 pounds, RB, Sr.

Bertrand is a returning All-Districtperformer from last season, and willbe the rock Notre Dame relies upon asFaulk finds his footing at the QB spot.Bertrand is a hard-nosed runner whofights for extra yardage and is a hand-ful to bring down.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


Notre Dame's defensive standouts include (top row) Trey Vautrot (90), Paul Guidry (70), Jack Veillon(8), (bottom row) Pete Brown (11), Hayden Bourgeois (18) and Jake Reiners (45)



Strengths

The Jackets could be very explosive again on of-fense. For starters, New Iberia returns its entire offen-sive line from a year ago, as well as two wide receivers.The two new starters at wide out in the program’sspread offense features the most talented one in thearsenal.

Those two elements fit perfectly with the return ofquarterback Timothy Declouet. Truthfully, the Jackets’coaches had no idea what they had in Declouet priorto last season and he delivered in a big way by throw-ing for over 2,000 yards, including three games over300 yards.

And while Aaron Bean is technically a new starterat running back, he got some playing time last season.Plus, he’s got the perfect dual threat skills for this back-field.

There’s a lot less seasoning on the defensive side,where linebackers Brody Bourque and Troy Thibo-deaux lead in the middle. Bourque is a three-yearstarter. The defensive line is deeper than usual and willbe paced by sophomore Brant Leslie.

Even in the kicking game, a three-year starter re-turns at placekicker Cy Kipp.

Question Marks

Most of the doubts are on the defensive side.There’s talent up front, but much of it hasn’t been test-ed yet. There will be two new starters at linebacker,but they’re both seniors.

The secondary is where the biggest concerns are forthe Jackets. Senior Anterrio Williams and junior Don-ald Colbert aren’t listed as starters as of now, but fig-ure to get playing time. The rest of the secondary,though, is completely unproven, so the front sevenwill need to steady the ship in the early going.

The Bottom Line

The Jackets had gotten very used to winning whileputting together a string of four straight three-losscampaigns. Last season, though, New Iberia enteredthe season with precious few returning starters andlost four games by six or fewer points.

Other than figuring out how to win the closegames, avoiding the injury bug and preventing turn-overs, effectively dealing with questions in the second-ary could be the biggest issue for New Iberia, as well asfinding a punter.

SCOUTING REPORT


New Iberia’s returning offensive line of Travis Landry (55), Isaiah Romero (59), Kalin Nero(52), Devin Gabriel (65) and Logan Manzo (72) is hoping to elevate the Jackets’ offense thisseason.

NEW IBERIA YELLOW JACKETS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 Breaux Bridge11 CARENCRO18 Westgate24 LAFAYETTE HIGH

October

2 Barbe9 SAM HOUSTON16 Sulphur23 CECILIA30 COMEAUX

November

5 Acadiana

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 2-8.Lost BREAUX BRIDGE 22-3Lost TEURLINGS 36-0Beat Westgate 15-12Lost Sulphur 34-28Lost LAFAYETTE HIGH 27-22Lost Sam Houston 37-34Lost Barbe 33-9Lost CARENCRO 28-24Beat COMEAUX 36-29Lost Acadiana 42-14

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 2-82013: 9-32012: 9-32011: 8-32010: 9-3


OFFENSEWR Tyler Khammany (5-6, 155,Sr)*WR Alex Mathews (5-9, 170, Jr)WR Lebronze Allen (6-3, 180, Sr)WR Baden Simpson (5-9, 180,Sr)*OT Travis Landry (6-3, 290, Sr)*OG Isaiah Romero (5-10, 270,Jr)*C Kalin Nero (6-1, 245, Sr)*OG Devin Gabriel (5-11, 265, Jr)*OT Logan Manzo (6-2, 235, Jr)*QB Timothy Declouet (5-6, 155,Sr)*RB Aaron Bean (5-10, 175, Sr)DEFENSEDE Brant Leslie (5-11, 245,Soph)*NG Chris Tarver (6-1, 280, Soph)DE Grant Mitchell (6-0, 235,Soph)OLB Chris Gibson (6-2, 185, Sr)OLB Tyler Walker (6-0, 210, Sr)ILB Brody Bourque (6-0, 205, Sr)*ILB Troy Thibodeaux (6-0, 180,Jr)*CB Bricelun Joseph (5-9, 180, Jr)CB Michael Sonn (5-10, 160,Soph)SS David Lewis (5-10, 165, Sr)FS Ely-jay Charlot (6-0, 165, Sr)


Head Coach:Rick Hutson.

Career Rec-ord: 118-148 over-all; 76-91 at NISH

From the Archives


The New Iberia Yellow Jackets were making the transition from a rushing-heavy offense in the 1980s into more of a passing attack in the 1990s.

TIMOTHY DECLOUETQB, 5-6, 155, Sr

There was a time not so long ago thatDeclouet was begging for an oppor-tunity to get a backup junior varsityquarterback job for the Jackets. As heenters his senior season, the Jacketswish they had one more year of this5-6 QB as the varsity starter.

BRODY BOURQUELB, 6-0, 205, Sr

A returning starter in the middle ofthe Jackets’ defense. Not the biggestlinebacker around, but continues toproduce as a playmaker for the Jack-ets. One of the team’s leaders deter-mined for a turnaround season.

LEBRONZE ALLENWR, 6-3, 180, Sr

New starters on a deep receivingcorps. Would have made a bigger im-pact last season if not for an injury,but coaches can foresee Allen burst-ing onto the scene in a pass-friendlyoffense, led by a senior quarterback.

AARON BEANRB, 5-10, 175, Sr.

Versatile senior back who can helpthe Jackets with the skills to catch theball out of the backfield as well as theoffense’s No. 1 option as a rushingthreat. Hopes to work with returningoffensive line to establish a betterrunning game.

TRAVIS LANDRYOT, 6-3, 290, Sr.

The biggest of the five returningstarters on the offensive line. Figuresto play a key role in the Jackets’ resur-gence as an explosive offense this sea-son after a lackluster showing attimes in last year’s 2-8 season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


New Iberia linebackers Tyler Walker (53), Troy Thibodeaux (41), Brody Bourque (15) andChris Gibson (14) bring the most experience to the Jackets’ defense.



STRENGTHS

The Patriots return a corps of talent-ed two-way performers that are goingto be the foundation of this year’s club.

Dylan Dent and Caleb Castro aretwo-way starters in the backfield and atlinebacker and free safety, respectively.Linemen Hayden Boone and Tanner Feeare both two-way starters.

All told, there will be five returningstarters on offense, but one of those isDade Dieterich, who is moving from re-ceiver to quarterback.

Defensively, tackle Drake Griffin andRyan Thompson are the only other tworeturning starters. As usual, the Patriotswill be solid in the kicking game withCastro returning as the punter and tak-ing over kicking duties as well

QUESTION MARKS

For starters, Dieterich is moving toQB, so there’s a question there. He’s gottwo seasoned targets in TE Alan Rowelland WR Connor Dupuy, but last year’stwo leading rushers are gone and threestarters on the offensive line.

Overall, the offensive line may be thebiggest question mark – both from anexperience and from a size standpoint.Also, the Patriots will have a lot of play-ers going both ways, which is a lot to askagainst the likes of Kaplan, Pattersonand E.D. White.

On defense, settling on two newstarters at linebacker and only returningone upfront are big concerns. The Patri-ots will also be starting two new corner-backs and neither one are seniors.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Finding solutions in the offensive lineis going to be crucial for the Patriotsearly on as Dieterich tries to settle in atquarterback and the backfield attemptsto establish a running game.

Overcome a lack of size on both sidesof the line of scrimmage is going to be akey.

SCOUTING REPORT

PHOTO COURTESY BEVERLY VINCENT

North Vermilion offensive standouts Charlie Gallusser (52), Dylan Dent (7), Dade Dieterich (3), AlanRowell (5) and Connor Dupuy (1) prepare for a competitive season in District 8-3A.

NORTH VERMILION PATRIOTS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

3 HANSON11 Episcopal18 Northwest25 Erath

October

2 ABBEVILLE9 Kaplan16 FRANKLIN23 E.D. White30 PATTERSON

November

6 BERWICK

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 5-7.Lost EPISCOPAL 28-20Lost Rayne 26-10Lost Loreauville 35-7Beat ST. JOHN 32-8Lost CHURCH POINT 41-3Lost Kaplan 41-14Beat Abbeville 14-10Beat WEST ST. MARY 33-8Lost NOTRE DAME 42-7Beat Erath 27-24

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 5-7.2013: 5-6.2012: 8-4.2011: 5-7.2010: 7-3.


OFFENSEWR Connor Dupuy (5-9, 160, Jr)*WR Gavin Becker (5-4, 135, Sr)TE Alan Rowell (6-0, 185, Sr)*OT Ezra Duhon (5-7, 175, Jr)OG Hayden Boone (5-10, 235, Sr)C Charlie Gallusser (5-10, 160,Jr)*OG Colin Faulk (5-8, 185, Jr)*OT Tanner Fee (5-10, 200, Jr)QB Dade Dieterich (5-10, 160,Sr)*RB Dylan Dent (5-10, 175, Sr)RB Caleb Castro (6-1, 195, Sr)DEFENSEDE Tanner Fee (5-10, 200, Jr)DT Drake Griffin (5-9, 253,Soph)*DT Hayden Boone (5-10, 235, Sr)DE Richard Nguyen (5-9, 160, Sr)ILB Ryan Thompson (5-10, 210,Sr)*ILB Rhett Maturin (5-6, 135, Jr)OLB Dylan Dent (5-10, 175, Sr)*OLB Blake Hebert (5-8, 150, Jr)CB Tyler Galley (5-4, 140, Jr)CB Tristan Romero (5-9, 160, Jr)FS Caleb Castro (6-1, 195, Sr)*


Head coach:Richard Prejean.

Career rec-ord: 5-7.

From the Archives


The 1988 North Vermilion Patriots club was led by the likes of quarterback Tharon Lewis (22), John Thibeaux (44) and Lonnie Turner (40).

DADE DIETERICHQB, 5-10, 160, Sr

Son of a coach who is making themove from steady, sure-handed widereceiver to quarterback to replace atalented quarterback in Ty Desor-meaux. Takes over leadership of anoffense that only returns four start-ers.

RYAN THOMPSONLB, 5-10, 200, Sr

Top-notch baseball and football per-former for the Patriots, playing thetough positions of third base andmiddle linebacker. Will be countedupon to be the defense’s top run-stopper in the middle. One of onlyfour starters returning on the defenseoverall.

CALEB CASTROFS/RB/P/PK, 6-1, 195, Sr

Versatile, valuable performer for thePatriots. He’ll play a big role on of-fense as a running back, stand out ondefense at free safety and also play arole in the kicking game as a return-ing first-team All-District punter andwill take over the kicking duties aswell.

DYLAN DENTLB/RB, 5-10, 175, Sr

Much like Castro, Dent is going toplay a key role on defense as one ofthe four returning starters and alsoattempt to play a key role as a starterin the backfield.

