South Terrebonne starting from scratch in attempt to build on 11-win season
August 25, 2015
E.D. White powered by playmakers in 2015
August 25, 2015
The Vandebilt Catholic football team had a terrible start to 2014 – losing their first six games to open the year.
But those days seem like forever ago now, because everything that’s happened since then has been positive for the Terriers.
Vandebilt ended 2014 with a bang, recovering from the slow start and winning four-straight regular season games to reach the Division II State Playoffs.
With a large number of players back off that team, Terriers coach Jeremy Atwell thinks that his second season will start more smoothly than his first.
The coach said that with a full year under his belt, he has a better understanding of his roster and the players that he can rely upon to make plays in the new season.
“It’s going really good. We can’t complain, because we’re very pleased,” Atwell said. “We’re right on schedule with where we think we should be at this time of the year, and we have 101 kids out these year, so I think that shows that folks are excited about the team and the things that we’re doing, so those are all positives. I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
Offensively, the Terriers will bring back four starters off a group that found a groove in the back-end of the season in 2014. Vandebilt scored 84 points in their first six games last year – one of the many reasons for the team’s lengthy losing streak.
But in the final four games, the Terriers scored 148 points, including 55 points against Morgan City and 49 against Ellender.
Atwell said he’s excited about senior quarterback David Yancey and senior halfback O’Shawn Henderson – two players who were a huge part of that late-season surge last year.
Atwell said that having a returning starting quarterback in high school football is invaluable, because he becomes a second coach on the field.
“That’s huge,” Atwell said. “Having that is something that’s going to be a big luxury for us, because he will understand the system and will be in command of the huddle and all of the things that we’re relaying to him from the sidelines. I think that anytime you can have a returning starter at a leadership position like that, it’s a huge benefit to your football team, and it makes everyone else better.”
Yancey said this spring that he thinks the Terriers are going to be more consistent offensively in 2015, which he thinks will allow the team to consistently play at a high level throughout the year.
“Last year, we started slow, and we don’t want that to happen to us again,” the quarterback said. “I think that right now, we’ve grown and matured and last year, our hard work paid off at the end. This year, I think people are going to see it even earlier in the season.”
Defensively, the Terriers bring back its entire back seven and a couple of players on the line, which should make that unit the most experienced on the team.
Some of the top returnees on Vandebilt’s this fall are going to be Claude Thompson, Sam Nunnally, Alex Rios and Grant Stevens.
Atwell said he likes how his defense has played throughout the spring and into the summer. A defensive coach, Atwell said the Terriers allowed far too many backbreaking plays on defense a year ago. Eliminating just those plays, the coach said, is the difference in Vandebilt having a 4-6 season last year and not something that was closer to 6-4 or even 7-3.
“There were too many times where the opponent got behind us somehow and got into the end zone on a long play,” Atwell said. “We need to find a way to get rid of that and cut that out of what we do. But I think that with the experience we have, we’re in good shape. I’m pleased with what I’ve been seeing on that side of the football. I think things are going well.”
The Terriers schedule won’t be easy.
Vandebilt opens the new season with E.D. White – the always-fun rivalry game meeting between the two heated private school rivals. From there, the Terriers will face Central Lafourche, St. Charles Catholic, CCA and Newman in non-district games.
Atwell said those contests were made challenging by design – all to prepare the Terriers for the rigors of district play.
“We won’t have an easy road – there’s no doubt about that,” Atwell said. “We know that we’re going to see some awfully good football teams and some awfully good football players every time that we step out on the field this season.”
But the coach also added that now that some of the nervous energy of being a first-year coach is gone, he’s comfortable with where his team stands.
“We preach ‘team’ here,” Atwell said. “It’s not about one guy or one position. We want this to be a total team effort. I think the growing pains are over, and we’ve truly got a great group of guys here. Now, we want to get into the season and find out exactly how good we might be.” •
