Prep Roundup Week 2
September 16, 2015
Terrebonne sheriff and deputies sued over shooting of teen
September 22, 2015
When news broke that senior star quarterback Harvey Allen was severely injured in a car wreck, many folks proclaimed this season as a lost one for South Lafourche.
But step inside the Tarpons fieldhouse and that expected feeling of panic isn’t present. In fact, there’s a certain calmness inside the blue and white-painted walls.
These Tarpons still think they’re a contender, and what happened in week one might have proven that team-wide opinion to be fact.
In the season-opener against Bonnabel, the Tarpons and new quarterback Jaydon Cheramie were being baptized early by the Bruins. Cheramie was struggling to find a rhythm, and the Tarpons offense sputtered with their quarterback. He threw three early interceptions and lost a fumble – mishaps that allowed Bonnabel to control the game and take a 20-0 lead.
But somewhere around the middle of the second quarter, Cheramie calmed his first-start jitters and the Tarpons followed their new leader to the end zone.
South Lafourche dominated the final three quarters of the game and overcame the deficit to score a 37-33 victory. Cheramie made up for his early mistakes and scored the game-winning touchdown with a little more than a minute to play – a long scramble-play that looked reminiscent of something Allen would have done had he been on the field.
An unlikely win? Given the deficit, maybe it was. But these Tarpons still expect to be a threat. They believe Cheramie is a guy who can get the job done under center – much in the same way that Allen did.
“We believe in Jaydon,” senior center Nykalys Pasache said. “He’s our brother, and we believe in him every step of the way. We have his back. If we need to encourage him, we’re going to encourage him. If we need to get him fired up, we’ll get him fired up. He’s our leader now, and we believe that we can do anything with him leading our team.”
“He’s a competitor,” South Lafourche head coach Dennis Skains added. “He doesn’t get too emotional, no matter how things are going. He does a good job maintaining his poise, and I think we really saw that against Bonnabel. At the end of the game, he was doing everything that we needed him to do to get us a win.”
Losing Allen was an unexpected blow.
Throughout spring practices, the prospective starting quarterback looked amazing. In summer, it was no different. Allen added a little muscle to his frame, and he was ready to build on the 20-touchdown season he had enjoyed in 2014.
But on Aug. 8, life changed. The passenger in a vehicle that couldn’t negotiate a curve and veered off the road, Allen suffered a punctured bladder and a fractured pelvis in the wreck.
Instead of beginning his 2015 season with his team, Allen was instead beginning surgery, rehab and a life that will see him on the sideline for 4-6 months – if not more.
Cheramie was the next man up.
A quarterback all of his life, Cheramie has the gifts to be successful – he just (until now) never had experience at the varsity level to prove it.
As a runner, Cheramie isn’t quite as fast as Allen, but he’s really elusive. He can make defenders miss, and he has the rare ability to get up the field when under pressure. In the second half of the season opener, he made plays with his feet to beat Bonnabel’s defense.
“He’s tough to tackle,” senior defensive back Trey Bonin said. “He finds a way to get the job done.”
As a passer, Cheramie isn’t quite there yet, but the Tarpons coaches think he just needs more reps. They said that by mid-season, he will likely be better-equipped to make plays with his arm.
“He’s getting better with reps,” Skains said. “It’ll take time. We knew it would, but he’s getting better and better.”
But away from his on-field abilities, teammates tout that Cheramie is a natural-born competitor – the kind of player that’s easy to rally around.
Senior receiver Kyle Angeron said that Cheramie is always positive, and has handled the entire situation as well as anyone could have ever imagined that he would.
The receiver said that the Tarpons’ senior class has made a vow since the accident to always look after the new quarterback and make sure that he’s mentally OK – no matter what challenges are thrown his way.
Angeron said since making that pledge, the team has been pleasantly surprised to see that their help isn’t often needed, because the quarterback is always in control of his emotions.
“He’s confident,” Angeron said. “Jaydon is an athlete, man. Of course, we miss Harvey, but Jaydon is ready for anything that comes his way, and we definitely are confident calling him our leader.”
Allen is confident in Cheramie, too.
The injured Tarpon surprised his teammates during the game against Bonnabel and made an unexpected appearance on the sidelines. Still on crutches, but “getting better every day,” the quarterback cheered loudly for his teammate – even when the scoreboard looked bleak.
“We’re going to come back – I’m telling you,” Allen said when the Tarpons trailed 20-0. “I believe in Jaydon. He’s going to get comfortable, and we’re going to win.”
He did.
And the Tarpons proved that maybe this season isn’t lost after all.