CONNER DUPUYWR, 5-9, 160, Jr

Like so many of the football playerswith the Patriots, Dupuy is a baseballstandout hoping to make a big denton the gridiron as well. Expected totake over the role as North Vermil-ion’s top target as a wide receiver.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEVERLY VINCENT

North Vermillion defensive prospects include Tyler Galley (17), Ryan Thompson (6), Caleb Castro (9) andGavin Becker (33).



Strengths

The Vikings return seven starters on defense, including fouron the offensive line and three wide receivers. It’s sort of astrange combination. A year ago, Northside had a playmakingquarterback in Ethan Rose with one college prospect at offen-sive tackle and four new starters with him on the line.

In addition to the three starters back at receiver, a four op-tion in newcomer Mark Bonnet is also expected to be a qualityoption.

On the defensive end, only three starters are back, but threethat the coaching staff are very exciting about. On the line,there’s the duo of Tyler Shelvin and Jason Celestain. Shelvin isone of the top Division I prospects in the area and he’s only ajunior. Shelvin goes 6-3 and 320 pounds, while Celestain is nosmall lineman himself at 6-2, 230.

Also back on defense is the linebacker leader Devontai Wil-son, who the coaches are hoping will be a tackling machine forthe Vikings this fall.

Question Marks

While the ability is certainly there, the Vikings will be startinga new backfield, led by senior quarterback Markaylon Boyd.Boyd got limited action in a reserve role last season, but has a lotto learn in a hurry.

The Vikings figure to lean a little heavier on the runningbacks this season and the Vikings have some breakaway speedthere in Raleigh Robinson and Braylon Constantine.

On defense, the secondary is talented, but filled with sopho-mores and the linebacker corps is largely new as well along sideWilson.

The Bottom Line

The offensive philosophy will be different. So much revolvedon Rose’s athletic ability last season. This fall, Northside shouldbe able to spread the focus around more and keep opposingdefenses guessing. Receivers Denzel Cormier and Phabien Ryancould have bigger statistical seasons with more of a pocket pass-er in the fold, and the big offensive line should be able to helpthe young defense by controlling the clock more.

The young secondary will need to prevent big plays and givetime for the defense’s playmakers upfront to dominate. CoachTrev Faulk is hoping extensive 7-on-7 experience this summerwill help the young defensive backs mature quickly.

The Vikings play a brutal schedule again. They’ll match upwith most teams starters vs. starters. The problem is with num-bers in the low 40s, depth could be a big obstacle down theroad.

Lagniappe

In addition to being a highly touted defensive tackle, the 6-3,320-pound Shelvin is also going to double as the Vikings’ place-kicker this fall.

SCOUTING REPORT


Northside High defensive standouts Devontai Wilson (3), Tyler Shelvin (72),Taylon Andrus (24), Christian Broussard (58) and Jason Celestain (52).

NORTHSIDE VIKINGS

2015 SCHEDULE

September4 Acadiana11 CECILIA18 Comeaux25 LivoniaOctober2 WESTGATE9 Teurlings16 OPELOUSAS23 CARENCRO30 Beau CheneNovember6 ST. THOMAS MORE

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall record: 4-7.Regular seasonLost ACADIANA 55-6Lost Carencro 28-19Beat EVANGEL 13-10Beat St. Martinville 32-7Beat WESTGATE 38-12Lost BREAUX BRIDGE 40-0Beat Opelousas 42-0Lost ST. THOMAS MORE 55-14Lost Cecilia 41-40Lost Teurlings 65-35PlayoffsLost North DeSoto 17-13

LAST FIVE YEARS

» 2014: 4-7.» 2013: 3-7.» 2012: 4-7.» 2011: 0-10 (5-5 on field).» 2010: 11-2.

PROJECTED STARTERS

OffenseWR Denzel Cormier (6-0, 160, Sr)*WR Phabien Ryan (6-1, 190, Sr)*WR Taveon Leary (5-8, 150, Jr)*OT Jaylon Newcoste (6-4, 255, Sr)*OG Anthony Ozene (5-10, 254, Jr)*C Jacob Hutchinson (5-10, 270, Sr)*OG Tyreek Sonnier (5-10, 280, Sr)*OT Quontae Chargois (6-1, 250, Sr)QB Markaylon Boyd (5-10, 170, Sr)RB Raleigh Robinson (5-8, 170, Sr)RB Braylon Constantine (5-10, 170,Jr)DefenseDL Jason Celestain (6-2, 230, Jr)*DL Christian Broussard (6-0, 200, Jr)DL Tyler Shelvin (6-3, 320, Jr)*LB Antoine Prejean (5-10, 200, Sr)LB Devontai Wilson (6-0, 230, Sr)*LB Byron Zeno (5-9, 175, Jr)LB Ty’Rike Simpson (5-8, 175, Soph)DB Tyrese Bellard (6-0, 180, Soph)DB Jason Castille (5-10, 165, Soph)DB Chance Prejean (5-10, 170, Soph)DB Theophilus Rose (5-9, 170, Soph)

Head Coach:Trev Faulk.

Career rec-ord: 24-22 over-all; 11-21 atNorthside.

From the Archive


In the early 1990s, the Northside High offense was led by quarterback Toby Guy, right, and his top target Shane Begnaud (3).

TYLER SHELVINDL, 6-3, 320, Jr.

One of the top college prospects inthe Acadiana area. Dominant defen-sive force to control for any offensiveline and could also get some time onoffense if depth concerns arise on theother side of the trenches.

MARKAYLON BOYDQB, 5-10, 170, Sr.

Takes over as the replacement atquarterback for Northside’s Mr. Ev-erything a year ago in Ethan Rose.Boyd is more of a pocket passer thanRose was, but he does have the abilityto run when needed.

PHABIEN RYANWR, 6-1, 190, Sr.

The athletic deep-threat receiver forthe Vikings in what the coaches arehoping is going to be an improvedpassing game. Ryan has the ability tobe an elite offensive option this fall.

JACOB HUTCHINSONC, 5-10, 270, Sr.

A year ago, the Vikings’ offensive linehad one elite player in Louisiana Techsignee O’Shea Dugas and four newstarters. This season, Hutchinsonleads a group of four returning start-ers on the line with one new starter toreplace.

DEVONTAI WILSONLB, 6-0, 230, Sr.

When you have a young defense withas many as five or six sophomoresstarters, the few seasoned startersthat are back shoulder a big burden.Wilson leads that group as a physical,play-making linebacker.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


Northside High offensive standouts Jaylon Newcoste (78), Denzel Cormier (4),Phabien Ryan (7), Anthony Ozene (59) and Jacob Hutchinson (57).

The Daily Advertiser | theadvertiser.com Saturday, August 22, 2015 | Page 5C


With an experienced, athleticdefense and a renewed sense ofconfidence the Northwest Raid-ers are hoping to compete withChurch Point and Eunice for adistrict championship this sea-son.

The Raiders defense is re-turning eight of their 11 startersand thanks to an improvedstrength and conditioning pro-gram are primed to be one of thestronger, faster units in the area.

Northwest coach Chris Ed-wards said one of the biggestchanges he hopes to see this sea-son is the Raiders’ ability to com-pete through all four quartersthis season with improvedstrength and depth.

“We played with Eunice andChurch Point in the first half andcompeted well,” Edwards said.“We could’ve won the Eunicegame, but in the Church Pointgame they blew us out in the sec-ond half.

“To win those games we needto be just as strong in the firsthalf as the second.”

The Raiders defensive lineshould be a strong suit, with big305-pound Mike Guidry holdingdown the point of attack and Mat-thew Rideau and Anthony Whiterushing the passer from theedge.

It’s the offense that is the big-gest question mark for the Raid-ers.

Only returning four startersfrom last year’s unit, the Raidersare young and inexperienced onthat side of the ball.

But one of the four happens tobe one of the best running backsin the state in the form of seniorChris Lee.

Lee was a First-Team All-Dis-trict and All-Parish selection andwas also named MVP of the Par-ish after running for 1722 yardson only 177 attempts and pickingup 20 touchdowns.

If the Raiders’ new offensiveline can open the same type ofholes for Lee, and Northwest canfind consistency in the passinggame there’s no doubt that by theend of the season Edwards’squad will be competing with Eu-nice and Church Point for the dis-trict title.

NORTHWEST RAIDERS

Northwest looking to compete for district titleTREY [email protected]


Angelo Daniels (1), Derousseau Lionel (8), Abraham Gordwin (7), Jaquland Rossette (2) and Tavin Gant (5) will becoached by defensive coordinator Doug Guillory this season.

2015 Schedule

September4 St. Edmund10 West. St. Mary18 NORTH VERMILION25 VintonOctober2 FALSE RIVER9 PINE PRAIRIE16 Eunice23 VILLE PLATTE30 CHURCH POINTNovember6 Port Barre

2014 In Review

Lost EUNICE 28-21Lost Zachary 48-0Lost Crowley 39-14Beat WEST ST. MARY 42-28Lost Wossman 32-6Lost Livonia 47-13Lost CHURCH POINT 59-20Beat Pine Prairie 12-6Beat Port Barre 42-7Beat VILLE PLATTE 19-14

Projected Starting Lineups

Offense

TE: Keyshawn Jackson, 6-2,226 pounds, Soph*WR: Terrel Guillory, 5-11, 160pounds, Jr.*WR: Matt Guillory, 5-9, 150pounds, Sr.*OT: Devin Calais, 5-11, 235pounds, Sr.OG: Troydale Gallow, 5-10,225 pounds, Soph.*

C: Kyron Richard, 5-8, 230pounds Soph.*OG: Jospeh Richard, 5-8, 225pounds Soph.*OT: Mark Lachapelle, 6-0, 255pounds, Jr.*QB: Demarcus Stevens, 6-0,200 pounds, Jr.*RB: Chris Lee, 5-8, 205pounds, Sr.RB: Matthew Angelle, 6-0,190 pounds Sr.RB: Mattew Rideau, 6-0, 238pounds Jr.

Defense

DE: Matthew Rideau, 6-0, 238pounds Jr.*DE: Anthony White, 6-0, 215pounds, Jr.DT: Mike Guidry, 6-1, 305pounds, Sr.DT: Kirt Bellard, 5-10, 220pounds, Sr.LB: Gaige Wills, 5-10, 185pounds, Jr.LB: Eujames Williams, 5-5, 173pounds, Jr.LB: Mckenzie Roberts, 5-8,

180 pounds, Sr.LB: Matt Angelle, 6-0, 190pounds, Sr.DB: Abraham Gordwin, 5-11,170 pounds, Jr.DB: Angelo Daniels, 5-8, 175pounds, Jr.*DB: Jamarcus Collins, 6-0, 180pounds, Fr.*


In this newly formed District 8-3A, the conven-tional thinking is it will be a three-horse racebetween traditional powers the Patterson Lumber-jacks and the E.D. White Cardinals of Thibodaux, aswell as the surging Kaplan Pirates.

The Pirates are a pretty obvious selection. Notonly have the Pirates won at least one playoffgame in each of the past two seasons, but coachStephen Lotief’s team has 14 total starters back,including the key ones for a Wing-T offense.

For instance, the Pirates offense returns threeoffensive linemen and its entire backfield. With aseasoned quarterback and two leading rushersback, the Pirates’ offense shouldn’t require theearly-season kickstart that it did last fall.

On defense, six return, including a standoutdefensive lineman.

