Camaraderie leads Central Cath into 2010

“Faith, family and football” is the motto at Central Catholic High School in Morgan City.

As the two most important priorities, faith and family never change.

But after the graduation of Andrew Templet and his 2,000 yards and 36 touchdowns, Central Catholic’s football will have to change a bit.

The Eagles will move wide receiver Lloyd Grogan to quarterback and look to implement a more run-oriented attack in 2010.

“Lloyd probably is a better runner than Andrew, so we’re going to change our offense to the pistol offense,” said head coach David Fuhrer. “We’re going to use Lloyd primarily as a running quarterback, but over the summer, he’s developed into a pretty good passer, so that was a pleasant surprise to see that he’s picked up the passing game aspect of the offense.”

One would think Templet’s departure would decrease the production of last year’s First-Team All-State wide receiver Dontrell Brown, but Fuhrer said the sophomore phenom may actually benefit from the system change.

“I think our scheme of making a commitment to the run will definitely open up the passing game for Dontrell,” the coach said. “We will catch people off guard, because we’re going to go run, run, run. It will take some pressure off of him.”

The Eagles will feature four running backs, creating a clash of styles for defenses to deal with.

The backs are Blaze Watson, Austin Smith, Davante Frank and Javon Johnson.

“Blaze and Austin are big, physical runners with good speed. Davante is more of a slasher guy. He has good speed, and he has good power for a smaller guy, but he’s very quick,” Fuhrer said. “Javon is in between. He’s not as big as [Watson and Smith], but he runs very hard and has decent speed. He’s a good guy to have back there.”

The foursome will split carries because three will play a majority of their snaps on defense as playing both ways continues to be a staple of Class 1A football.

Watson will double as a linebacker, Smith will play linebacker or defensive end and Frank will see time at safety.

Additionally, Brown and Grogan will see limited playing time in the defensive secondary.

“Lloyd is not going to play a lot of defense, but there will be situations that he needs to be in [at safety],” Fuhrer said. “[Brown] can matchup against most team’s receivers in passing situations. Primarily, he’ll be an offensive threat.”

But Fuhrer will attempt to have two separate offensive and defensive lines, except for certain situations where he would like to have the most physical players on the field.

The Eagles return one starter on the offensive line in senior Bobby Dufrene, but he missed a few games last season due to injury.

“Offensive line is a question mark. We’ve got some guys with some experience coming back, but we’re relatively young,” the coach explained. “They seem to be picking up the concepts of the offense and the techniques of that offensive line and that offense. But the real test will come when we put the pads on, and that’s when we’ll know who’ll win the starting positions.”

Returning starters on the defensive line will be junior defensive end Eric Mabile and senior nose guard Hunter Hannegan. Junior cornerback Kendall Robinson returns, and Fuhrer is excited about the addition of transfer linebacker Sean Anderman.

“Our goal is pursuit of the ball,” Anderman said. “We want to be the best defense in Louisiana in takeaways, so we’re going to be getting after people.”

But at Central Catholic where faith and family are preached above football, Eagle linebacker and running back Watson feels his school is ahead of most in team unity.

“We came closer as a team over the summer,” he said. “We just realized that we need each other and it’s not a one-man team.”

And the togetherness only increased when the team recently spent four days at the Lumen Christi Retreat Center in Schriever.

“They have dorm rooms back there, and there’s a little area you could practice. We made a short football field about 40 yards. We were able to do drill work and a lot of team building and spiritual things,” said Fuhrer. “We thought these guys needed something like that, and they took to it really well.”

And after last season’s district runner up finish and playoff appearance, Fuhrer expects more out of his program and said they are not satisfied with just making the playoffs.

“Ultimately, we want our players to become better football players every day. We want them to become Christian men, and we emphasize that,” he said. “If they do the right things, and they get better each day as a football player, I think the winning will take care of itself.”

Central Catholic Eagles

District 7-1A

Sept. 3 @ Franklin

Sept. 9 Christian Life

Sept. 17 Berwick

Sept. 24 Catholic High (NI)

Oct. 1 Ascension Catholic

Oct. 8 @ Vermilion Catholic*

Oct. 15 @ Delcambre*

Oct. 21 Gueydan*

Oct. 29 @ Hanson Memorial*

Nov. 4 Ascension Episcopal*

* Denotes district game

Coach: David Fuhrer

Assistant Coaches: David Irwin,

Tyler Jensen, Larry Lombardo, William Parkerson, Clarence Robinson, Chris Sanders, Chris Schexnayder

Record last season: 7-4

Returning Starters: 6 on offense, 5 on defense

Players to Watch: Quarterback Lloyd Grogan, receiver Dontrell Brown, defensive end Eric Mabile, nose guard Hunter Hannegan

Primary Strength: Offensive versatility

Fun FACTS

36: The number of touchdowns former quarterback Andrew Templet threw a year ago

1: The number of starters returning for the young Eagles’ offensive line

118: The combined number of points the Eagles scored in the final two games of last season

Central Catholic seniors (front row from left) Blaze Watson, Bobby Dufrene, Devonte Frank, Alex Arceneaux, (back row) Sean Anderman, Jordan Bartley, Austin Smith and Hunter Hannegan look to improve in football through their faith. RICHARD FISCHER TRI-PARISH TIMES