Houma Christian kicks off inaugural season

Bradley Lovell never thought he would see the day. A high school student who has spent his past 12 years at nearby Houma Christian, the junior said having a school football team never crossed his mind.

“Never,” Lovell said. “I didn’t think this would ever happen here.”

Sophomore Nate Frye said he never really thought about playing football much, either, during his 10 years as a student at the school because he never thought it was possible, much less something that was being considered.

But the day has come, and football is now being played at the school. And after the first few weeks in a helmet and pads, the program is catching on in the Houma Christian community.

“We’re going to church and everyone is coming up to us and asking when’s the next game and everything, so it’s very exciting,” Frye said. “Everyone is offering to help with anything we need, whether it’s raising money or just coming to the games to give us support. We’ve gotten a great response so far.”

The man handling the program is the school’s athletics director and now head football coach, Chuck Battaglia.

The team is in the process of playing a four-game junior varsity schedule this season. The team’s inaugural game was played Sept. 1 in a 12-0 loss against Central Catholic.

The coach said he was pleased with how the team’s first-ever game went – considering it was the first time several of his players had ever worn a helmet or pads in their lives.

“This is new for them. A lot of these boys, it’s the first time they’ve ever played before,” Battaglia said. “I can remember, the first day in pads, they were excited to be in the pads, but they weren’t fully sure what needed to be done. But now with a game and a few weeks under our belts, the hits are getting a little bit louder and the sounds are getting a little bit louder. We’re getting better every day.”

But regardless of the outcome, the ceremonial first game marked what is being deemed as a new chapter in the history of the school.

“It’s truly a great feeling having football started up around here,” Battaglia said. “It’s been a vision for quite a few years now, so to see it in place and have that first game under your belt now, you know everything is officially in place and in action. It’s very exciting.”

There are approximately “25-30” players on the Warriors’ roster in this inaugural season.

For some, like Lovell and Frye, each game will serve as a dress rehearsal to gain experience before next season rolls around the corner.

But for others like senior offensive and defensive lineman, Reed Bonvillain, these four games will be all he gets.

That, and the memory of knowing he will forever be one of the original members of the Warriors football team.

“It will be sad to come back and see them playing a full season and not being able to be out there with them,” Bonvillain said. “But I’ll always be happy knowing that I helped start something here. I’ll know that I was always an original member of this football team.”

Following this academic year, Houma Christian will move up in classification from a LHSAA Class B school to a Class 1A school, which will make them eligible to play a full-time season in 2011.

The coach said the Warriors are not sure which district they will be given. But he said he feels comfortable in narrowing it down to two.

“We’re in the middle of two districts,” Battaglia said. “We’re in between going out into Lafayette with Central Catholic and Hanson Memorial and the other Class 1A schools in that area, or being pushed toward the New Orleans area with Ridgewood Prep, Ecole Classique, St. Martin’s and a few other teams in that area. It’s probably going to come down to numbers, and we’ll go to whichever district needs another team added into their district.”

But it doesn’t matter where and whom the Warriors have to play – just playing at all is good enough for Battaglia and the players.

“We’re so happy to have this thing off the ground and moving,” Lovell said. “We can’t wait to keep going and see how this plays out.”

Houma Christian head coach Chuck Battaglia drills his offensive and defensive linemen at a recent practice. The Warriors are playing a four-game junior varsity schedule to prepare for next season’s full-time football debut in Class 1A. CASEY GISCLAIR – TRI-PARISH TIMES