Wildcats say, ‘1 Heart, 1 Team’ through chaos

High school football approaches something close to the status of religion in many Louisiana communities. But in the river town of Destrehan, wedged between the suburbs of New Orleans and the cane-fields of rural Cajun country, people say it’s even more so.

Divided from the rest of St. Charles Parish by the Mississippi, Destrehan and its east bank neighbors pledge their loyalty to the Fighting Wildcats, a team that has served as a springboard for pro football players as well as a healing salve during some of the community’s most trying times.

Now it is Fighting Wildcat football that is in trouble, as players, administrators, parents and fans cope with accusations of cheating by coaches, whose responsibilities include serving as role models.

Indications are that Destrehan  may be a lot more forgiving than other communities and schools, or football itself.

“Family sometimes makes a bad choice or the wrong decision, but that doesn’t stop them from being family,” said Cheryl Isom, grandmother of star quarterback Donovan Isom. “We love our family and that’s the way. The players and these coaches, they all work together. They understand each other and personally I am sure they are willing to forgive.”

CRIMINAL CHARGES

Details of the scandal have made national news reports and are well-recited at this point. The tale has reverberated within field house walls in Lafourche, Terrebonne, St. Mary and beyond. 

Five coaches have been cited criminally in connection with allegations that the login and password of a student from South Lafourche High were used to access that school’s records on HUDL, a website that houses game film, practice film, schemes and playbooks for football teams.

Authorities allege that the South Lafourche student, described as a disgruntled former Tarpon, gave the login info to assistant coach Ryan Fournier, who worked for South Lafourche before signing on at Destrehan, and who also once played for the Tarpons.

Destrehan was forced to forfeit a win against South Lafourche that occurred within a week of the alleged actions, blemishing what had been an undefeated season record. 

Their Friday night home game against HL Bourgeois High was a 63-8 massacre, and with one more regular season game left, Destrehan is a favorite to play in the league championship at the Superdome.

Discussion of what outsiders see as disgrace but which many in Destrehan see as misadventure or mere indiscretion occurred all week. In the Winn-Dixie parking lot, at Sport’s Pub and Grill nearby, people who left high school long ago weighed the facts as they came to know them.

Not everyone was as forgiving as the quarterback’s family.

“Yes, it was a betrayal,” said Wendy Owens, a school bus driver who has often ferried the team to and from games. “And the team is great on their own. They didn’t need this.”

DEADLY DIVIDE

Hair stylist Ricky Wilson, who once played for the Fighting Wildcats, was shocked and saddened by news of the late unpleasantness. He, like other Destrehan residents, expressed hope that the team would continue on their winning streak undaunted.

“We are hurting for the kids,” said Wilson, “But we know the kids are going to come out of it alright.”

Wilson spoke of his own pride in the current team and the tradition of Destrehan football, recalling his own involvement at a time when the town was still reeling from deep wounds.

Football at the school, he said, aided Destrehan folk through difficult adjustments after desegregation. It was something in which white and black members of the community could find common ground.

And common ground in the 1970s was sorely needed.

Segregation did not come easily to Destrehan, and in 1974 tensions reached a boiling point that included violence at the school. On a fateful October day a white mob of 100 or more overtook a bus full of black students, attacking them with rocks and bottles.

During the fracas a shot was fired and a 13-year-old white child, Timothy Weber, was felled. 

Gary Tyler, a 16-year-old black student who was on the bus, was charged and sentenced to death by electrocution. Due to unrelated court rulings he was re-sentenced to life in prison.

The 5th Circuit US Court of Appeals has ruled that Tyler’s trial was riddled with injustices. But Tyler remains at Angola despite continued pleas for release by supporters who say he was railroaded.

The shooting, Wilson said, woke the community up to a need for conciliation. Football, he maintains, played an important role by helping students and parents reach across what had become a deadly divide. 

Casual observation of sporting events at many south Louisiana schools indicates voluntary segregation in the stands, at a variety of venues.

As promised by Destrehan residents, there was little evidence of that Friday night, what some say is the legacy of the community’s struggle toward unity. Togetherness is something Destrehan residents say is nothing new. But something at Friday’s game was indeed different.

BLACKOUT

Particularly in the area reserved for Destrehan students, many spectators wore black shirts. The team mascot wore a black cape. It was a sign, fans said, of the need to black out the “black cloud” that has hovered over the team since word of the scandal broke.

“We are moving on,” said one parent, Dana Fontenot, explaining the color. “It is blacking out what happened this week, that’s why we are wearing it. It is over with as of tonight, we are moving on.”

Fontenot and another parent, Jackie Breit, went so far as to say that a mistake was made. But they agree with parents who maintain that the accused coaches should not be separated from the team for long. 

“My son loved Coach Fournier, he texted him during the week and asked if he was okay. The coach texted back and said ‘I’m fine.’ They still care about their coaches,” Fontenot said.

“Everybody screws up, everybody makes mistakes,” Breit said. “Unfortunately this was a big mistake. It is over with as of tonight. We are moving on.”

ETHICS VERSUS SPIRIT

That parents and fans in Destrehan may see the scandal as a teaching moment, with a lesson that includes concepts of forgiveness and moving on, sports ethicists don’t quite agree.

Some professors of sports philosophy say the actions of Destrehan’s coaches defile the basics not only of football but sports overall.

But parents and fans who wore either black or the traditional school colors – garnet and gray – made clear that their focus now is on the team’s continued efforts and a championship game at the Superdome.

“I am behind them, the team, the coaches, 100 percent,” said Denise Isom, whose son, Donovan, is already committed to the University of Utah. “When they went out there on that field they played to show we are still a family, that our coaches are still a family, that we can do this in spite of everything. I would not say what they did was wronging the players. You live and you learn. As a Wildcat family member we cannot judge.”

Members of the Destrehan High School student section wear black during Friday night’s game against H.L. Bourgeois – a statement the students made to escape the ‘black cloud’ around the program. The Wildcats’ community said it’s moving forward.

JAMES LOISELLE | TRI-PARISH TIMES