In these parts, however, a lot less is knownabout the Lumberjacks or Cardinals.

Patterson has been a dangerous team for dec-ades now and nothing has really changed. TheLumberjacks reached the quarterfinals each of thepast two seasons, falling to Jennings 27-14 in 2013and to North Webster in a 51-47 heartbreaker lastfall.

The Lumberjacks return a 2,300-yard passer, a1,300-yard rusher and an elite outside linebacker.The potential issues with Patterson, though, ishaving to replace four starters on the offense line,as well as several key spots in the secondary.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, return eight onoffense, five on defense and everyone in thekicking game. E.D. White was 8-4 in coach ChrisBergeron’s first season as head coach with theCardinals, falling to Notre Dame 41-7 in the quar-

terfinal round of the Division II state playoffs afterbeating Loyola Prep 31-6 in the opening round.

The biggest losses for the Cardinals were run-ning back Darius Charles, defensive lineman Wil-liam Eichlier and linebacker Frank Robichaux. E.D.White, though, does return its starter and keytwo-way performer Jeremy Rounds at runningback and cornerback.

The biggest source of concern for the Cardinalsis trying to replace the loss of six of the front sevenstarters on defense. Also, while no Acadiana areateams are looking forward to playing a districtgame in Thibodaux, the Cardinals will have totravel the most of any team in the league.

For the record, Patterson beat E.D. White 42-14

last year, 40-34 in 2013 and has won three straightgoing back to 2010. The Cardinals won the 2009meeting 17-14.

Kaplan and Patterson haven’t met since 2012with the Pirates winning 28-27 in 2012 in a remark-able turnaround from the 61-6 loss to the Lumber-jacks the year before.

Beyond those three teams, the two dark horseswould figure to beat North Vermilion or Erath. ThePatriots came on strong late a year ago by squeak-ing past Erath 27-24 in the finale and then beatingBuckeye in the playoff opener.

Erath, meanwhile, is returning nine starters onoffense and five on defense in hopes of contend-ing again.

8-3A SHOWS SIGNS OF THREE-HORSE RACEDISTRICT 8-3APOLL

COACHES POLL

TEAM (1ST PLACE VOTES) PTSPatterson (5) 42Kaplan (2) 38E.D. White 33North Vermilion 28Erath 23Franklin 16Berwick 16

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Kaplan runningback Grant Frickis one of twoleading rushersback for thePirates this fall.

the team that fell flat onits face last season. TheSaints will face the Patri-ots on Saturday night at6:30 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

“Obviously, there’ssome things that showedup that were problems ayear ago, and, yet, this isa different club,” Paytonsaid. “This group willswim or sink on its ownmerit. And we’ve got a lotof work to do.”

Yes, it is easy to focuson all the problem areas;there certainly seemed tobe a lot of them.

“It would be concern-ing, yes,” Payton respon-ded, when asked aboutthose glaring similaritiesto last year’s team.

But amid the all-too-familiar sloppiness andanother frustrating de-

feat, emerged a few cap-tivating performances.The coach even seemedrelatively upbeat duringhis postgame press con-ference.

And after watching“the tape,” here are per-haps a few reasons why.

Let’s start with therunning backs, KhiryRobinson in particular.

He was relentless,bulling his way into theend zone to cap the six-play, 90-yard drive just

before the half.With the three-headed

monster of Mark Ingram,C.J. Spiller and Robinson,the Saints could verywell have the league’smost frightening trio ofbacks. Payton says hewants a more balancedattack. Those three cer-tainly can help make thathappen.

The keys will be get-ting Spiller healthy andeach enough touches.Robinson sure did makethe most of his five,though, averaging morethan 15 yards per.

And how about thatMarcus Murphy?

Don’t blink when he’saround, you might misssomething special. He’s

only 5-foot-9, but at 195pounds he sure does packa mean punch. Just ask,Ravens linebacker Ste-ven Means. At 6-3, 263pounds, he thought itwould be a good idea totry and wrap up the pint-sized returner. Again, hethought that would be agood idea. He now knowsit wasn’t, and likelysought smelling saltssoon after learning thathead-pounding lesson.

Back to Murphy,though, he’s a natural inthe return game, andwith his breakawayspeed, it’s not if, butwhen he’ll take one to thehouse. He nearly did soon the second of his fivereturns for 132 yards.

Then there’s DamianSwann. He had one of theSaints’ two interceptions.(Terrence Frederickpulled down the other.)Swann, who was blanket-ing Jeremy Butler,jumped a Matt Schaubthrow in the third quar-

ter, giving the Saints theball at midfield.

But the rookie fifth-round pick said he prob-ably wouldn’t have hadthe confidence to makethat play had it not beenfor a shoestring specialteams tackle early in thegame.

Yes, the Saints lost,lost another late lead anda few players to injury.But it’s too early to panic,as it is premature to labelthe coming season a ca-tastrophe.

“You get wrapped upin the emotion of winningand losing,” said Payton,“and listen we talkedabout coming in andwanting to win.”

“It means somethingto us, it just doesn’t counton the end of the seasonstandings,” said Strief.

Who remembers whowon the Saints first pre-season game two yearsago. Wait, does anyoneeven remember who theyplayed?

SaintsContinued from Page 1C

Saints vs. Patriots

6:30 p.m. SaturdayTV: KATC (ABC)Radio: KPEL 1420 AMPreseason notes: Bothteams lost their preseasonopeners last week, the Saintsfalling to the Baltimore Rav-ens 30-27 and the Patriotslosing to the Green Bay Pack-ers 22-11. The Saints andPatriots held joint practicesthis week in White SulphurSprings, West Virginia.

AMBER SEARLS/GANNETT

Saints quarterback Drew Brees looks on from the sidelinesduring last week’s preseason game against the Ravens.

D | Monday, August 10, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


Strengths

The Vikings certainly bring apositive attitude into Dane Char-pentier’s second season after go-ing 10-2 last fall. It also helps thatOC returns six starters on offenseand five on defense.

Offensively, the Vikings returnthree starters in the backfield, in-cluding second-year QB DavidLabbe. Three starters are back onthe line and one of the new start-ers is a returning varsity player ondefense in DE Gaige St. Cyr. An-other one of the “new” starterson offense is tight end Caleb The-riot, who had “an unbelievablesummer at tight end,” and couldbe a major threat in the passinggame this season.

Defensively, OC returns fivestarters, and one of the “new”starters is senior linebacker BrentDuplechain, who got significanttime in a reserve role a year ago.Nick Mouret at cornerback andAaron Whipp at free safety figureto be major pluses for the Vikings.

Question Marks

Like in so many Class 2A and1A programs, “returning” start-ers can be a little deceiving. Forinstance, of the 11 returningstarters, seven play on the otherside of the ball as well, whichmean depth is crucial at certainpositions.

Injuries in the trenches, espe-cially on the offensive line, could

be a challenge.The big question on defense is

two new starters at strong safety,which are key positions in a 4-2-5defensive alignment.

The schedule could be anoth-er issue for the Vikings. Itwouldn’t require much of animagination to picture a scenariowhere the Vikings would be im-proved this season and not haveas good an overall record.

The Bottom Line

If the Vikings remain reason-ably healthy, they should enjoyanother successful fall. The pass-ing game will need to make thehopeful strides in Labbe’s secondseason at quarterback to take

pressure off the defense, espe-cially in OC’s big challenges onthe schedule.

The club’s physical mentalityon both sides should serve it wellin this new district, but theleague does feature such power-houses as Notre Dame, CatholicHigh of New Iberia and Loreau-ville. At least one very promisingteam will have to finish fourth.

Lagniappe

While depth indeed is an is-sue, the Vikings do sport “two orthree” promising freshmen whocould provide unusual depth, es-pecially on the defensive line.Among that group is defensivetackle/tight end James Monroe.

SCOUTING REPORT


Opelousas Catholic’s returning defensive starters Caleb Theriot (84),Aaron Whipp (39), Eli Waters (33), Gaige St. Cyr (52) and Nick Mouret (22).

OPELOUSAS CATHOLIC VIKINGS


Opelousas Catholic’s returning offensive starters Devin Casse (58), SpencerGardner (74), Koy Guillory (75), David Labbe (6), Jacobi Richard (7) andAaron Miller (8).

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 PORT BARRE11 CENTRAL CATHOLIC-MC18 St. Edmund25 Notre Dame

October

1 SACRED HEART-VP8 West St. Mary16 DELCAMBRE23 Catholic-NI30 LOREAUVILLE

November

6 JEANERETTE

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 10-2.Beat Port Barre 40-12Beat SACRED HEART-VP 39-6Beat ASCENSION EPISCOPAL 49-6Beat ST. EDMUND 46-32Beat Catholic-PC 33-7Beat LOREAUVILLE 27-6Beat Jeanerette 42-0Lost CATHOLIC-NI 42-26Beat Delcambre 20-3Beat WESTMINSTER 49-7PlayoffsBeat WESTMINSTER 35-0Lost NEWMAN 27-10

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 10-2.2013: 8-4.2012: 6-5.2011: 2-8.2010: 8-4.


OFFENSEWR Jacobi Richard (5-10, 175,Sr)*WR Evan Moody (5-10, 170,Soph)TE Caleb Theriot (6-0, 210, Sr)OT Gaige St. Cyr (5-10, 240, Jr)OG Koy Guillory (5-9, 265, Sr)*C Devin Casse (5-11, 230, Jr)*OG Adam Chellette (5-10, 210,Sr)OT Spencer Gardner (6-5, 260,Jr)*QB David Labbe (6-0, 200, Sr)*FB Aaron Miller (5-10, 180, Sr)*RB Aaron Whipp (5-11, 175, Sr)*DEFENSEDE Gaige St. Cyr (5-11, 240, Jr)*DT Koy Guillory (5-9, 265, Sr)DT Thomas Artall (5-11, 240, Jr)DE Caleb Theriot (6-0, 210, Sr)*LB Eli Waters (5-10, 180, Sr)*LB Brent Duplechain (5-10, 180,Sr)CB Nick Mouret (5-11, 170, Jr)*CB Devin Bijeaux (5-11, 170, Sr)SS Sam Jarrell (5-11, 170, Jr)SS Anthony Rui (5-8, 160, Jr)FS Aaron Whipp (5-10, 175, Sr)*


Head Coach:Dane Charpentier


From the Archive


Opelousas Catholic standouts from the 1990s Eddie Stelly, Ashton Provost, Ferdinand Thierry and Thane Gautier, with coach Dwayne Lemoine.

DAVID LABBEQB, 6-0, 200, Sr.

Hard-nosed, linebacker-type quarter-back who remains a physical rusherfor the OC offense, but this year ismore comfortable in the passinggame. The Vikings are hoping Labbe’ssecond season as starting QB will pro-duce a more explosive aerial attack.

AARON WHIPPRB/FS/P, 5-11, 175, Sr.

Crucial performer for the Vikings.Whipp is the enforcer on defense asthe unit’s free safety. On offense, he’sa starting running back and will beone of the offense’s leading rushers.And oh yeah, he’s also a returningstarter at punter.

CALEB THERIOTTE/DE, 6-0, 210, Sr.

Returning starter at DE who will playthere again, but may end up makinghis biggest impact this season as thenew starter at tight end. As OC’s pass-ing game strives to improve this yearwith a second-year QB, Theriot’s tar-get at tight end could be critical.

