Conquerors coaches get first look at prospects

Nearly 200 players of various football experiences turned out Saturday at the first tryout for the Houma Conquerors of the Southern Indoor Football League.

After eight hours of drills and scrimmages at the East Houma Recreational Complex, 45 were chosen to return in about a month for the team’s training camp.

The coaches were amazed with the skill level they saw.

“Wow. We didn’t expect that much talent, but it’s a good problem to have,” said Conquerors owner and head coach Franklin Thomas. “Even for guys who had not played indoor football (before), it was impressive.”

“There were so many guys out here it was hard to tell who is who. A lot of things were seen in spurts,” said director of player personnel and scouting Clyde “C.J.” Maiden. “We’re going to be a good football team from this talent that we had today.”

Thomas estimated about half of the players who participated had played indoor football at one time or another.

“That’s another good thing because it shows that people want to come here and play,” he said.

Some at the tryout had played local high school football hoping for another shot at gridiron glory.

Among them were friends and 2006 graduates Blake Verdin of Ellender, and Roland Molinere and Alex Billiot of South Terrebonne.

The trio said they play football together every Sunday.

Billiot has one year of semi-pro football experience with the 2008 Texas/Louisiana Southwest Football Association Champions, the Lafayette Hurricanes.

“Coach C. J. told me about the try out in Houma,” said Point-Aux-Chenes native Billiot, who tried out for running back. “Lafayette was too far away, so I decided to tryout here to be closer to home.”

Bourg native Molinere, an amateur boxer, mixed martial arts fighter and arm wrestler, tried out for defensive back.

East Houma native Verdin went out for wide receiver.

As competitive as the tryout was, the training camp is expected to be even tougher. A final 25-man team roster will emerge when the camp ends.

“We’re going to bring them in groups of 10 at the different positions, so we can get a better assessment of the players,” Maiden said.

Molinere, son of two-time world arm wrestling champion R.J. Molinere, will be among those at the training camp. He likes his chances of earning a spot on the roster.

“The competition at DB isn’t as deep as I thought it would be,” he said. “I came here out of shape, so I’m going to do more football-specific training like running with the chute (parachute) to gain some endurance.”

Thomas hopes to begin signing players to contracts within the next week.

“There’s enough talent out here to where we know pretty much who we want to sign going into training camp,” he said.

For football fans that came to watch the tryout, like Hercules Wire Rope employee Richard Logan, it was a welcomed sight to behold.

Logan, a season ticket holder during the three years of Houma’s last indoor football team, the Bayou Bucks, hopes to get the same seats he had at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.

“Section 202, Row F, Seats 1 and 2. That was the rowdy section,” he said. “April can’t get here fast enough.”

The Conquerors season starts in mid-April.

Houma Conquerors offensive coordinator Doug Coleman works with one of seven players to tryout for quarterback at the team’s first tryout on Saturday. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF