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Sometime in August, several thousand teens will lazily slumber into high school halls in the Houma-Thibodaux area – still tired from all of the thrills that the summer of 2015 brought with it.
About three weeks later when everyone is settled into the daze that students like to call the beginning of a new school year, it’ll be time for something a tad more exciting.
It’ll be time for some football.
Preparations for the 2015 prep football season will be going on at the practice fields of our local high schools throughout August in anticipation for the new season.
Sure, the games don’t officially kick off until early September, but the sport will be heavily in the minds of sports fans throughout the month as scrimmages, jamborees and dozens of practices are taking place.
The 2015 season looks to be loaded with storylines, and several locals have high hopes.
Here are a few things to keep a close eye on as all of the madness unfolds.
WILL THE TIGERS REMAIN KING OF THE JUNGLE?
For the past few seasons, Thibodaux High School has had a dominant football team.
The Tigers finished 6-4 in 2013 and reached the opening round of the Class 5A State Playoffs. One year later, Thibodaux built on that success and were a force, recording a 9-1 regular season mark with the only loss coming against state powerhouse Destrehan.
Thibodaux lost a few stalwarts off last year’s team, including quarterback Peyton Bonvillain, who signed a scholarship with Nicholls in the offseason.
But Tigers coach Chris Dugas has said multiple times throughout the offseason that he thinks his team has plenty left in its locker room to compete.
Thibodaux will be heavily tested this season, facing St. Charles, East Ascension, South Lafourche
and St. Aug in non-district play. They’ll also play Hahnville, Destrehan and East St. John inside of district.
NEW FISH IN CLASS 4A POND
During the 2014 Louisiana High School Athletic Association meetings, schools throughout the state submitted enrollment numbers so that new district battle lines could be drawn.
For most schools, the process is rubber-stamping, as most things usually stay relatively unchanged.
But for South Lafourche High School, the process gave the Tarpons a new home.
Because of a small dip in admissions at the Gallia-no-based school, the Tarpons dropped from Class 5A to Class 4A – a move that makes the school one of the biggest 4A programs in Louisiana.
Instead of facing bears like Hahnville, Destrehan and East St. John in district play, South Lafourche will now compete in a district with schools much closer to its size – programs like South Terrebonne, Vandebilt, Assumption and Morgan City.
The Tarpons have several players returning from last year’s squad, which reached the Class 5A State Playoffs. With returnees like quarterback Harvey Allen, receiver Shakerrin Dillon, halfback Jacob Jackson and several other playmakers, many are expecting South Lafourche to make a run for the Superdome in 2015.
Allen will miss several games with a preseason injury, but even in his absence, the team believes in its large senior class.
CAN MINTON FINALLY GET HIS RING?
Longtime prep football coach Tommy Minton has come close to the State Championships many times in his career.
In 2015, Minton will try to break the ice and earn his first ring.
A longtime playoff hopeful as the head coach at Patterson, Minton is now entering his second go-round at Central Catholic in Morgan City.
In Minton’s first season, the Eagles were pretty darned good, posting a 9-3 record, which included a trip to the Division IV State Quarterfinals.
With a full set of spring practices and a full summer to improve the team’s skill and conditioning, one can easily expect Central Catholic to be back in a big way this fall.
Minton won’t stop his quest until he has a ring resting comfortably on his finger.
CAN CCA TAKE THE NEXT LEAP?
The Covenant Christian Academy football team has steadily risen through the Class 1A ranks in recent years. Now, they’re hungry to break the ice and win championships.
The Lions were the No. 11-seed in Division IV last year, the classification for private schools with Class lA-sized enrollment.
CCA coach Randy Boquet is entering his second season with the local private school, and he thinks his team can make a giant leap forward this year.
Perhaps, the Lions can imitate the school’s baseball team, which overcame a couple years of playoff shortcomings and reached the Class 1A State Semifinals this past spring.
CCA returns quarterback Marquil Daigle and athlete Dylan Sharpe, as well as several musclemen on both the offensive and defensive lines.
WHAT WILL MELVIN DO?
The coaching carousel didn’t spin too much in the offseason, and just one new coach was hired at our area’s 11 high schools.
That would be H.L. Bourgeois head coach Carey Melvin, who took over the Braves program after outgoing coach Daron Franklin resigned to be closer to his family in New Orleans.
Melvin has big shoes to fill, as Franklin was widely considered to have done a good job with H.L. Bourgeois’ program, turning the team from a last-place program into one that won two games this past fall and was competitive in several others.
The Braves return a lot of players from last year’s squad.
But Melvin does land with H.L. Bourgeois with a decorated pedigree as an assistant coach, and it was almost inevitable that he’d eventually become a head coach.
Melvin was the defensive coordinator for Thibodaux for the past several seasons, anchoring and spearheading a group that was among the best in our area.
CAN ELLENDER’S PLAYMAKERS SHINE?
Ellender’s football team had a huge summer.
The challenge is now to parlay that success into the fall.
The Patriots had a lot of success in the summer season, defeating some of the top programs in Louisiana in 7-on-7 competition.
Ellender finished as the runners-up at the prestigious LSU 7-on-7 tournament, defeating Warren Easton, Karr and McMain.
With quarterback Curtis Anderson back and a slew of receivers, including Richard Green, the Patriots will enter the fall with a lot of momentum.
The Covenant Christian Academy football team is expected to be one of the heavy favorites in Class 1A. With several offensive returnees, the Lions are looking to reach the playoffs again under second-year coach Randy Boquet.
South Lafourche head football coach Dennis Skains (center) gives Instructions to players during a drill at practices on Friday afternoon. The Tarpons are one of the favorites In Class 4A after moving down In class from Class 5A where they played last season.
