Lafourche Parish shows signs of slow return to normalcy
September 16, 2008Southdown Plantation House/The Terrebonne Museum (Houma)
September 18, 2008
It wasn’t Friday Night Football, but for one team in the Tri-parish area it was just as good.
After Hurricane Gustav rendered the first two weeks of the high school football season non-existent for most area teams, the E.D. White Cardinals and the Assumption Mustangs moved their game from Friday night to Saturday afternoon to accommodate Mustang Stadium, which was still without electricity.
It became evident right from the start that Saturday’s game was no ordinary football game.
Throughout the game military helicopters circled the stadium, while National Guard members parked their vehicles outside the stadium and watched the first two quarters of the game.
“I saw helicopters flying around and the guard in the stands and I was like ‘Wow,'” Assumption second-year head coach Shawn Preston said. “It was obvious this wasn’t just a football game. It meant so much more. It was good to be able to entertain them for at least a little while.”
For fans, coaches and players it was a chance to watch football without worrying about recovery for at least three hours.
It was supposed to be the second game of the season, but after more than a week of tracking down players and organizing one practice, both teams put on the pads in a regular season game for the first time.
For Preston and E.D. White head coach Kyle Lasseigne and their respective teams, it was a sense of normalcy for the first time since the start of school.
Since many in the Napoleonville area are still without electricity, Lasseigne said the game was a bit of good news for the area first time in over two weeks.
“It’s good to play,” Lasseigne said. “We all wanted to play. It’s time to get back into it. Get back into football and get our kids back to the point where we were before all this happened. It set all of us back, but it’s good to be back to football. It was a good game to watch from the fan’s perspective.”
Lost in the excitement of finally being able to play football was his team’s desire to win.
When the Mustangs Darius Bell rumbled 25 yards for the first touchdown of the season with 10:16 to play in the second quarter there were cheers from one half of the stadium.
And when the Cardinals responded on a one-yard run by Michael Andolsek, to tie the game at seven with 3:01 to play in the same quarter, there were cheers from the other half of the stadium.
By the time halftime came, the Cardinals held a 13-7 lead when Dylan Ledet scampered 14 yards, fans from both teams anxiously counted down the start of the second half and the talk was solemnly on football.
“There’s no excuses because everybody in this area is going through the same thing,” Preston exclaimed. “I was just glad we could get the game in. We had a pretty good crowd here today. Overall it worked out.”
Not that he was complaining. Both teams struggled early, but by the time the second half came around, the tempo of the game changed and football was football again.
Leonard Buggage put the Mustangs back on top 14-13 with a two-yard run with 1:16 to play in the third quarter. They added to their lead when Trevin Davis intercepted Tyler Duplantis’ pass and took it 62 yards for another score.
Despite being the first game back, the referees weren’t impartial as an unsportsmanlike conduct call moved the extra point back 15 yards. It was missed and the score remained 20-13.
At that moment, the stadium held its breath when Jordan Arcement took the kickoff 80 yards for the touchdown, to tie the score at 20.
It was only fitting the opening game was decided by a touchdown as Duplantis sealed the game with a 39-yard scoring run with 3:38 to play. The score eventually gave the Cardinals the 27-20 win.
Still, even after the win, Lasseigne didn’t dwell on it. He was just happy to be back out on the field with his team.
“Our kids were calling me the day after the storm wondering when we were coming back,” he said. “I knew they were anxious to get back, I was too. We got problems back home and at school but this helps us forget it for a little while and get back to face what we can face. It was great to be able to play a good football game for once.”
In fact, even in the loss, Preston didn’t talk about the bad, but instead the good.
“We had a much better showing than what we did in the past,” he said. “We just made mistakes at critical times that cost us the football game. We know what we have to do to correct that now. Everyone needed this game. Someone had to lose. It was a great game and it was finally great to play.”
He added, “Athletics is important to the community. The fan support was great. It was a good deal today. It felt like more than just a football game. We needed to get it in not just for us but for the community.”
