An open letter to the Tri-parish’s football performers
August 25, 2015
Melvin believes in team as his H.L. Bourgeois debut nears
August 25, 2015
After two-straight four-win seasons, the Central Lafourche football team is hungry for more in 2015.
With returnees up and down their depth chart on both sides of the ball, it’s easy to see where the team’s wish just may become a reality.
The Trojans are working hard on the practice fields, trying to find the recipe that will net the team a winning season.
Central Lafourche coach Keith Menard said he thinks this year’s bunch has a shot to make the playoffs, despite competing in a brutally tough district. His players agree. They tout that there’s a different attitude and vibe around the program – one that they believe will allow the Trojans to break the ice and eclipse the four-win mark this fall.
“We’ve got to step it up. It’s time for us to make that jump,” senior quarterback Austin Aucoin said. “We need to stick together. We’ve done a good job of that in the past, but just didn’t have things fall our way. This year, we need to keep it up, keep our intensity up, and if we do that, we’ll be fine and can make the playoffs.”
The Trojans have just about everything back on both sides of the ball – one of the teams with the most returnees in the entire Houma-Thibodaux area.
Offensively, Aucoin is one of eight returning starters off a group that operates out of a multiple set, pro-style system.
Aucoin was the team’s top signal caller in 2014, completing 81-of-164 passes for 918 yards. But the quarterback thinks he can make a big jump this season. When asked to give a reason for the predicted increase in success, the quarterback gave a pretty good reason: experience.
“Last year was my first year ever playing football,” Aucoin said with a laugh. “For me, the difference this year is like night and day compared to last year. I have a much better handle on what’s expected of me and what I need to be doing on the field.”
In the backfield, the Trojans have to replace halfbacks Thomas Wesley and DaQuan Gray – players who combined for 2,000 yards of total offense and 25 touchdowns in 2014.
Menard said replacing that much talent is impossible to do, but the Trojans will combat it with all five starters back on the offensive line. That group includes Holden Pierce, Jarrod Folse, Logan Bergeron, Owen Hebert and Stage Duplantis.
“We don’t replace the things those guys did – there’s no way,” Menard said. “But we believe in what we have, and we think that we have plenty players who can step up and fill that void.”
“Having an experienced line is a quarterback’s best friend,” Aucoin added. “And we still have playmakers. I think we have plenty guys who can make plays.”
Junior Melton Allen will be the team’s new halfback. He will be flanked by playmakers Andrew Griffin, Jace Allemand and Nicholls State University verbal commitment Anfernee Poindexter to help round out the team’s starting group.
“The offense is going good. We have no complaints,” Poindexter said. “We have so many guys who played a lot last year, so we’re full of guys who are used to playing varsity. That helps. Now, I think we have more chemistry that we’ve ever had here on both sides of the ball.”
Defensively, Poindexter is the top returnee on a unit that brings back seven starters from a year ago. The Trojans sometimes struggled on that side of the ball last season, allowing 30 or more points in five games.
But Aucoin said that they’ve made strides throughout the offseason and have been difficult to face in practice.
Other returnees on the Trojans’ defense include linemen Dereon Thomas and Isham Hendon, linebackers Zach Bilbo and Brendan Weaver and defensive backs Cade Martin and Davon Batiste.
“They’ve looked good,” Aucoin said. “They’ve been really tough, and I think they’re going to be one of the strengths of our team.”
The Trojans have a massive schedule.
As-always, Central Lafourche’s district is expected to be a bear – a seven-team league that includes state powers like Hahnville, Destrehan, East St. John and Thibodaux.
Outside of district play, the Trojans play Patterson, Vandebilt, South Terrebonne and South Lafourche – all schools who made the playoffs last season.
No one said that it’d be easy. Heck, the schedule shows that it will be downright hard.
But the Trojans want to win more than five games. And they think they have the right mix to do it.
“I think this is our year,” Poindexter said. “I think we’re going to make noise and make us a little run.”
