VCHS determined to go further in playoffs in 2010

Last season was a success in many ways for the Vandebilt Catholic High School program.

A 4-1 district record, second place finish and first-round road playoff victory over Sam Houston.

But thanks to a non-district schedule that featured four opponents that wound up winning playoff games, Vandebilt finished the regular season 5-5, and it all came crashing down when the Terriers returned home in the second round of the playoffs and lost to Karr by the score of, 46-9.

“We tasted victory in the playoffs last year, I think that’s important,” said Vandebilt head coach Laury Dupont. “The kids believe they can win. That’s an intangible that you can’t teach. You’ve got to just believe it.”

But with a strong and experienced senior class returning, Dupont hopes their leadership can lead Vandebilt past the second round of the playoffs.

“We just try to make everybody at practice pay attention and keep it serious,” said senior quarterback T.J. Cantrelle. “No joking around, so try to keep it to where nobody is goofing off and everybody is prepared for the task at hand.”

Running the spread offense, Cantrelle looks to improve upon his 11 rushing and nine passing touchdowns a year ago.

But Cantrelle will have to wait a bit to lock horns in his final season, as the senior is expected to miss the first few games of the season after spraining his ankle in P.E. class on Thursday.

The quarterback is one of seven returning starters on the offensive side of the football.

Joining Cantrelle in the backfield will be fellow senior leader and returning All-District selection Hunter Perry, who also rushed for 11 touchdowns last season.

But Perry knows his production is helped in great part by returning All-District offensive linemen Luke Spinella at center, Ched Harson at right tackle and Ryan Daigle at left tackle.

“Having three returning starters in front of me will help out a lot. Maybe we’ll score more,” Perry said. “They are good, and they deserved the All-District.”

Scoring was a problem for Vandebilt in their six losses but not in their six wins.

The Terriors averaged a measly 7.8 points per game in their six defeats but a whopping 31.2 points per game in their six victories.

Defensively, the Terriers gave up 22.75 points per game, but the return of All-State defensive end Nick LeBlanc and linebacker Seth Ward should bode well for a defense that returns four other starters.

Ward led the team with 105 tackles as a sophomore last season.

“I hope I can set bigger goals and have more tackles this year,” he said.

But due to the graduation of last year’s middle linebacker Ches Morrison, Dupont has moved Ward from outside linebacker to middle linebacker – a transition Dupont said should be no problem for the athlete.

“He can handle that. That was the easy move,” the coach said. “The guys we’ll have to put on the outside, it’ll be interesting to see if they can handle it.”

Dupont added the competition for the outside linebacker spots rages on.

Also returning on defense is senior cornerback Darren Kitchen. After intercepting two passes last season, Kitchen received All-District honors and scholarship offers from Kansas, Memphis, Nebraska, Southern Miss and Stanford.

The Terrier kicking game looks to be solid as All-State kicker Michael Blanchard returns for his senior year after converting 15-of-21 field goals and 28-of-32 extra points a year ago.

Because of a lack of depth on both sides of the ball, Dupont said Vandebilt will place offensive starters in backup defensive roles and defensive starters in backup offensive roles for the first time in his tenure.

“Last year, everybody was either on offense or defense. So this year, if fatigue or injuries set in, we might have a defensive person play some offense or an offensive person play some defense,” he explained. “If there’s a weakness to our team, it’s our depth.”

Along with a lack of depth, Dupont said his team lacks overall team speed, and therefore, he made a modification to the team’s summer workouts, which he hopes will help on both fronts.

“We did a lot of speed work this summer, because our overall team speed is not where it needs to be – instead of heavy, heavy conditioning,” he said. “If we can stay healthy, we’ve got a chance. Our kids believe we can win. Our kids practice hard. We had a really good summer program this summer.”

The Terriers open the season at home against E.D. White and play the same four playoff winners they lost to last season, but players and coaches are confident this senior group will lead Vandebilt back to the postseason.

“I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to make it to the playoffs,” said LeBlanc. “I just hope we can go further in the playoffs than we did last year – just keep progressing and doing better and better.”

Vandebilt Catholic Terriers

Sept. 3 E.D. White

Sept. 10 @ St. Charles

Sept. 17 Assumption at Nicholls’ Stadium

Sept. 24 South Lafourche

Oct. 1 @ Hahnville

Oct. 8 @ Belle Chasse*

Oct. 15 Ellender*

Oct. 22 @ Morgan City*

Oct. 29 @ Lutcher*

Nov. 5 Helen Cox*

* Denotes district game

Coach: Laury Dupont

Assistant Coaches: Don

Rodrigue, Josh Constant, Ben Powell, Erik Peterson, David Constant, Jerry Martin, Corey Sullivan, Brad Villivaso, Ashton Cagnolatti, Matt Falgout, Calvin Buxton

Record last season: 6-6

Returning Starters: 7 on offense, 6 on defense

Players to Watch: Defensive end Nick LeBlanc, linebacker Seth Ward, cornerback Darren Kitchen, quarterback T.J. Cantrelle

Primary Strength: Returnees on offense

Fun FACTS

105: The number of tackles recorded by linebacker Seth Ward a year ago

73: The total points kicker Michael Blanchard contributed to the team last year

7: The number of offensive starters returning for the Terriers

Vandebilt Catholic seniors (from left) Jeffrey Ross, David Pitre, Nick LeBlanc, Ched Harson, Luke Spinella, T.J. Cantrelle, Dillon Rhodes, Michael Blanchard, Ryan Daigle and David Breerwood are ready to roll into 2010. RICHARD FISCHER TRI-PARISH TIMES