Tigers are young, but talented in 2018

Last year, a youthful Terrebonne High School team surprised District 7-5A and won seven games, despite a small senior class.

This year, it may be Thibodaux’s turn to follow the same blue print.

The Tigers are young, but talented in 2018, possessing a small senior class, but a huge pool of juniors and sophomores that will eat up a lot of the starting spots on the team’s depth chart.

Thibodaux coach Chris Dugas said this is as youthful of a team as he’s ever coached, but quickly added that expectations will not change because of the inexperience. He said his kids are talented and are responding well to the challenges that they’ve been given throughout the offseason.

“I think we can surprise some people,” Dugas said at TGMC Tri-Parish Media Day. “They’re young, but they can play. And they’re not lacking in leadership. We played a lot of these kids last year as sophomores and they were a lot of the guys rallying the locker room and taking leadership roles even then. So we’re excited to see what they can do with the opportunities they’ve been given.”

Offensively, Thibodaux will play two quarterbacks with Tyren Young and Luke Alleman sharing the load under center.

Young, a junior, is a dual threat. He can throw, yes. But he also keeps defenses honest with his elusiveness in the open-field. In addition to that, he’s also a lockdown free safety.

Alleman, a sophomore, is more of a traditional pocket passer. He’s got a big arm and is capable of standing in the pocket and making plays.

Coincidentally enough, he is also a safety.

“Both will play,” Dugas said. “I am not sure we can call either our traditional starter. We will mix and match and try and take advantage of what our opponents present to us defensively as best we can.”

The weapons around either Young or Alleman will be choice grade.

Sophomore halfback Feronte Miller is a future star, despite his youth. The Tigers also have outside playmakers like Darwin Davis, Marquel Price and Davonte Davis. A newcomer into the mix is Kyren Lacy. A basketball standout, Lacy has a 6-foot, 3-inch frame and will be a huge weapon for the Tigers, according to Dugas.

“Those basketball guys come in and they just fit in naturally,” Dugas said. “He’s a big target. He has a huge catch radius. We will just put it out there and trust that he can make a play.”

The Tigers also have beef with Dequincy Gibson and Tyler Rohr working the offensive line.

Defensively, Dugas said Thibodaux isn’t big, but they are fast and the challenge will be to find ways to utilize that speed to their advantage.

Dugas said linebacker is the most stable position on the defense with Hunter Trosclair back, as well as Khalil Brisco.

The Tigers will also count heavily on senior Byron McPherson to tackle the ball carrier.

“That’s our strength and it’s also our place with the most experience,” Dugas said. “We’re looking to that group to really help anchor us and really have a great year.”

The middle of the defense may have returnees, but the front and backs are mostly new. Thibodaux will have an all-new defensive line this year and the secondary returns just one starter, cornerback Josh Holden.

Dugas said Thibodaux has competition for some spots in fall camp and the team will likely utilize players on both sides of the football to make ends meet.

“Tyren Young is a ball hawk at free safety,” Dugas said. “We play him at quarterback, but we need him at free safety, too. We have a few guys who are going to look to see time on both ends for us and some guys will also see a heavy work load on special teams, as well.”

But Dugas said the challenge now is to put it all together on Friday nights — no matter how nice it all looks on paper.

Thibodaux was 4-6 last year, starting 1-6, then finishing 3-0 to clinch a spot in the Class 5A State Playoffs.

What changed in the final three games? Mistakes.

Thibodaux turned over the ball like hot cakes in the first-half of the season, but they limited their mistakes in the back-end, which allowed for the turnaround.

Dugas said the team has prioritized ball security and will look to be more efficient in 2018, despite its youth.

Thibodaux

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