Hilda Voisin Buquet
August 25, 2009
Mary Little McFarland
August 27, 2009
Football clichés say that defense and running the ball win championships.
Nobody is a bigger believer in the old adages than second-year H.L. Bourgeois Braves coach Joe Riley.
The defense will definitely be the team’s strength for the 2009 season. The unit returns six starters including a front four – senior tackles Damien Jacobs and Peter Verrett, and ends junior Antonual Brown and sophomore Donovan Babineaux – that Riley considers one of the state’s best.
“My defensive staff does a great job. I don’t want to put any pressure on them, but I expect big things out of the defense this year,” he said. “Pound for pound, if you look at us up front, we’re going to be good.”
Anchoring the line is Jacobs, one of the state’s top recruits. The All-State honorable mention selection recorded 88 tackles (65 solo) and 11 sacks last season.
He is being recruited by such Division I schools as Arkansas, Florida State, Ole Miss, Nebraska, Tulane, LA Tech, Tulsa, South Alabama and Florida International. This summer he attended football camps at LSU, Tennessee, Auburn and Florida State.
“It was a great experience. I got a chance to show a lot of college scouts what I can do,” Jacobs said.
Despite all the attention, Jacobs’ focus is on improving the Braves’ 3-5 overall record (2-4 in District 8-5A) from last year.
“We know people are expecting a lot from the defense. The coaches have been pushing us much harder this summer,” he said. “The defense is going to have to work hard every practice and game because we’re young on offense. We have to pick up the slack so those young guys can learn as the season goes on.”
Riley has been impressed with the way Jacobs has handled himself throughout the recruiting process.
“At first he was caught up in the ‘Why I’m not a five-star recruit,'” the head coach said. “I talked to him and said, ‘Look, if you can play, we’re going to make sure the scouts come see you.'”
“When the attention started coming, he enjoyed it and is taking full advantage of it,” Riley added. “He’s in the weight room and running every day because he has to be on the field at all times for us this year. Got to.”
The Braves will have three new linebackers this season – juniors Justin Boudreaux, Andrew Legnon and Kendall Gassery.
In the secondary, new starting safeties sophomore Beau Moore and junior William Walker will be alongside returning senior starting cornerbacks Jared Rivere and Stanley Lyons, who led the team with five interceptions last year.
“We’re going to be flying to the football. That’s our mentality on defense,” Riley said.
The Braves lost 10 offensive starters from a year ago, including running backs Jemere LaGarde, Caleb Williams and Sean Harvey who gained nearly 2,500 yards combined.
Still, Riley believes the Wing-T offense will continue to function without them.
“We’ll miss those guys but we’ve been running this offense since 2003,” he explained. “We know if we put our backs in the right spots, the running game is going to take care of itself. They may not be as flashy as Caleb or tough as Sean or Jereme, but they’re young and eventually will get there.”
Unlike in years past, junior starting quarterback Tyler Doiron will be called on to throw more this season.
A torn shoulder injury kept him out of action the entire 2008 season, but Riley expects big things out of him this year.
“We’re going to pass when the opportunity presents itself, but we have to be efficient,” he said. “If we can throw it just a little bit, that can open up opportunities in our running game.”
The lone returning offensive starter is senior tackle Ryan Ocker.
Besides Doiron, the other new starters are sophomores DeQunicy Dunmiles and Carl Brown and junior Aaron Coffman at running back; senior Dylan Ciaburri and Josh Aleman at receiver; and seniors Tee Parker, Travis Clark and Wesley Cherry and sophomore Mark Fitch on the offensive line.
Senior Jordan McCormick will handle kicking and punting duties this season.
Riley predicts the 2009 season will be a wide open and competitive race for the District 8-5A crown.
“The good thing about this district is on any given Friday, anybody can win. You have to come with you’re ‘A’ game every week,” he said. “We’re going to play good sound defense, run the football, slow the game down, hope the other team makes a mistake, and we have to capitalize off that mistake. We’re going to have an offense and a defense that will allow us to be in the game every quarter.
After missing the playoffs for the first time in four years last season, the H.L.Bourgeois Braves senior class is looking for redemption in the 2009 campaign. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF
