Pushing for more after magical season

Patterson High School football coach Tommy Minton sits back in his office chair and puts both hands behind his head as he readies himself to talk.

The topic of the day is the Lumberjacks’ 2011 season, a subject he’s probably been peppered with questions about for weeks by reporters, coworkers and neighbors in the football-loving Patterson community.

After talking his way through a few questions, Minton is asked about Patterson’s recent successes.

It is then that the veteran coach’s competitive juices begin to get flowing and he opens up about where his program stands.

“In the last seven years, we’ve been to the dome twice, we’ve been to the semifinals another time, so it’s easy to see we’ve survived the road to get there,” Minton said. “Now we’ve just got to get over the hump.

“Now we’ve just got to win the damn thing.”

The ‘damn thing’ is a state title, a prize that’s eluded the school in its football history.

That’s the unquestioned goal for the Lumberjacks in 2011 after finishing as the Class 3A state runners-up last season.

“We weren’t satisfied with going to the dome last year,” Minton said. “Our goal was to win the state championship and that’s our goal again this year. … We feel like we have the talent to make another run.”

The talent Minton references is stacked thick throughout the entire Lumberjacks’ depth chart.

“We’re loaded,” senior quarterback Justice Jones says with a laugh. “We’ve got a lot back.”

Jones is one of those heralded returnees, returning for his senior season after tossing for 2,373 yards and 24 touchdowns as a junior.

Joining Jones will be an assortment of All-State weapons, including wide receiver and Vanderbilt commitment Jaydrick Declouet and halfback and Houston commitment Trevon Stewart.

“It feels great,” Jones says fighting back a smile. “I feel like I can get the ball to anybody at any time. It’s like I can’t go wrong.”

The obvious name missing in Patterson’s offensive spread is All-American halfback Kenny Hilliard, who graduated this past winter after compiling a state-record of 8,603 yards in his Lumberjacks’ career.

Minton said Hilliard’s departure forced him to call upon Stewart to play offense after previously serving as a defensive back and wildcat back.

So far, so good, Minton believes he’s found another dominant back.

“Had Kenny not been here last year, Trevon would have been a 1,500-yard guy,” Minton said. “He’s explosive.”

“I like to play both sides of the ball,” Stewart said. “So it really doesn’t matter to me. Whatever helps the team win games.”

The biggest question marks for the Jacks offensively are along their front line where they lost four of five starters.

The lone returnee is senior Treylon Jenkins, who Minton believes will rally together the team’s new starters.

“He’s really done a great job trying to pull that group together,” Minton said. “He’s a tough, great kid with a great work ethic.

“We’re younger up front, but we’re a whole lot more athletic than we were last year. These kids are better athletes who can move their feet better. But we’re not quite as big and physical, so we’ll see how it trades off.”

The same youth movement is going on in the trenches for the Lumberjacks’ defense, as Patterson will replace two starters on their front four.

But that transition may come easy for the Patterson because of the team’s weapons at linebacker.

Senior and four-star Florida commitment Lorenzo Phillips joins fellow All-State performer Tremaine Lightfoot to make up arguably the best one-two linebacker punch in the state.

Minton said he has complete confidence in that duo’s to make special things happen for Patterson’s defense.

He added the key will be the team’s young linemen allowing the playmakers to swarm freely across the field.

“We need to keep those guys clean,” Minton said. “We need to keep blockers off of them so they can make plays for us. Basically, that’s the plan on that side of the ball.”

Jones said from what he’s seen Minton’s plan appears to be working and he believes the team has the talent to be better than last year’s unit.

“We’re solid on that side,” the quarterback said. “We see them every day in practice and they definitely look good.”

Like most teams around the state, Patterson will be in a different district in 2011. The Lumberjacks will now compete in a more western-based district with traditional powers like Abbeville and Kaplan, both of whom the Jacks defeated in the playoffs last season.

Minton said he doesn’t believe the team’s new district is any more or less difficult than the previous one, which pitted the team with more local schools like E.D. White and West St. Mary.

Regardless of the district, the final road ultimately leads back to the dome.

This time, the Jacks don’t plan to be on the short end of the stick.

“We just got to execute, just like anybody else, we’ve just got to go out there and play every down,” Jones said. “Just stay humble and do what we’ve got to do. If we do that, we’ll have a chance to get back there and hopefully win it this time.”

Minton took it a step further and said his team will need to stick together to recreate last season’s magic.

He added he already sees that in several players’ willingness to change positions for the better of the team.

“We have a good senior group,” Minton said. “But it’s like I told the guys, every year in 3A, there’s probably seven to 10 teams who can win the state championship. But the one to do it will be the one who pulls together, has good team chemistry and doesn’t have distractions along the way. The team that takes all of those intangibles and lumps them with their talent, that’s going to be the team that wins it.

“That’s our challenge, to be that team.”

Patterson Lumberjacks

District 9-3A

Sept. 2 vs. Crowley

Sept. 9 at Central Lafourche

Sept. 16 vs. St. James

Sept. 23 vs. North Vermilion*

Sept. 30 at Berwick*

Oct. 7 vs. Kaplan*

Oct. 14 at Abbeville*

Oct. 21 at Jeanerette

Oct. 28 at Franklin*

Nov. 4 vs. Erath*

* Denotes district game

Coach: Tommy Minton

Assistant Coaches: Chad Blanchard, Donald Cox, Garrett Grogan, William Harris, Ryan Jensen, Wardell Johnson, Mark Millet, Coby Minton, Jared Ross, Ryan Taylor, Scott Tregle

Record last season: 12-3

Returning Starters: 11

Players to Watch: Justice Jones, Lorenzo Phillips, Trevon Stewart

Primary Strength: Championship experience

Fun FACTS

3: The number of times Patterson has been to the state semifinals or better in the past seven seasons

8,603: The number of rushing yards former Patterson halfback Kenny Hilliard posted in his career

12: The number of consecutive Patterson wins to roll to the Superdome after an 0-2 start to 2010