SPENCER GARDNERRT/DE, 6-5, 260, Jr.

Returning starter at right tackle, butis also expected to contribute at de-fensive end this season. The Vikingswill be competing in a physical districtagainst the likes of Notre Dame,Catholic High and Loreauville, soGardner’s size is crucial.

GAIGE ST. CYRDE, 5-11, 240, Jr.

Another one of the key two-waystarters for the Vikings. He’s a newstarter at left tackle, but St. Cyr is backat defensive end already with a rep-utation of making trouble in oppos-ing backfields.

PLAYERS TO WATCH



Strengths

The Wolves return two key elements offensively in quar-terback Jaylon Reed and top inside running back Trey Wil-ridge. Both started as sophomores a year ago and shouldmake huge strides this season. Reed threw for 18 touch-downs and Wilridge rushed for over 1,200 yards and ninescores last fall.

On the defensive side, Rayne will be counting heavily onreturning linemen Richard Breaux and Austin Coleman andlinebacker Nicky Faucheaux. While there may be more ath-letic ability, there won’t be nearly as much experiencearound him.

Question Marks

Perhaps the biggest question is whether or not theWolves’ offensive line will be able to push people aroundlike it did so often a year ago with three new starters.

Two starters are back on the offensive line in front ofthat key duo, but of the three gone, two were 300-poundtackles.

Reed also lost his top target in Trevon Fontenot to gradu-ation, so he may be throwing more to tight end DevonteRobinson this fall. Rayne’s coaches can’t wait to hand theball to hard-running Wilridge, but a second and third rush-ing option in the backfield will have to come with time. Thecandidates are athletic and capable, but are still yet un-proven.

On the defensive side, the Wolves will be counting on asophomore at linebacker in Trent Winbush. Up front, thebookends are seasoned but the interior part of the line iseither young or unproven.

The Bottom Line

After making the playoffs for the past four seasons,Rayne has established a winning tradition under coach CurtWare. What often comes along with that is schedulingwoes, however. Factoring in a far-reaching new district thathas the Wolves grouped with the likes of DeRidder andLeesville, Rayne figures to face many more challenges thisfall. The Wolves could be better, but not win as manygames.

Many schedules have 4-5 games considered toss-ups.That number could end up being as high as 7-8 for theWolves this year.

The offensive line will need to mature quickly, the re-ceiving corps and complementary rushing threats will needto establish themselves early on and a defense with six newstarters must find a way to limit big plays and hold its ownagainst power-running football teams.

SCOUTING REPORT


Rayne High offensive standouts Devonte Robinson (27), Morgan Hayes (67), TreyWilridge (28), Anthony Meadows (58), Ty Adkins (59) and Jaylon Reed (2).

RAYNE WOLVES

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 CHURCH POINT11 St. Louis18 BREAUX BRIDGE25 DeQuincy

October

2 Eunice9 LAGRANGE16 Leesville23 DERIDDER30 Washington-Marion

November

6 CROWLEY

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 9-3.Beat St. Edmund 33-6Beat NORTH VERMILION 26-10Beat ABBEVILLE 32-9Beat Washington-Marion 28-21Lost LAGRANGE 36-20Beat Morgan City 39-14Beat Eunice 20-13Lost CROWLEY 33-21Beat Beau Chene 41-21Beat OPELOUSAS 58-28PlayoffsBeat LEESVILLE 36-33Lost Franklinton 36-14

PAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 9-32013: 8-32012: 9-32011: 7-62010: 3-7


OFFENSEWR Johnny Decliutt (6-1, 170, Soph)TE Devonte Robinson (6-0, 205, Sr)OT Ty Adkins (6-1, 280, Sr)*OG Morgan Hayes (6-0, 200, Sr)*C Anthony Meadows (5-10, 240, Sr)OG Antwuan Espree (5-9, 185, Sr)OT Ty Louviere (6-0, 240, Sr)QB Jaylon Reed (6-1, 190, Jr)*RB Trey Wilridge (5-9, 185, Jr)*RB Drekylon Gibson (5-9, 165,Soph)RB Cameron Gibson (5-6, 145, Sr)

DEFENSEDE Richard Breaux (6-1, 235, Jr)*DE Austin Coleman (6-1, 240, Sr)*DT Antonio Gabriel (6-2, 280,Soph)DT Jaymee Gibson (5-6, 215, Sr)LB Trent Winbush (5-9, 175, Soph)LB Nicky Faucheux (5-6, 175, Sr)*DB Donald Doucet (5-9, 160, Jr)DB Drekylon Gibson (5-9, 165,Soph)DB Darien Harmon (5-9, 175, Soph)DB Devonte Robinson (6-0, 205,Sr)*DB Cameron Gibson (5-6, 145, Sr)*


Head Coach:Curt Ware.

Career rec-ord: 56-50.

From the Archive


The 1992 Rayne Wolves were led by Osborne Butler (46), tailback Jason Lewis (20), quarterback Chad Arceneaux (1) and Keith Handy (72).

TREY WILRIDGERB, 5-9, 185, Jr.

Workhorse running back as a sopho-more and only figures to get better asa junior with a greater knowledge ofthe offense. Expected to be the centerof the Wolves’ Wing-T rushing attackthis fall.

DREKYLON GIBSONRB/DB, 5-9, 165, Soph.

Some sophomores are just happy tobe on the field. Others, like Gibson,are expected to see a lot of minuteson both sides of the ball. Gibson is go-ing to be in the running back rotationon offense and start at defensiveback.

JAYLON REEDQB, 6-1, 190, Jr.

Started a year ago and showed his po-tential, but is expecting to be an evenmore polished leader this fall as botha better decision-maker and im-proved foot speed when he does run.The Wolves may need Reed to play aneven bigger role in the passing gamewith his No. 1 target now gone.

AUSTIN COLEMANDE, 6-1, 240, Sr.

One of two returning starters on thedefensive front. Physical performerexpected to be leader of front linethat will be counted upon heavilywith the possibilities of three sopho-mores starting in the back seven.

NICKY FAUCHEUXLB, 5-6, 175, Sr.

Only returning starter at linebacker -not tall, but strong and very aggres-sive. He’ll need to be a tackling ma-chine for the Wolves in the middlewith a bunch of first-year startersaround him.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


Rayne High defensive standouts Austin Coleman (3), Donald Doucet (15), NickyFaucheaux (23), Richard Breaux (7), Jaymee Gibson (69), Cameron Gibson (20) andDarien Harmon (5).



STRENGTHS

St. Martinville will be gettingback to the basics this seasonunder new coach Vincent De-Rouen, who did a wonderful job ofrebuilding a Northside programduring his time as head coachthere. DeRouen’s system focuseson simple tasks performed perfect-ly, which should fit the Tigersoverall athletic team. The runninggame will be relied upon andwhile the Tigers don’t have muchdepth, if they can stay healthythroughout the season it should bea strength on offense.

In DeRouen’s 4-2-5 system, speedis always going to be the Tigers’biggest weapon on defense. Thetwo defensive tackles in the middle

provide solid size and will be ableto hold up at the point of attack,allowing David and Trevon Charlesto knife in and make plays in thebackfield. The secondary hasspeed, but its two corners are newstarters and will have to gel quicklywith the safeties to ensure oppos-ing teams don’t break open bigplays.

QUESTION MARKS

Depth is a concern in bothtrenches as DeRouen tries to bringthe overall numbers back up aftera couple of years of decliningparticipation. While the starting

five offensive lineman are big, theguys behind them lack size andexperience, so an injury could bedevastating to the Tigers’ offense.

Even though DeRouen’s systememphasizes doing the simplethings right, it’s still a new fit forthe entire team and there could bean adjustment period during theearlier weeks as the players getused to making decisions at gamespeed.

BOTTOM LINE

The Tigers will be better thanlast year’s 1-9 squad thanks tosome returning talent and getting

back to the basics, but still play in adistrict with three tough oppo-nents (Cecilia, Breaux Bridge andWestgate). If DeRouen can get theTigers to .500 in his first season, Ithink it would be deemed a majorsuccess and a sign of future success.

LAGNIAPPE

The Tigers got a brand new,beautiful turf field this offseason.The logo in the middle of the fieldlooks great and the surface playsfast. But according to DeRouen thebest thing about the field is muchmore practical.

“You don’t have to cut it,”DeRouen joked.

— TREY LABAT

SCOUTING REPORT

Jared Davis (1), Tre Alexander (75), Austin Latiolais (62) and Kain Pitre (28)lead the Tigers’ offense into the season.

ST. MARTINVILLE TIGERS

David Charles (32), Stephen Joe (56), Trevious Etienne (19) and TrevonCharles (6) are the stalwarts of the Tigers’ 4-2-5 defense.

2015 SCHEDULESEPTEMBER» 4: JEANERETTE» 11: ASSUMPTION» 17: EUNICE» 25: Opelousas

OCTOBER» 2: Ellender» 8: Breaux Bridge» 16: COMEAUX» 23: Abbeville» 30: WESTGATE

NOVEMBER» 6: CECILIA

2014 IN REVIEW» LOST: Jennings 36-8» BEAT: ASSUMPTION 26-21» LOST: EUNICE 28-12» LOST: NORTHSIDE 32-7» LOST: Kaplan 32-7» LOST: CECILIA 47-23» LOST: Breaux Bridge 14-0» LOST: TEURLINGS 37-6» LOST: St. Thomas More 42-0» LOST: Westgate 18-17

LAST FIVE YEARS» 2014: 1-9» 2013: 3-7» 2012: 6-6» 2011: 5-6» 2010: 2-8

PROJECTEDSTARTING LINEUPOFFENSE» TE: Wiltyree Marshall*» WR: Deontre James*» WR: Dylon Doucet (6-0, 153, Jr.)» WR: Justin Picard (5-9, 175, Sr.)» LT: Tre Alexander (6-3, 300, Jr.)» LG: John Broussard*» C: Wallace Williams» RG: Austin Latiolais» RT: Draylon Narcisse» QB: Jared Davis (5-10, 165, Jr.)» RB: Kain Pitre (5-7, 165, Sr.)

DEFENSE» DE: Reece Frederick (6-5, 210, Sr.)» DE: Stephen Joe* (6-2, 185, Sr.)» DT: Ky-drek Alexander*» DT: Ty Nelson*» MLB: David Charles (5-10, 200,Sr.)» MLB: Trevon Charles (5-10, 210,Jr.)» CB: Trevon Goings* (5-11, 162,Jr.)» CB: Kyran Williams*» FS: Trevious Etienne (6-2, 185,Sr.)» SS: Kaeun Lindon (6-0, 192, Sr.)» SS: Jean Paul Leblanc (6-1, 195,Sr.)

* Denotes new starter

HEAD COACH:Vincent DeRouen

RECORD:88-42 overall; Firstyear at SMSH.

FROM THE ARCHIVE


Longtime St. Martinville defensive coordinator John Sopko with Tigers standouts from the 1991 squad.

Jared DavisQB, 5-10, 165, Jr.

Davis is smart and athletic, andDeRouen said he has showed whatit takes to lead the Tigers during

offseason workouts. If he can makesome plays with his legs, and his arm

when the offense opens up, theTigers will have an effective offense.

