Senior QB leads THS into 2010

Many football coaches need to look hard to find ways to motivate their teams.

But with a senior-heavy starting lineup returning from two consecutive first round playoff losses, Terrebonne head coach Gary Hill’s team is already in the right mindset entering 2010.

“We’ll be driven,” said senior guard Hunter Breaux. “We came close two years in a row, so the third is going to be the charm. We’re going two deep.”

And with the team’s recent success, Hill said his team’s goals have evolved from competing for district and making the playoffs to winning on both counts.

“The seniors that are here, they want to make it again. They want to be one of those crews that say all three years, we went to the playoffs,” the coach said. “Our goal is to take each game week by week. We want to make the playoffs and then we want to win a playoff game and host a playoff game.”

The Tigers went 6-4 last season, earned the No. 30-seed and lost to the No. 3-seed Acadiana, 37-14, in the first round of the playoffs. In 2008, Terrebonne’s 8-2 regular season mark was only good enough to earn the No. 22-seed, and they lost at the No. 11-seed Rummel 28-14.

“Getting to the first round and losing two years in a row, I don’t think anybody would be happy with that,” Hill said. “We want to make something else happen they can remember for the rest of their lives.”

Leading the Tigers into 2010 will be senior quarterback Mike Williams.

“He’s got a tremendous amount of ability to make things happen inside and outside the pocket,” the coach continued. “He got a good arm, good leadership. The kids really like him. He’s been bonding well with his offensive line.”

Bonding may be important as Terrebonne only returns two starters on its offensive line – senior guards Breaux and Ryan Billiot. Senior Travis Moses will take over at left tackle and senior Joey Pellegrin will anchor the group at center. Hill said he has not named a starter at right tackle yet.

Running a spread offense, Terrebonne will scatter the field with multiple receivers.

“We don’t have those big, tremendous linemen like some teams have,” Hill said. “Some teams go wing-T out of that. Some teams go spread like we do. We’re trying to get the most out of our players.”

Hill said seniors Kirby Bonvillain, Craig Nelson, Ross Dufrene, Cameron Pellegrin and Zamir Byrd will get the majority of the reps at wide receiver.

“We put a lot of athletes on the field,” said Williams. “Just get it in their hands and let them do what they do.”

At running back, junior Robert Gordon will get the nod, and even though the Tigers run the spread, Hill expects quite a lot out of his young back.

“Robert is probably the guy we’re going to ask to do the most,” Hill said. “He’s the guy who moves around the most in the offense. They have to know where to be at all times, and when we do throw the ball, they’re going to be asked to block. They’re not just a decoy, so they’ve got to step up and make a lot of plays for us.”

Defensively, the Tigers look to build on a unit that gave the Bayou District fits a year ago.

“With our defense the way it is right now, all we have to do is put up a couple points and be all right,” Williams said. “It eases me to know that I won’t have to be on my best game at all times and score every possession.”

Terrebonne only returns four starters defensively, but most importantly play-making machine Devante Clark comes back for his senior year.

“He’s not a big kid, but he makes a lot of things happen with his speed,” Hill said. “He comes free a lot, but what makes him tough is you may get a block on him, but he’s going to chase it down some kind of way. He wants to get to the ball. That’s his biggest asset.”

The middle linebacker made a whopping 147 tackles, 10 sacks and three forced fumbles a year ago.

Also returning defensively will be cornerback Pat Ward and safeties Bonvillain and Nelson.

But the safeties won’t be the only players going both ways for Terrebonne. Starting offensive linemen Breaux, Billiot, Moses and Joey Pellegrin look to see quite a bit of time on the defensive line in a rotational bases, and starting tight end Dylan Breaux will play outside linebacker as well.

Hill said his players are ready for the challenge of playing both ways in 2010.

“The main goal is to be the best we can at all times on the field,” he said. “Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of guys who can play special teams and sub these guys at certain times in their position on both sides of the ball, and that always helps to keep them fresh.”

Breaux said he along with other players have done extra conditioning drills in the offseason in order to face the riggers of playing both ways.

“We worked hard this summer so we should be in pretty good shape,” Bonvillain said. “We should be well prepared to go both ways.”

Terrebonne High Tigers

District 8-5A

Sept. 3 @ Ellender

Sept. 10 Lafayette

Sept. 16 John McDonogh

Sept. 24 Thibodaux*

Oct. 1 @ South Lafourche*

Oct. 8 @ Assumption*

Oct. 15 Central Lafourche*

Oct. 22 @ South Terrebonne*

Oct. 29 @ New Iberia

Nov. 5 H.L. Bourgeois*

* Denotes district game

Coach: Gary Hill

Assistant Coaches: Chris Dugas, Zack Chauvin, Nick Guidry, Charles McElroy, Joe Clement, Peter Barrilleaux, James Frank, Bryant Domangue, Daniel Roane, Chris Harris, Kit Williams

Record last season: 6-5

Returning Starters: 7 on offense, 4 on defense

Players to Watch: Quarterback Mike Williams, linebacker Devante Clark, guard Hunter Breaux, cornerback Pat Ward

Primary Strength: Senior leadership

Fun FACTS

2: The number of years the Tigers have lost in the first round of the playoffs

147: The number of tackles Terrebonne linebacker Devante Clark recorded last year

4: The number of receivers the Tigers normally utilize in their spread attack