South Terrebonne standout eager for big summer

Death takes no holiday in Chauvin
May 28, 2016
Colonels snag 6 in volleyball catch
June 1, 2016
Death takes no holiday in Chauvin
May 28, 2016
Colonels snag 6 in volleyball catch
June 1, 2016

For most high school students, summer is a time for rest, relaxation and maybe even a chance to make a little spare cash at a low-stress job.


But for South Terrebonne rising senior Louis Blanchard, the next few months won’t be quiet as slow-paced as one might expect.

In fact, the 2016 summer might be some of the busiest months of the young man’s life.

Blanchard is 6-foot, 3-inch, 265-pound South Terrebonne defensive lineman – a top-flight prospect who is generating interest from colleges across the country, including offers from Nicholls, UL-Monroe, Southern and other smaller schools around the South.


To try and maximize his fast-growing offer list, Blanchard will visit several camps throughout the summer – including workouts for LSU, Alabama and UL-Lafayette, among others.

Blanchard said he knows the coming weeks will be busy, but he’s OK with that. The prized lineman said he can’t wait for the challenges which lie ahead.

“It’s going to be a very active time, but I really, really look forward to it,” Blanchard said. “I enjoy having the opportunity to meet all of the different coaches and players and learn different ways that I can get better before my senior season. It’ll be a lot of work, but I’m ready for it. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and a great experience.”


For Blanchard, being in the spotlight for football excellence is nothing new. Blanchard’s first three seasons at South Terrebonne have been pretty darned good.

Blanchard has played at an elite level from his first days as a Gator – the rare local standout who was able to see time as a freshman on the varsity level.

In that freshman season, Blanchard played on the defensive interior for the Gators, generating enough respect from opponents to earn Second-Team All-District honors.


As a sophomore, Blanchard upped his game to a new level, winning District MVP honors, while helping lead the Gators to an 11-win season – a year which ended in the LHSAA Class 4A State Quarterfinals.

In 2015, the Gators struggled to generate wins, winning just two games. But even amidst the on-field struggles, Blanchard did his thing, recording 81 tackles, including 14 stops for a loss – enough to again win District MVP and high praise from both his coaches, teammates and also opponents.

He also played offense for the Gators, rushing for more than 400 yards and nine touchdowns as a fullback in the Gators’ Wing-T offense.


During the final game of the 2016 season, Blanchard recorded nine first-half tackles against South Lafourche, taking the game to halftime with the heavily-favored Tarpons holding just a one-touchdown advantage.

In the second half, the Tarpons scored 21 points to secure a 27-0 victory.

After the game, then-Tarpons coach Dennis Skains was asked the difference between the first half and the second. His answer? South Lafourche quit running the football in Blanchard’s direction.


“I told my offensive coordinator that if we ran the ball at (Blanchard) again, I was going to fire him,” Skains said with a laugh. “He’s a beast, man. He’s such a dominant player. We couldn’t block him. We had to start going the opposite direction – literally every, single play. He’s that good. And to think – he’s not even a senior. He’s going to get so much bigger and so much better. That’s a scary, thought, because he’s already pretty damned good.”

Gators coach Richard Curlin agrees. He said during Blanchard’s freshman season that he was a “special, special football player.” Last year, Curlin elaborated and explained why he believes the Gators lineman is able to have such a high level of success.

“He’s big, obviously,” Curlin said. “But Louie works hard, too. He is coachable and he does the things you ask him to do. He’s a really fine player for us.”


But Big Louis isn’t satisfied. His focus throughout the summer is on progression.

Blanchard said he will work throughout the summer on his footwork, so he can more easily explode of the line of scrimmage as soon as the ball gets snapped.

Blanchard said his fastest 40-yard dash time is 5.2 seconds, but he hopes to work to trim some time off that, as well.


“I will be doing a lot of ladder drills and really anything that I can do to continue getting better and progressing,” Blanchard said. “I want my footwork to be better than it’s ever been. I want to be stronger and quicker, as well. Those are a lot of the things that I’m focused on.”

Being a leader is important for the powerful defensive lineman, as well.

Blanchard said last season wasn’t fun, because the Gators weren’t in the playoff race – a rarity for the storied local program that’s usually an annual contender.


“The community wasn’t used to that one and neither were we,” Blanchard said. “As soon as the season ended, we knew we needed to shake that off, because we want to be so much better next year.”

Blanchard said to combat last season’s woes, he and other team leaders have organized several offseason workouts so that players can work on conditioning over the summer.

Blanchard said he will work to attend as many of the workouts as possible – no matter how full his summer slate may be.


He said his No. 1 focus, above anything else, is returning the Gators’ program to the winner’s circle.

“I will do anything they need me to do this fall,” Blanchard said. “I’ll play fullback, defense – anything they need. It doesn’t matter to me. I just want us to do well. I just want to play football. I love playing football.”

No. 2 Gators deal with 2 tragedies in 1 year


The South Terrebonne community suffered a couple great losses during the 2016 calendar year.

Over the summer, the Gators’ world was shook when Andraye Verdin was killed as a passenger in a one-car wreck on the Bourg-Larose Highway — an accident caused by slick roads after a rainstorm.

Verdin, 16, was a standout football player for the Gators – a guy that coach Richard Curlin said was about to be a “breakout star”.


“He was just getting comfortable,” Curlin said. “This is such a shame and is so unfair.”

Unfortunately, the tragedies didn’t stop there for South Terrebonne.

At the end of a tough football season, Gators standout lineman Louis Blanchard was severely injured after falling off a trampoline after school.


In the fall, Blanchard condensed his neck, which temporarily left him paralyzed, and which required multiple surgeries.

Doctors speculated Blanchard could possibly make a full recovery, but weeks later, things took a turn for the worst and he passed away at a New Orleans hospital.

He was 18.


Just weeks before the injury, Blanchard had given a verbal commitment to continue his football career at UL-Monroe.

After his death, locals rallied together to show their respects to the dominant lineman, who ended up winning his third-straight District Defensive MVP Award in 2016.