Kain PitreRB, 5-7, 165, Sr.

Pitre may lack the prototypical size,but he hits the hole hard and fightsfor extra yardage. Running behind abig offensive line, especially the leftside, Pitre will have plenty of oppor-

tunities to prove himself.

Tre AlexanderLT, 6-3, 300, Jr.

Speaking of the left side of theoffensive line, Alexander is a mam-moth of a human and will rack up

several pancakes this season. A littleraw with his technique, but his size

and athleticism alone help makehim an effective road grader.

David CharlesMLB, 6-0, 200, Sr.

Charles blends toughness and speedinto one package capable of deliver-ing devastating hits to opposing ballcarriers and any receiver who darescome over the middle. He’ll have toroam sideline-to-sideline and dis-

engage from any offensive linemanwho make it to the second level

quickly to be effective in the Tigerstwo-linebacker system.

Stephen JoeDE, 6-2, 185, Sr.

Joe has good height and helps hisrelative lack of size with effort andgood technique on the outside ofthe Tigers defensive line. Coupledwith Reece Frederick on the other

end, the Tigers have a pair of effec-tive defensive ends.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

The Daily Advertiser | theadvertiser.com Monday, August 24, 2015 | Page 5C


It’s never easy to replace anhistorically great high schoolfootball player once he gradu-ates.

But as productive as quarter-back Drew Brown has beenover the past two seasons, com-ing up with another playmakingquarterback ironically doesn’ttop the list of concerns for St.Edmund coach Thomas Davidas he prepares his Blue Jays forthe 2015 season.

The plan is that 2014 wide re-ceiver Drake Brunet will takeover for Brown as the offense’squarterback.

“(Brunet) has been workingall along as our backup at quar-terback, taking the snaps andlearning the offensive from thatposition,” David said. “Now heis going to be that guy for us,who will be using those sametype of skills at a new position.”

Brunet doesn’t have the shif-ty running ability that Brownpossessed, according to David,but “runs well and has a goodarm.”

In fact, the Blue Jays aren’teven overly concerned aboutBrunet’s targets either now thathe’s not one of them. CullenBrown will continue to be aprime target, while others fig-ure to be John Hull, Cole Berge-ron and Will Chachere.

Getting back to that list ofconcerns, finding offensivelinemen to protect Brunet is ac-tually David’s biggest priority.That line will also be crucial inestablishing a running game,

which will be important to takepressure of Brunet and thepassing attack.

Defense remains a big ques-tion mark as well.

Austin Sittig returns in themiddle of the defense at line-backer, but defense was cer-tainly an issue last year. In theBlue Jays’ four losses last sea-son, the defense yielded 33, 42,

46 and 55 points.Another big issue for the

Blue Jays could be their sched-ule, particularly the homeschedule.

Four of the five home gamesfor St. Edmund are a solid 3Aclub in Northwest, a strong 2Ateam in Opelousas Catholic, an

improved 4A team in BeauChene and a three-time 1A teamin Basile in the regular-seasonfinale.

Indeed, it will be a challengefor St. Edmund, which won the5-1A crown last season and fin-ished runner-up two seasonsago.

To be in contention again thisseason, the Blue Jays will haveto earn their home wins, whilehoping the opposition on theroad doesn’t make marked im-provements over a year ago.Catholic High of Pointe Coupeeis only one that had a winningseason a year ago at 5-4.

ST. EDMUND BLUE JAYS

Champion Blue Jays seeking solutionsKEVIN [email protected]


The St. Edmund Blue Jays await the arrival of another traditional Class 1A power in Basile as they try to winanother district championship.

ST. EDMUND BLUE JAYS

2015 SCHEDULESeptember4 NORTHWEST11 Iota18 OPELOUSAS CATHOLIC25 Port BarreOctober2 BEAU CHENE9 False River16 Catholic-PC23 Westminster30 NORTH CENTRALNovember6 BASILE

2014 IN REVIEWOverall Record: 7-4.Regular SeasonLost RAYNE 33-6Beat IOTA 42-6Lost BASILE 42-20Lost Opelousas Catholic 46-32Beat Westminster 44-0Beat Catholic-PC 30-14Beat NORTH CENTRAL 56-0Beat FALSE RIVER 58-0Beat Sacred Heart-VP 28-12PlayoffsBeat COUNTRY DAY 44-31Lost St. Mary’s 55-34

One of the biggest local impacts of the reclassifi-cation process last spring was the new redistrictingplan for Class 4A football.

District 5-4A has been one of the top 4A footballdistricts in the state for a long time. This season,however, 5-4A takes on a whole new look. Forstarters, only five teams make up the new leagueand one of those is a rebuilding project moving upfrom Class 3A.

The combined record of the five teams that makeup the new 5-4A a year ago was 16-36.

As bad as that may sound, however, don’t expectthat to be duplicate or even be approached thisseason. While 5-4A may no longer appear to be apowerhouse league, that doesn’t mean it won’t beinteresting to follow.

The logical preseason favorite is the BreauxBridge Tigers. For starters, coach Paul Broussard’steam is the only one with a winning record a yearago. Breaux Bridge hammered West Ouachita 41-14in the first round of the playoffs, only to run intoeventual state champion Neville 56-30 in the region-al round.

As usual, Breaux Bridge will lean on its defense,led by senior tackle Daryon Wiltz, senior linebackerKorey Louis and senior cornerback Corinthian Jo-seph.

The other requirement for success in most sea-sons for the Tigers is the ability to run the ball.Ruben Hypolite saw some action last year and willneed to emerge as a powerful threat for BBHS thisfall.

Also in Breaux Bridge’s corner is its recent successover arch-rival Cecilia. The Bulldogs put up theirbiggest fight in last year’s 20-18 loss since their last

win over Breaux Bridge – 38-21 back in 2010. Inbetween those two, Breaux Bridge outscored Cecilia102-32 in the three wins from 2011-13.

It does, however, appear to be coach Terry Mar-tin’s Bulldogs to reap some rewards for their steadyclimb. Cecilia returns the majority of its starters onoffense and on defense from a year ago. Sure the

Bulldogs haven’t enjoyed a winning season sincegoing 7-5 in 2009, but the nailbiting losses havebeen too many to number during that drought.

The Bulldogs also have perhaps the biggest singleoffensive weapon in the area this fall in runningback Raymond Calais. Calais is narrowing in onJamaican Dartez’s school rushing record. Add thefact that a veteran quarterback also returns inLandon Roberts and it’s scary the points the Bull-dogs could post this fall.

While the temptation for many is to label 5-4Awill be a two-horse race in 2015, completely lookingpast the likes of Westgate and St. Martinville couldvery well be a mistake.

It’s a new start for both programs. For Westgate,the coaching staff remains intact, but that staffdecided to sacrifice last season by parting ways withnumerous upperclassmen with the future in mind.

While St. Martinville hasn’t had a winning seasonsince 2006, Westgate was 5-5 in 2013, 6-4 in 2011and an 8-5 state semifinalist in 2010. The Tigers alsoreturn eight starters on offense and four key per-formers on defense in what Westgate hopes will bea Cinderella season with its new stadium coming toreality as well this fall.

Westgate should be more explosive on offenseand as talented as ever on defense.

St. Martinville, meanwhile, begins the VincentDeRouen era this season. DeRouen has revived aformer winning program before at his alma materNorthside High. In four seasons, he took the Vikingsfrom 2-8 to the state finals.

That process begins in St. Martinville this fall.

– KEVIN FOOTE

BREAUX BRIDGE TOP PICK IN 5-4A RACEDISTRICT 5-4APOLL

COACHES POLL

Team (1st place votes) PtsBreaux Bridge (3) 20Cecilia (2) 19Westgate 14St. Martinville 13Abbeville 9

ADVERTISER POLL

Team (1st place votes) PtsBreaux Bridge (2) 21Westgate (1) 20Cecilia (2) 18St. Martinville 11Abbeville 5

Lafayette KiwanisJamboree

(Thursday at Clark Field)6 p.m. – Comeaux vs. LaGrangeCarencro vs. St. Martinville

(Thursday at Cajun Field)6 p.m. – Lafayette Christian vs.Opelousas CatholicTeurlings Catholic vs. South La-fourcheNotre Dame vs. St. Thomas More

(Friday at STM’s Cougar Stadi-um)6 p.m. – Westminster vs. Vermil-ion CatholicAscension Episcopal vs. Hanson Catholic Catholic vs. Catholic-NI

(Friday at Cajun Field)6 p.m. – Acadiana vs. CeciliaNorthside vs. JenningsBreaux Bridge vs. Lafayette High

Acadia Parish Jamboree(Thursday at Crowley’s Gardi-ner Memorial Stadium)

6:30 p.m. – Church Point vs. Iota8 p.m. – Crowley vs. Rayne

Iberia Parish Jamboree(Friday at Lloyd G. Porter Stadi-um)5:30 p.m. – Delcambre vs. Jeane-rette6:45 p.m. – Highland Baptist vs.Loreauville8 p.m. – New Iberia vs. Westgate

Vermilion Parish Jamboree(Friday at Abbeville’s Wildcat

Stadium)5:30 p.m. – Gueydan vs. AbbevilleJV7 p.m. – Erath vs. Kaplan8:30 p.m. – Abbeville vs. NorthVermilion

Joe Nagata Jamboree(Friday at Eunice High)6:30 p.m. – St. Edmund vs. NotreDame JV8 p.m. – Eunice vs. Sacred Heart-VP

St. Landry Parish Jamboree(Friday at Donald Gardner Sta-dium in Opelousas)6 p.m. – North Central vs. PortBarre7:15 p.m. – Beau Chene vs. Eunice8:45 p.m. – Northwest vs. Opelou-sas

Evangeline ParishJamboree(Friday at Basile High)6 p.m. – Ville Platte vs. Pine Prairie7:30 p.m. – Basile vs. Mamou

Area Football Jamboree Schedule


Breaux Bridge running back Ruben Hypolite isexpected to play a bigger role in the Tigers’rushing attack this season.

The Louisiana Ragin’Cajuns soccer teampicked up its first win ofthe season, blanking visit-ing Nicholls State 2-0 atthe Ragin’ Cajuns SoccerComplex on Sunday after-noon.

The Cajuns (1-1-0) goton the scoreboard in the14th minute when juniorforward Yazmin Montoya

picked up the first of hertwo assists, feeding a passfrom the left side to juniormidfielder KimberlyGrasso from about 10yards in front of the keep-er. The goal was the firstfor Grasso on the season.

“I was going to go forthe attack but then I de-cided to see if the ballwould ricochet out,” Gras-so said. “I was hesitantwhen the ball was in the

air because it was on myright foot and I am left-handed. I just went in,kept my head down andfinished the play. It wasreally exciting.”

The Louisiana defensedid not yield a shot at-tempt in the first half.

In the 82nd minuteMontoya kicked it out tojunior forward AnnikaSchmidt who completedthe scoring play chipping

the ball over the head ofNicholls State goalkeeperAmanda Boylson fromnearly 30 yards away.

The two assists forMontoya moved her into athird-place tie on the Ca-juns’ all-time list withnine. She stands one assistaway from tying SaraVienberg for second placein program history. Mon-toya bumped her careerpoint total to 49, one shy of

matching Kelli Jestes forsecond place on the Ragin’Cajuns all-time list.

