Ellender football enjoys 7-on-7 success

Roast, Toast & Boast
July 29, 2015
Soldier of the Year a Larose native
July 29, 2015
Roast, Toast & Boast
July 29, 2015
Soldier of the Year a Larose native
July 29, 2015

After posting a 3-7 record in 2014, the Ellender Memorial High School football team is considered by most to be an underdog this fall.

But if the happenings of this summer are a precursor to what might happen in the 2015 season, it’s probably not wise to discount the Patriots’ chances.


Ellender had a strong summer football season, competing favorably against some of the top teams in the Houma-Thibodaux area in 7-on-7 competition.

The peak of the Patriots’ summer came with a runner-up finish at a prestigious 7-on-7 tournament at LSU – one of the most competitive offseason events in the state. In that event, the team played six games, finishing with a 5-1 record. Ellender beat state powerhouse Karr before losing a close, hard-fought battle to Warren Easton in the Championship Game.

That success has Ellender’s coaches and players confident heading into the start of fall practices. They think the summer victories are a sign of things to come in the 2015 season.


“Beating these teams shows that we can compete with any team in the state,” Ellender quarterback Curtis Anderson said of the summer success. “We enter the season still as the underdogs in the state, but I think this shows that we’re working to get to the top.”

“You know, these kids just have so much heart, and when you have heart, you can overcome so many things,” Patriots assistant coach Jesse Turner said.

“When we played Edna Karr, they had more height than we did, and it was the same in most of the games we played. But we never backed down, never quit and it showed how much our team is evolving. Now, we’re a group that can compete against anybody.”


At LSU, the Patriots were tested by top-tier competition. The Patriots opened the event with a 34-12 shellacking of McMain – a Class 3A school. Ellender then beat a pair of Mississippi schools, trumping Gulfport and then Greenville – both games decided by four points or fewer.

In the fourth game of the tournament, the Patriots beat a friendly face, scoring a hard-fought, 17-15 victory over cross-town rival Terrebonne. That win set up a showdown with Karr – a team that Ellender had lost to several times the past few summers.

But this time, the Patriots overcame the Cougars’ high-octane attack and led from start-to-finish in a 25-13 win.


In the finals, the Patriots battled Warren Easton throughout with neither team ever holding a sizeable advantage.

With Easton on top 28-20, Ellender scored a late touchdown to push the Patriots within two. But Ellender was unable to convert the 2-point conversion, which sealed a 28-26 victory for Warren Easton.

“We came up short, but the kids battled so hard throughout the day,” Turner said. “We won so many close, tough games and we competed. I think that it was an eye-opening experience for our kids and a testament that the hard work that we’re putting in is paying off.”


For Ellender, the recent victories show that the team has some of the best athletes and skill players in Louisiana.

In 7-on-7 competition, there is very little blocking. On offense, teams have a quarterback, a center, a halfback and several receivers in a wide-open, spread-out offense. Defensively, teams are allowed to apply light pressure to quarterbacks, but most of the players on the field are defensive backs and linebackers.

In a game that resembles a traditional football skeleton drill, Anderson has thrived. Turner said the Patriots’ quarterback has progressed throughout the offseason and is a better player than he’s ever been.


The 2015 season will be Anderson’s second as Ellender’s starting quarterback.

He completed 47-of-116 passes for 697 yards and four touchdowns one season ago. He also rushed 132 times for 463 yards and 11 scores.

“Curtis is just a wonderful kid. He makes the job of the coaches just so much easier,” Turner said. “I don’t think that we’ve had a leader like him in my time at the school, and this is my third year as a coach. He leads by example and vocally. He works hard, and he competes.”


“He’s a solid player,” Ellender head coach Terry Washington said this spring. “He does the right things for you on the football field. He does what he’s coached to do. I think having him back for another year is going to be huge for us, because I think he works hard and keeps getting better and better.”

Anderson said he accepts the praise from his coaches, but wants to focus more on the Patriots’ offense as a whole.

The quarterback said he expects Ellender’s offense to be explosive this fall.


“From all of the past years that I’ve been here, this is the best offense that I have been a part of,” Anderson said. “The summer showed the quality of our skill players, and I think our offensive line has been working extremely hard, as well.”

So now, the challenge for Ellender is to use the momentum productively and turn it into success in the 2015 season.

Turner said he thinks the Patriots now know the formula that works best on the offensive side of the ball.


“We want to get the ball to our athletes in a space and let them work,” he said.

Anderson agreed and said that the team now has a change in mindset and a belief that it can beat anyone. The quarterback said this summer will power the team into the fall, and will serve as a teaching tool that all of Ellender’s goals can be accomplished.

“This summer was a great experience,” Anderson said. “We have a lot of people doubting our school’s talents and commitment. I just want to say that we’re all working for one goal. That is to be the district champs first and then the state champs. The summer was a big confidence booster. We will grow from this and continue to work hard.”


The Ellender Memorial High School football team was just 3-7 this past fall. But a turnaround looks like It may be near, because the Patriots had a dominant summer, winning several 7-on-7 games, while also finishing as the runner-up In a tournament on LSU’s campus two weeks ago.

COURTESY