Joseph "New New" Adkins
May 19, 2009
Irene Marie Deroche Lajaunie
May 22, 2009
As the school year comes to an end, so do high school spring football practices and scrimmages. How do the coaches assess their teams’ performance so far?
Terrebonne High
2008 record: 6-3, 5-1 in District 7-5A
Lost 28-14 to Rummel in bi-district
playoff round
With 11 starters gone from last year’s playoff team, Tiger head coach Gary Hill hoped to see new leaders emerge from Thursday’s scrimmage against Vandebilt Catholic.
“I wanted to see guys step up and be playmakers,” he said. “We still have work to do on that. We need to learn to block better. I thought we blocked better in spring practice than in the scrimmage. That’s our starting point.”
Offensively, Terrebonne was able to run the ball during the control scrimmage with Robert Gordon and Shane Sullivan, but were less effective in the 12-minute live quarter. New sophomore quarterback Michael Williams did not complete a pass and looked indecisive in the pocket.
“Our motions weren’t timed out well. We kind of panicked with another team across the line from us,” Hill said. “We didn’t have any turnovers though. A bunch of young kids, no turnovers, that’s definitely a positive we can build on.”
On defense, Terrebonne accomplished three goals Hill set for them. They had three takeaways, better pursuit to the football and better tackling than they did last year.
With 57 players on the spring roster, the coach believes he can fill the voids, especially at the skill positions.
“This was a slap of reality,” Hill said. “We experienced great success last year. Now they realize we won’t be able to sneak up on opponents. Just because we had success last year doesn’t mean we’ll have it this year.”
South Terrebonne
2008 record: 4-4, 4-2 in District 7-5A
What a difference a year makes.
In last year’s spring scrimmage, Patterson running back Kenny Hilliard rushed for 120 yards against the Gators’ defense. But in Thursday’s game, defensive tackles Christian Lirette and Austin Fick contained Hilliard to 40 yards.
“They played big and physical against one of the best backs in the state,” said Gators coach Richard Curlin. “I think we’re going to be pretty solid on defense.”
Curlin thinks the linebacker spots will be better than they were last year with Kip LeCompte and Ronnie Thomas returning. The rest of the team is harder to judge because many were absent.
“We were missing five or six starters due to injuries and the baseball playoffs,” Curlin said. “Both our defensive ends and two tight ends were out with injuries. Otherwise, I was pleased with the way it went.”
The Gators are losing seven offensive starters from the 2008 squad, including the school’s all-time leading receiver Mike Barba.
But quarterback Quinton Lirette and wide out Mitchell Hutchinson had a good scrimmage, according to Curlin. He expects the duo to be totally in sync when the season starts.
“I thought Quinton ran the offense well. We didn’t have any turnovers. That was a positive thing,” Curlin said. “The offense scored three times in the controlled scrimmage. I’m looking forward to August.”
Vandebilt Catholic
2008 record: 3-5, 2-3 in District 8-4A
The Terriers will begin the 2009 season with its fourth different head coach in four years.
New Vandebilt coach Charles “Laury” Dupont brings consistency and a winning tradition to the program.
In the scrimmage against Terrebonne, Dupont needed to know which Terriers could handle game pressure.
“I wanted to see who wouldn’t get nervous playing under the lights. The kids made a lot of mental mistakes, but in the end the kids fought hard. They bent but didn’t break. I’m very proud of the heart and the character they displayed.”
Despite having a 60-man roster, Dupont said the Terriers lacked depth, and many would be playing on both sides of the ball come September.
Carrying the biggest load will be senior linebacker/running back Ches Morrison, who pounded Terrebonne’s interior defense during the scrimmage.
“We’re asking him to do a lot right now,” Dupont said. “The offensive line is going to be key to our team. They’re all back from last year. They’re going to be fine.”
While the coach was impressed by their pursuit of the football, the lack of depth is especially grim on defense because “the backups are not ready to play,” according to Dupont.
Despite the obstacles, the coach feels his team is ready to improve on last year’s dreary season.