Louisiana freshmangoalkeeper CosetteMorche (1-1-0) registeredthe first win and firstshutout of her collegiatecareer. She logged all 90minutes, saving sevenshots, a season high.

“The defense playedgreat again and I was real-ly proud of them and

[freshman goalkeeper]Cosette Morche as well,”Ragin’ Cajuns head coachScot Wieland said. “Weput the ball in the net andwe got the result we want-ed. I am happy for thegirls because they are be-ing rewarded for the hardwork they are putting in.”

The Cajuns will begin athree-game road trip Aug.28 at Ole Miss for a 7 p.m.first kick.

Ragin’ Cajuns women’s soccer blanks Nicholls 2-0STAFF REPORT

D | Friday, July 31, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser

WILLIAM BELLAMYQB

Bellamy will be the leader of the Cou-gars offense and after a strong juniorcampaign he will be expected to pro-duce the same type of success in hissenior season.

BAILEY RABORNK/P

While most teams have questionmarks at their specialists positions,the Cougars have one of the best inthe nation in Raborn. The strong-legged senior has committed to UCLAand gives the Cougars a big advan-tage in the special teams department.

QUENTIN OLIVIERDB

Olivier was previously expected tomiss most of the season due to injury,but now could be back as early asWeek 1. Olivier has experience play-ing safety for the Cougars and willhelp shore up the back end of theCougars secondary when he is readyto go.

TREVOR BEGUERB/WR

Begue will be the focal point of theCougars offense this season, whetherit be split out wide or in the backfield.Begue blends 4.4 speed with surpris-ing power for his size and is a favoritetarget of Bellamy in the passinggame.

JAMES BRAUNSOLB

While the Cougars lack some startingexperience in their defense, Brauns isthe exception. A member of lastyear’s starting ‘backer corps, Braunswill provide much-needed startingexperience for the Cougars and usehis speed to disrupt opposing of-fenses at the line of scrimmage.

PLAYERS TO WATCH


Head coach:Jim HightowerCareer Record:376-116-1

2015 SCHEDULE

September4 SULPHUR10 Eldorado, Arkansas18 PLAQUEMINE25 Catholic B.R.

October

2 HAHNVILLE9 BEAU CHENE16 Carencro23 Teurlings30 OPELOUSAS

November

6 Northside

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 9-2.Beat SULPHUR 43-26Beat Glade Water 42-21Beat CARENCRO 56-21Beat EVANGEL CHRISTIAN 56-19Beat Cecilia 41-22Beat Westgate 63-13Lost TEURLINGS 56-46Beat Northside 55-14Beat ST. MARTINVILLE 42-0Beat BREAUX BRIDGE 25-7PlayoffsLost JESUIT 20-13

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPOFFENSEQB William Bellamy (6-0, 183,SR)RB Evan Trahan (5-9, 187, SR)*WR Trevor Begue (5-11, 181, SR)WR Griffin Hebert (6-3, 191, JR)WR Jamison Thibodeaux (6-0,175, SR)*TE Nick Morton (6-3, 227, SR)OT Payton Logan (6-2, 293, SR)OG Ethan Wood (6-0, 235, SR)C Landon Roy (5-9, 220, SR)*OG Steven Gardner (5-11, 251,SR)*OT Nathaniel Gentry (6-2, 242,SR)DEFENSEFS Connor Latiolais (6-0, 180,JR)*CB Payton Broussard (5-11, 185,SR)*CB Josh Hebert (5-10, 165, SR)*OLB James Brauns (6-0, 215,SR)OLB Hunter Markerson (6-1,195, SR)*ILB Will Waguespack (6-0, 230,SR)*ILB Ethan Broussard (5-10, 215,SR)*DE Aaron Monrose (6-1, 210,SR)DE Christian Leonard (6-1, 220,SR)*DT Logan Klusman (6-2, 265,SR)*DT Hunter Clay (6-0, 270, JR)*


SPECIAL TEAMSPK Bailey Raborn (6-0, 205, SR)P Bailey Raborn (6-0, 205, SR)

ST. THOMAS MORE COUGARS

StrengthsWhile some schools struggle

to find one competent quarter-back, the Cougars have two ex-cellent signal callers. Both WillBellamy and Matt Gardner willsee significant playing time thisseason, and both have theirunique strengths. Bellamy runsthe offense well and will keep theCougars humming alongsmoothly, but Gardner has a livearm and can drive the ball downfield; even showing nice touch onhis deep balls at times. TrevorBegue will touch the ball 15-25

times per game, and tight endNick Morton and receiver GriffinHebert provide other options inthe passing game.

On defense, the Cougars lost alot of experience, but return play-ers who saw playing time last sea-son. Defensive end Aaron Mon-rose will anchor the defensiveline, with linebacker JamesBrauns and safety Quentin Olivi-er provide plenty of athleticismbehind him.

Question MarksOlivier is still recovering from

an injury, and will have to gethimself back into peak conditionbefore the season starts to be thetype of player the coaching staffthinks he can be. Coaches ex-pressed some concern aboutdepth in the front seven, butwere confident younger playerscould step up and fill the voidwhen called upon. The Cougars’offense is in good hands withGardner and Bellamy, but the de-fense will have to prove itself inthe early portion of the seasonagainst some tough competitionbefore it solidifies itself as a pre-

mier unit.Bottom LineThe Cougars should be in re-

building year after losing somuch talent from last year’steam, but through internal im-provement and key players re-turning at important spots theywill end up competing for yet an-other district title under coachJim Hightower. Look for the de-fense to establish an identity inthe first four weeks of the season,and build upon that as the districtschedule approaches.

SCOUTING REPORT

From the Archives


St. Thomas More quarterback Jamie Howard (15) and his stable of receivers helped to bring the Cougars’ program to its first state semifinal trip in 1991.

COURTESY OF JAY FAUGOT PHOTOGRAPHY

St. Thomas More defensive leaders include Ethan Broussard (55), James Brauns (18), Peyton Broussard (34), Logan Klusman (95), Aaron Monrose (59) andWilliam Waguespack (46).

The Sunday Advertiser | theadvertiser.com Sunday, August 2, 2015 | Page 5D


StrengthsAs long as Cole Kelley stays

healthy the Rebels offense willfunction at a high level. Only acouple of teams get the luxury ofhaving a future SEC signal-callerat the helm of their offense, andwith the Rebels’ high-octane,spread offense Kelley is perfectfit. While they might not be as ex-plosive next season, no cleardeep threat has emerged, coachSonny Charpentier is confident inhis team’s ability to spread theball all over the field and movethe ball effectively. Jansen Lor-mand takes over as the top run-

ning back for the Rebels andgives them a physical presence inthe backfield.

The front seven on defenseshould be able to hold up, as theRebels have some experience re-turning along the line and intheir linebacker corps. Lineback-er Alec Robertson is the leader ofthat front seven, which did losestar defensive end Asa Miller, butCharpentier said he was confi-dent in the returning players’abilities.

Question MarksWhile the Rebels offense is in

good hands, it’s the secondary

that has Charpentier a little con-cerned. After losing some keymembers of the unit from lastyear’s squad, Charpentier lost an-other player he was counting onthe contribute this season topoor grades. While the Rebelsspent the summer trying outplayers at different positions totry and find which players fit bestat different positions, they maygo through some growing painsin the early portion of the seasonbefore figuring it out completely.

Bottom LineIf the Rebels secondary can

perform at a high level, this will

be a tough team to beat. As St.Thomas More learned last sea-son, no lead is safe with Kelley atthe helm, so as long as the de-fense can keep teams withinstriking distance while they gettheir feet under them the Rebelswill be a threat for a deep playoffrun.

LAST FIVE YEARS» 2014: 9-2.» 2013: 7-4.» 2012: 11-2.» 2011: 9-4.» 2010: 10-4.

SCOUTING REPORT

The front seven of the Teurlings defense should be able to hold up.

TEURLINGS CATHOLIC REBELS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 CALVARY BAPTIST12 Archbishop Shaw18 Notre Dame24 Breaux Bridge

October

2 CATHOLIC B.R.9 NORTHSIDE16 Beau Chene23 ST. THOMAS MORE30 Carencro

November

5 OPELOUSAS

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 9-2.Regular SeasonLost UNIVERSITY LAB 36-35Beat New Iberia 36-0Beat NOTRE DAME 17-14Beat CECILIA 55-25Beat Breaux Bridge 31-15Beat St. Thomas More 56-46Beat St. Martinville 37-6Beat WESTGATE 42-6Beat NORTHSIDE 65-35PlayoffsBeat HOLY CROSS 45-21Lost Rummel 28-20

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPOFFENSETE Paul Hammes (6-2, 210, Sr) *WR Jacob Richard (6-2, 195, Sr) *WR Hayden Cantrelle, (5-9, 170,Jr) *LT Jacob Mathews (6-4, 270, Sr)LG Zeb Burley (6-1, 300, Sr) *C Cole Quebedeaux (5-11, 245,Sr) *RG Ashton Whaley (6-1, 270, Sr)RT Justin Mathews (6-2, 290,Soph) *FB Noah Harris (5-9, 180, Sr)RB Jansen Lormand (5-10, 175,Sr) *QB Cole Kelley (6-7, 230, Sr)DEFENSEDE Jordy Provost (6-0, 210, Sr) *DE Brennan Pratt (6-2, 200, Sr) *DT Caden Malbrough (5-9, 250,Sr)DT Greg Grappe (6-1, 245, Sr)LB Alec Robertson (6-1, 210, Sr)LB Justin Fontenot (6-2, 215, Sr)*LB Kaede Collette (6-0, 190, Sr) *CB Justin Murray (6-0, 185, Jr)CB Luke Mahne (5-9, 175, Sr) *FS Landon Taylor (5-10, 170, Sr) *SS Luke Gossen (5-11, 185, Sr)


PREVIEW SCHEDULE» Monday: Cecilia Bulldogs» Tuesday: Loreauville Tigers» Wednesday: Kaplan Pirates» Thursday: Carencro Bears» Friday: Crowley Gents» Saturday: Notre Dame Pio-neers» Sunday: Acadiana Wreckin’Rams

Head coach:Sonny CharpentierCareer Record:179-54

Teurlings: From the Archive


The 1986 Teurlings Catholic Rebels of head coach Bruce Cox enjoyed an 8-2 district championship regular season, led by such standouts as JayDomengeaux (9), George Murphy (5) and Carl Rachal (23).

COLE KELLEYQB, 6-7, 230, Sr

This one should be obvious. With thedeparture of Shea Patterson, Kelley isthe best quarterback in the state.Watch for Kelley to improve on hisshort-to-intermediate passing accua-racy this season and if he does a lot ofschools around the country are goingto regret not recruiting him harder.

HAYDEN CANTRELLEWR, 5-10, 170, Jr

Cantrelle spent most of last season onthe bench behind Kelley, but Char-pentier said he wants to get him onthe field more this season due to hisexplosive athleticism. Cantrelle madea couple of touchdown grabs at theQuik Slants 7-on-7 tournament andcould develop into a star in the slot.

ALEC ROBERTSONLB, 6-1, 210, Sr

Robertson is the quarterback of theRebels defense and is a rock in themiddle. He has the speed to drop intocoverage and flash out to the flat torun down a back on a flare route.

ASHTON WHALEYOL, 6-1, 265, Sr

Whaley is a returning starter on whatshould be an elite offensive line.Whaley played guard last season andin offense like Teurlings where interi-or pressure can disrupt plays he’ll bean important cog again this season.

JUSTIN MURRAYCB, 5-11, 170, Jr

Murray, who coaches thoughtwouldn’t be on the field this seasondue to academic trouble, is a shut-down corner with elite ability. Nowthat he’s been cleared after somehard work during the summer, Mur-ray goes a long way in shoring up theRebels pass defense.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

The Daily Advertiser | theadvertiser.com Tuesday, August 25, 2015 | Page 5C


This district was tough before Carencro droppeddown to 4A this season to throw another name inthe hat.

Yep, the team that won the district with thestate-champion Acadiana Wreckin’ Rams in it nowplays in the same district as St. Thomas More andTeurlings.

Oh, and don’t forget Northside, who has one ofthe top players in the country in defensive tackleTyler Shelvin, or Beau Chene, who has a new quar-terback and a new offense this season.

Carencro, St. Thomas More and Teurlings willfinish the year all in the top three in some order, butfiguring out where is the difficult part.

The Bears won’t be quite as powerful as lastseason thanks to the loss of quarterback Tyler Gas-pard, who was steady as rock in the pocket forCarencro last season.

But they do still have Tyreik Campbell to handthe ball off to in the backfield.

Teurlings is huge, the Rebels offensive line ismassive and they will give senior quarterback ColeKelley plenty of time to show off that massive armon throws down the field. The Rebels don’t havethat true downfield threat they possessed lastseason, though, and the defense will be a questionmark even with cornerback Justin Murray qualifyingacademically.

St. Thomas More’s coaching staff thinks this willbe a true breakout year for the Cougars behind twoexperienced talented quarterbacks and a supremeathlete and recent McNeese state commit TrevorBegue running the offense. But the Cougars havebeen rocked with injuries during summer workoutsand depth will be a slight concern, even for JimHightower’s usually deep squads.

So what do we make of it all?

Carencro pulled the lucky card and got bothTeurlings and St. Thomas More at home this season,which should be a big plus for the Bears.

The Rebels play St. Thomas More at home, but aswe learned last season home field advantagedoesn’t really mean much when those two heatedrivals meet.

Thanks to their size upfront and new coach RochCharpentier joining the staff, I have Teurlings pull-ing off a tightly contested district title with St.Thomas More and Carencro in an absolute dogfight for the second spot. I give the Cougars theslight edge because of the uncertainty at the quar-terback spot for the Bears, though.

DISTRICT 4-4A SHAPING UP TO BE A TIGHT RACEDistrict 4-4A poll

COACHES POLL

Team (1st place votes) PtsTeurlings Catholic (3) 29St. Thomas More (3) 28Carencro 24Northside 18Beau Chene 16Pine Prairie 14

ADVERTISER POLL

Team (1st place votes) PtsSt. Thomas More (3) 28Teurlings Catholic (2) 27Carencro 19Northside 16Beau Chene 10Opelousas 5


Teurlings quarterback Cole Kelley passes the ball during a game against Northside in the 7-on-7Showcase this summer.


1. Acadiana Wreckin’ Rams

Still have plenty of questions to answer, but itjust kind of makes sense to put a two-time de-fending state champion at No. 1 to start the sea-son. Establishing a halfback rotation and find-ing a kicking game are on early-season check-list.

2. Teurlings Catholic Rebels

The Rebels’ only two losses last year wereclose bookend setbacks to U-High and Rummel.Until somebody beats the Rebels around theseparts, the program has earned a No. 2 preseasonranking.

3. Catholic-NI Panthers

I’ve heard the talk that the Panthers won’t beas explosive as last season. While that may betrue, there’s no requirement that a team has towin 50-10 to get credit. It’s Brent Indest, folks. Ifindeed offensive production is Catholic’s big-gest weakness, that’s a bad sign for the opposi-tion.

4. St. Thomas More Cougars

The temptation for many is to rememberonly the crazy loss to Teurlings and the upsetplayoff loss to Jesuit. But folks, they won everyother game they played last season. There’splenty enough back to start STM out in the topfive and see what happens.

5. Notre Dame Pioneers

The Pios’ three losses last year were to Teur-lings, Catholic-NI and U-High. No other oppo-nent played a single-digit game against NotreDame. The Pios certainly have some questionsto answers, but betting on coach Lewis Cook to

discover solutions is normally a smart move.

6. Kaplan Pirates

The Pirates have developed quite a winningtrend under coach Stephen Lotief. The Pirateshave fewer questions on offense than they did ayear ago, and playing tough defense has becomea habit again at Kaplan.

7. Crowley Gents

This might be the first offense-heavy team inthis poll. Simply put, the Gents will be fun towatch this season. There are no cupcakes in thisnew district, though, so maintaining this spotwill require an upgrade defensively.

8. Church Point Bears

Coach John Craig Arceneaux has crossed theline. His Bears have now earned the right to re-ceive the benefit of the doubt. So while theyhave some big shoes to fill, consistency is be-coming part of Church Point’s credentials.

9. Vermilion Catholic Eagles

The talk has been heard loud and clear – therest of 7-1A has closed the gap on the Eagles.Perhaps the season will play out that way, butthe Eagles have been so dominant that they de-serve the right to prove people wrong.

10. Breaux Bridge Tigers

The Tigers shift over to a new district, but itshould be the same old formula – play good de-fense and hope to put together enough offensivepunch to knock off the top teams on their sched-ule. Few programs have been more consistentover the last three decades.

Kevin Foote’s Preseason Top 101. Acadiana

To be the best, you have tobeat the best. Until someone un-seats the Rams they will befirmly planted atop my rank-ings.

2. Teurlings CatholicCole Kelley is a stud and no

lead is safe with him at the helmof the Rebels offense. Quarter-back is king in football and I’lltake the best one in the state.

3. CrowleyThis will be the year the

Gents truly break through. Ex-plosive offense combined with aball-hawking secondary willspell trouble for opponents.

4. Catholic of New IbieriaWhen was the last time a

Brent Indest coached offensewas was bad? Despite the losseson offense the Panthers will fig-ure it out and their defense willbe tough to beat this season.

5. St. Thomas MoreThe William Bellamy to Tre-

vor Begue connection will be aprolific one and the Cougars of-fense will fly while the defensefinds its footing.

6. CeciliaRaymond Calais is a stud and

the bulldogs have a steady quar-terback at the helm. The de-fense is led by Keldrick Zenoand the Bulldogs are the top dog

in 5-4A.

7. KaplanDespite the loss of star de-

fensive end Jalen Bates, the Pi-rates should be strong onceagain this year behind the sen-ior leadership of Jade Herpinand the explosive Julius John-son at running back. The de-fense returns six starters andshould be stout once again.

8. Notre DameThe Pios lost quarterback

Brad Stoma, but return plentyof other offensive pieces andshould be explosive on that sideof the ball. The defense shouldbe solid once again and LewisCook is one of those coaches younever bet against.

9. Church PointJ.C. Arceneaux always has

his players ready to go and de-spite being a little thin, theBears have a tremendous trio oftalent in quarterback TroyMatte and defensive backsFrederick Williams and TreyBabineaux who will double up inthe backfield on offense.

10. Ascension EpiscopalThis is the year for Blue Ga-

tors, who have an experiencedstarting quarterback in Jake Ar-ceneaux, a beast in Ja’Ceiry Lin-zer and an experienced seniorclass to lean upon when thingsget tight.

Trey Labat’s Top 10

In the same opening quarteron Sunday at Pittsburgh, thePittsburgh Steelers took a blowwith the loss of all-pro centerMaurkice Pouncey, who suf-fered a fractured ankle.

These cases, and a fewmore, present the worst waythat the NFL’s preseason fore-shadows what’s ahead on thegrueling road to the SuperBowl.

It’s a war of attrition. Andit’s starting early.

No doubt, the injuries — notto mention the full regular-season prices that fans pay tosee the exhibitions — under-score the sensibility of reduc-ing the preseason to twogames.

Injuries are inevitable in aphysical sport, but playersmight as well go out in gamesthat count.

Yes, if there were just twoexhibition games, injurieswould still exist.

The Carolina Panthers lostdefensive end Frank Alexan-der with a torn Achilles suf-fered against Miami on Fridaynight, but coach Ron Riveraknows that a major setbackcould just as well occur inpractice.

The Panthers lost their big-

gest receiving threat, KelvinBenjamin, to a torn ACL. Ithappened on the practice fieldduring in a drill earlier in theweek — and without any con-tact.

Even so, as Week 3 of exhi-bitions looms — the week thatstarters typically play threequarters of the game in theirmost extensive exhibitionwork —you wonder whether

coaches need to be a bit moreprotective of their biggeststars.

We see star players routine-ly held out of practices as aprecaution. Why not the exhibi-tions?

What a pickle: The value ofgetting game-speed reps todevelop rhythm and timing vs.the risk of losing the servicesof a key player for the long

haul.Yes, it’s football. Injuries

happen. It’s fair to wonder whyWashington coach Jay Grudenleft Robert Griffin III in thegame in the second quarter onThursday night behind a shakyline, but it’s not like it was thefourth quarter.

Two summers ago, MarkSanchez suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the

fourth quarter of an exhibitionwhile playing behind an O-linefull of backups for the Jets.

Talk about damned if youdo, damned if you don’t.

The Philadelphia Eagles gota scare on Saturday night whennew quarterback Sam Brad-ford, whose past two seasonsended with torn ACLs, wasblasted in his preseason debutby Baltimore Ravens lineback-er Terrell Suggs.

Although some Philadelphiaplayers labeled it a cheap shot,the hit was apparently legal —and a warning of dangers thatlay ahead.

Sure, Chip Kelly played itcautious by not using Bradfordin the preseason opener. Nodoubt, the new quarterbackneeds reps. And who wants toplay or coach scared? Again,injuries can always happen.

But should Bradford havebeen exposed on some read-option type of play?

Thankfully, he survived tosee another week, anotherexhibition game.

Yet that’s the type of inher-ent risk that comes with thesegames — and one that coachesmust process along with theother options on their play-calling card.

But the best option remainsout of the hands of even thebest coaches.

It’s the idea of cutting backto two games — then adjustingto the injuries from there.

InjuriesContinued from Page 1C

USA TODAY SPORTS

Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson will be out for the season after he was injured in a preseason game Sunday.



Strengths:The Crusaders will be better

on offense this season enteringyear two in the system installedby coach Vinnie Bullara and hiscoaching staff.

Ken Jones is tough as nails atrunning back and will use his sizeand speed to pound defenses foryards and open up room forsophomore Kaleb Prudhomme inthe passing game.

The offensive line has someexperience and size, especially onthe right side, and should helpopen some running lanes for

Jones. Ross O’Connor is experi-enced on the outside and willgive Prudhomme an optionwhen the Crusaders go to the air.