“We’re starting a whole new program. We’re getting the kids to believe in our system,” Dupont said. “They believe in what we’re doing. We have an opportunity to be a better football team than we’ve been in the past.”
Ellender Memorial
2008 record: 1-6, 1-4 in District 8-4A
Patriot head coach Tawaskie Anderson wanted to see improvement from his defense in the spring scrimmage last Wednesday against Douglass.
He got it as Ellender held Douglass to one score.
Anderson has given the defense a goal of cutting opponents’ scoring in half next season after giving up over 43 points a game last year. To do that, he is changing the scheme.
“We’re running a 3-3-5. We’re attacking. We’re going to put a lot of pressure on offenses this year,” Anderson said. “We’re going to be aggressive and fly to the football. We have to gang tackle.”
On offense, sophomore running back Glynn Fitch will be the workhorse of the triple option system. He ran for 122 yards and two scores behind a reconstructed offensive line missing four starters from 2008.
“Offensively, we concentrated on getting our line together because we only have one starter coming back, Jacob Guidry,” Anderson said. “We’re still working to get those guys functioning as one unit. We just wanted to see the kids line up right, be aggressive and execute on both sides of the ball.”
Anderson still needs to see improvement in the passing game because he knows teams are going to load the box to stop Fitch. Ellender is going to work on that by doing a lot of 7-on-7 drills this summer.
“We’re going to have as many camps as possible as a team, a lot of film study and walkthroughs,” he said.
Morgan City
2008 record: 3-6, 0-5 in District 8-4A
The Tigers did not have a spring scrimmage game this year, but coach Mark Millet was pleased with what he saw in the practices.
“We went slow, went back to basics, and I did a lot of teaching,” he said.
On offense, the Tigers will have plenty of depth at the skill positions, but the line is expected to be lightweight, averaging 220 pounds per player. Millet said he will also tinker with his Wing-T offense and add some multiple formations.
“We have seven wide receivers and four running backs we can use in the rotation,” he said.
On defense, Morgan City will focus on stopping the run. Millet likes the depth in the secondary, but wants to get better play from his linemen and linebackers.
He said replacing All-District safety and running back Clint Navarro would be his hardest task over the summer
“Our senior class has to step up as a whole,” Millet said. “Clint Navarro was one of the best players and leaders I’ve ever coached. I don’t think you can find one guy. It’s going to take a combination of guys to do the job.”
Although he is losing 11 starters from last year’s team, Millet has a higher than usual 55-player roster.
“It’s still not where we’d like it, but it’s better than having 80 kids out there and 30 don’t want to play,” he reasoned.
Patterson
2008 record: 8-3, 4-0 in District 7-3A
Lost 35-7 to Westlake in regional playoffs
How do you replace a four-year starting quarterback and two-time All-State selection?
Lumberjack coach Tommie Minton will have the whole summer to figure it out.
Senior Nick Nolan and sophomore Justice Jones will be battling to replace Terrance Johnson as the signal caller.
“Those two kids have been competing all spring. Both did a good job in the scrimmage against South Terrebonne,” Minton said. “That competition is going to carry over into the summer.”
With four offensive linemen and two-time All-State first team running back Kenny Hilliard returning, the ground game appears as strong as ever.
Minton is implementing a new defensive system this spring, going from a 3-4 to a traditional 4-3.
He said the team will need some time to adjust the scheme.
“I think in the beginning of the scrimmage we didn’t play with a lot of intensity because we were doing a little too much thinking,” Minton said. “As the scrimmage went on, we started reacting more and running to the ball better. Once the kids get comfortable with the scheme, it’s going to be better for us.”
With 68 players at his command, Minton is ready to make another deep playoff run in 2010.
“It’s a process every year,” he said. “You get a new team; you work hard and pretty soon you develop some chemistry. They mesh together and build a foundation and you go from there.”
Terrebonne running back Robert Gordon breaks an attempted tackle by Vandebilt Catholic’s defensive back Josh Prosperie during their spring scrimmage Thursday.