The defense is anchored byJones and Zach Thomas at themiddle linebacker positions.Both are athletic enough to stopthe run sideline-to-sideline anddrop into coverage on passingdowns.

Big Antoine White in the mid-dle of the defense line will clogthings up for opposing offensesand allow Jones and Thomas toknife into the backfield andmake plays if he can occupy two

blockers. O’Connor picked off two

passes last year and will be thelast line of defense at free safetyagain for the Crusaders.

Question Marks:Obviously, depth is a concern

for the Crusaders. With only 32players on the roster any injuriesto main players would be devas-tating to Bullara’s squad.

The defensive secondary isyoung with two new starters atcornerback and teams with solidpassing attacks might be able toexpose the Crusaders on the out-

side.The offense is led by a sopho-

more in Prudhomme and whileBullara is confident in his quarter-back the youth at such a crucialposition would make any coachat least a little nervous.

Bottom Line:The new district is weak after

it was reconfigured by the LHSAAand with a good summer in theweight room and four morecoaches on staff to give individ-ual instruction the Crusaders willshow improvement from last sea-son’s one-win total.

SCOUTING REPORT


Westminster is ready for the season behind the talent of Ken Jones (31), Noah Launey (2), Kaleb Prudhomme (9), Louis Champagne (72), Antoine White(55) and Brandon Vidrine (48).

WESTMINSTER CRUSADERS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 Covenant Christian11 MERRYVILLE18 DUNHAM25 Ascension Christian

October

2 MORGAN CITY9 Catholic-P.C.15 Basile23 ST. EDMUND30 False River

November

6 NORTH CENTRAL

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 1-10Lost Ville Platte 38-9Lost PORT BARRE 36-0Lost KAPLAN 32-6Lost White Castle 30-13Lost ST. EDMUND 44-0Lost Delcambre 22-7Lost CATHOLIC – N.I. 61-0Lost LOREAUVILLE 54-13Beat Jeanerette 34-26Lost Opelousas Catholic 49-7

Playoffs

Lost Opelousas Catholic 35-0

LAST FIVE YEARS

2014: 1-102013: 3-82012: 10-32011: 10-32010: 11-1


OFFENSETE: Kannon Deville (5-10, 175, Sr)*WR: Ian Briley (5-10, 170, Sr)*WR: Ross O’Connor (5-10, 165, Sr.)LT: Mason Hughes (6-0, 220, Sr)LG: Wesley Tomlinson (5-10, 185,Sr)C: Grayson Stepanek (6-0, 185,Soph)*RG: Antoine White (5-10, 275, Jr)RT: Louis Champagne (6-2, 240, Jr)QB: Kaleb Prudhomme (5-10, 150,Soph)RB: Ken Jones (6-1, 215, Jr)RB: Noah Launey (5-9, 165, Sr)FB: Brandon Vidrine (5-9, 185, Jr)

DEFENSEDE: Abram Bender (6-1, 215,Soph)*DE: Louis Champagne (6-2, 240,Jr)*DT: Antoine White (5-10, 275, Jr)DT: Michael Sibille (5-9, 185, Sr.)*OLB: Noah Launey (5-9, 165, Sr)OLB: Cole Fournet (5-7, 135,Soph)*MLB: Ken Jones (6-1, 215, Sr)MLB: Zach Thomas (5-11, 205, Jr.)MLB: Landon Trosclair (5-10, 150,Fr)CB: Gene Kraemer (5-10, 165, Jr.)*CB: Kannon Deville (5-10, 175, Sr.*FS: Ross O’Connor (5-10, 165, Sr)


Head Coach:Vinnie Bullara

Record: 1-10

From the Archive


Westminster Christian was in the middle of a long stretch of consistency in 2008, mostly due to its work in the trenches. Those starters that seasonincluded: Eric Scott (57), Jacob Kehrer (63), Brandon Porche (55), Addison King (76) and Lucas Breaux (53).

KEN JONESRB/LB, 6-1, 215, Jr.

Jones is the heart and soul of the Cru-saders despite being only a junior.Coach Bullara said if he had 11 KenJones’ on each side of the ball hecould compete for a state champion-ship. High praise from a tough coach.

KALEB PRUDHOMMEQB, 5-10, 150, Soph.

Prudhomme is smart and tough andwill be expected to lead the Crusadersoffense this season. Despite beingonly a sophomore he’s picked up theoffense well thanks to his work ethicand Bullara said the game has sloweddown for him in his second season.

ZACH THOMASLB/TE/RB, 5-11, 205, Jr.

Thomas is probably pound-for-poundthe strongest player on the Crusaderssquad and lives, eats and breathesfootball. A strong, physical presenceon both sides of the ball, Thomas willbe a leader for the Crusaders by theway he plays on the field.

NOAH LAUNEYRB, 5-9, 165, Sr.

Launey isn’t the biggest running backaround, but he’s tough and oftenshows that extra wiggle or balance tofall forward for an extra yard or two.One of the eight seniors for the Cru-saders, Launey will be a big piece oftheir offense.

ROSS O’CONNORWR/FS,5-10, 165, Sr.

O’Connor led the Crusaders in inter-ceptions last season and will be count-ed upon again, especially with two in-experienced corners in front of him.While the Crusaders offense is primar-ily rushing based, O’Connor providesan athletic option on the outside forPrudhomme to target.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

D | Monday, August 17, 2015 theadvertiser.com | The Daily Advertiser


Strengths

The mindset of the 2015 West-gate Tigers’ football team is sortof a strange dynamic. After allthe trials and turmoil of a yearago with a host of injuries anddismissals, the resolve it took toplay so many freshmen and soph-omores last fall may end up pro-ducing an even more preparedand determined group this sea-son.

Normally, starting two sopho-mores on offense and perhaps asmany as six on defense would bea huge question mark, and it stillis perhaps, but most of those sec-ond-year players started at leasthalf of the games last season.

On paper, however, the big-gest strength for Westgate is its

offensive line with four returningstarters back, led by a pair of col-lege prospects in guard TaylorFondal and tackle Malik Mitchell.The Tigers also return a wide re-ceiver and a running back.

Westgate coach Ryan Antoineis hoping RB Trevon Doucet canhelp provide the explosive offen-sive threat out of the I-formationthe Tigers have lacked in recentyears. The passing game also fig-ures to be aided by three talent-ed tight ends who all can blockand stretch the field, led by start-er Payton Finley.

On defense, the Tigers havetwo sophomore returnees, afour-year starting linebacker anda returning star free safety. It’sonly four, but it’s four elite play-makers for the Tigers.

Question Marks

In addition to all the sopho-mores, the first question is atquarterback. Gerald Broussardreturns for his junior year, buthe’ll be pushed by sophomoreJansen Mayea. Broussard is thedual threat, while Mayea is moreof a pocket passer. Both are ex-pected to play, maybe even atthe same time on occasion.

While the four returning start-ers on defense are key figures,that still means seven new start-ers, including four sophomores inthe secondary in the team’s 4-2-5scheme.

Consequently, the two sopho-more cornerbacks figure to betested, but both are 6-3 and willpresent challenges of their own

to opposing quarterbacks.

The Bottom Line

Don’t be surprised at all if theTigers greatly improve record-wise after suffering through a 3-7campaign a year ago. Antoineand his staff feel like they have ahungry, focused group this timearound. Offensively, the Tigersshould be able to push a lot of de-fensive fronts around and take alittle more pressure off the de-fense than in recent years.

Defensively, the secondary istalented, but young. Preventingthe big play is going to be a key,because the Tigers appear to bephysical and talented enoughupfront to create havoc on op-posing offenses.

SCOUTING REPORT


Westgate High offensive standouts guard Taylor Fondal (75), tackle Malik Mitchell (50), running back Trevon Doucet (5), wide receiver Phillip Tate andtackle Brody Robicheaux (74) line up during the Tigers’ picture day this past Friday.

WESTGATE TIGERS

2015 SCHEDULE

September

4 Carencro11 Comeaux18 NEW IBERIA25 LAGRANGE

October

2 Northside9 H.L. BOURGEOIS16 CECILIA23 Breaux Bridge30 St. Martinville

November

6 ABBEVILLE

2014 IN REVIEW

Overall Record: 3-7.Lost Carencro 20-6Beat Franklin 12-6Lost NEW IBERIA 12-6Lost BREAUX BRIDGE 26-7Lost Northside 38-12Lost ST. THOMAS MORE 63-13Lost Cecilia 34-6Beat KIPP RENAISSANCE 43-6Lost Teurlings 42-6Beat ST. MARTINVILLE 18-17

LAST FIVE YEARS 2014: 3-7.2013: 5-5.2012: 3-7.2011: 6-4.2010: 8-5.


OFFENSEWR Phillip Tate (5-10, 155, Sr)*WR Quavo Jacob (5-11, 185,Soph)TE Payton Finley (6-0, 220, Jr)*OT Malik Mitchell (6-3, 275, Sr)*OG Taylor Fondal (6-3, 295, Sr)*C Nolan Winston (6-0, 245, Jr)*OG Jesse Badeaux (5-8, 260,Soph)OT Brody Robicheaux (6-0, 230,Sr)*QB Gerald Broussard (5-11, 180,Jr)*RB Trevon Doucet (5-10, 165)*RB Cavan Clement (5-10, 185, Sr)DEFENSEDE Oteder Foster (6-1, 225,Soph)*DT Da’kayln Mallery (6-2, 265,Soph)*DT Devante Weston (6-2, 275, Jr)DE Anthony Vangure (6-1, 235,Jr)LB Jaquandre Allen (6-1, 225,Sr)*LB Trevon Mitchell (5-10, 165, Sr)CB Shannon Deal (6-3, 165,Soph)CB Deondre Spencer (6-3, 160,Soph)SS Ernest Dejuean (5-9, 165,Soph)SS Ja’tyrin Allen (5-10, 175, Soph)FS August Gray (6-1, 165, Sr)*


Head coach:Ryan Antoine.

Overall Rec-ord: 21-29.

From the Archive


Westgate coach Oliver Winston with some members of the original Tigers’ defense in the program’s first season of 1999.

TAYLOR FONDALOG, 6-3, 295, Sr

Division I offensive lineman prospectwho is expected to help the Tigersdominate the line of scrimmage thisseason. One of four returning offen-sive linemen, but he stands outamong the impressive group.

TREVON DOUCETRB, 5-10, 165, Sr

Known more for their elite defensiveplayers than explosive offensive per-formers in recent years, the Tigers arehoping Doucet can change that a bit.Doucet brings some home-run speedto the Tigers’ backfield.

JAQUANDRE ALLENLB, 6-1, 225, Sr

Four-year starter with a 4.0 GPA whois a dual purpose performer for the Ti-gers’ defense - works as one of thebest linebackers in school history andalso has an extra coach on the fielddue to his experience and knowledgeof the game.

AUGUST GRAYFS, 6-1, 165, Sr

An extremely fast last line of defenseat free safety in the Tigers’ defense.One of four returning starters on de-fense who leads the defense with his4.4 speed and aggressive mentality.

MALIK MITCHELLOT, 6-3, 275, Sr

Another one of Westgate’s big, tal-ented offensive lineman that is ex-pected to provide the fuel for a moreexplosive offensive unit this season.Like his teammate Fondal, Mitchellshould get a shot to play college ball.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

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