Loving ourselves, our neighbor and God are at the heart of our religion
November 9, 2017
10 years later, charges are filed
November 9, 2017
The old adage says that we learn something new every day, right?
Well, I know that to be true – now more than ever.
This past week, I innocently made a few online polls to get a little help from our readers in naming our award winners for the 2017 prep football regular season.
I expected 70 votes – maybe 100 if we were lucky.
Yeah, I learned that Houma-Thibodaux loves its high school football, because we got THOUSANDS of votes – a number which truly shows how deeply you guys care about sports in our area.
So without further ado, let’s hand out some Casey Awards for the 2017 season. Your online votes were heavily factored into my decision making for
these, but on a few, I overruled the audience and went against the grain.
Please note that the votes we counted are only the ones from Tuesday to Friday at midnight.
A computer error kept polls over the weekend, but original rules set for polls to close on Friday at midnight.
Thank you all so much for participation and thank you all for an amazing season!
2017 QUARTERBACK OF THE YEAR
Online Results (as of Friday at midnight) -1,189 ballots cast, Andrew Robison, 575 votes (48.3%), Brandon LeGendre, 542 votes (45.5%), DaMarcus Mitchell, 72 votes (6.1%)
My winner: Andrew Robison
Look, let me say right off the bat that you can’t go wrong with any of these three kids leading your football team. DaMarcus Mitchell pushed Thibodaux past a 1-6 start and into the playoffs with three-straight wins – a true sign of grit from any teenager. Likewise, E.D. White quarterback Brandon LeGendre and the Cardinals are arguably the best team in the area, including a 9-1 record in 2017, which hopefully will lead to a deep playoff push. But I agree without audience and go with Robison, because of the circumstances surrounding the season. Vandebilt’s skill guys have been absolutely ravished and depleted by injury, but the Terriers still found ways to score points in a 7-3 season. For that reason, I give the slight edge to Robison over LeGendre, though it was razor thin just like the online vote.
2017 COACH OF THE YEAR
Online Results (as of Friday at midnight)- 983 ballots cast, Chris Bergeron, 394 votes (40.1%), Blake Forsythe, 248 votes (25.2%), Jeremy Atwell, 201 votes (20.4%), Gary Hill, 78 votes (7.9%), Chuck Battaglia, 62 votes (6.3%)
My winner: Chris Bergeron
I agree with the winner here, but I don’t like the order. I think the job that Bergeron has done with the Cardinals this season is nothing short of incredible – jumping the team from three wins last year to a 9-1 ride in 2017. But I’m not sure our readers gave enough love to Terrebonne coach Gary Hill, who pushed Terrebonne to a ridiculously good season in a brutally tough district. If it were me, I’d have gone Bergeron, Hill, Forsythe, Atwell, then Battaglia – something like that. But what do I know? Either way, congratulations to all five of the above-listed coaches for an outstanding job this season.
2017 LINEMAN OF THE YEAR
Online Results (as of Friday at midnight)- 2,291 ballots cast, Chad Cheramie, 749 votes (32.7%), Josh Becnel, 557 votes (24.3%), Sedrick Williams, 414 votes (18.1%), Darius Richard, 380 votes (16.6%), Jacob Danos, 117 votes (5.1%) and Tyrese Burton, 74 votes (3.2%)
My winner: Chad Cheramie
Goodness, this poll got so many votes, I feel like we need a run-off or something to decide the final winner. But I go with the audience and ride with Chad Cheramie because of his consistent play for a Tarpons offense that runs the football probably 75-80 percent of the time. Cheramie is a four-year starter for South Lafourche and is one heck of a player – a guy who will be playing football after the season ends on Saturday’s. Looking back, I really hated that we had to do offensive and defensive linemen together in this one, because Sedrick Williams, Darius Richard and Jacob Danos are all dominant players in their own right. But the voters gave the love and the votes to the offensive linemen on this one.
2017 DEFENSIVE PLAYMAKER OF THE YEAR
Online Results (as of Friday at midnight)-1,691 ballots cast, Collin DeSandro, 550 votes (32.5%), Brennan Patterson, 415 votes (24.5%), Jeremy Rogers, 355 votes (21.0%), J’Amire Mott, 273 votes (16.1%), Mason Turner, 98 votes (5.8%)
My winner: Collin DeSandro
If you guys didn’t pick Collin DeSandro as the winner here, I was going to get on Twitter and do my best Donald Trump impersonation, complaining about how the polled were rigged and the system was unjust. Jokes aside, DeSandro was an easy choice for me, though it’s hard to bet against Jeremy Rogers, too, because he’s an outstanding player, as well. But I’ve watched E.D. White in person once and I’ve watched them on tape three or four times and the tape looks the same every, single time. DeSandro is undersized, but he finds the football and makes every, single tackle for the Cardinals. Pound-for-pound, that kid might be the MVP of local prep football for all of 2017, because the impact he makes on the Cardinals’ defense is overlooked, but is invaluable. Also, I want to give a shoutout to J’Amire Mott at Ellender, as well, because that kid just finds the football. It’s a shame the Patriots didn’t get more wins to earn that young man some recognition, because he can sure play.
2017 OFFENSIVE PLAYMAKER OF THE YEAR
Onlino Roeults (ae of Friday at midnight)-4,867 ballots cast, Je’Corie’ Ward, 1,859 votes (38.2%), Brennan Rogers, 1186 votes (24.4%), Nik Shanklin, 528 votes (10.8%), David Robinson, 426 votes (8.8%), Reginald Williams, 335 votes (6.9%), Corbin Allen, 282 votes (5.8%), Keshawn James, 223 votes (4.6%), Davonte Johnson, 28 votes (0.6%)
My winner: Je’Corie’ Ward and Corbin Allen
First off, congratulations to Je’Corie’ Ward for winning our online vote. That kid is amazing with the football and he makes plays all over the field in every phase for a Christian Warriors team that is going to the Division IV State Playoffs. OK, but I couldn’t just leave it at that – not if I wanted to sleep at night. Before I justify giving Corbin Allen a piece of this title, I want to say that David Robinson is the single best football player I’ve seen this season. That guy is unbelievably good and Nicholls State University is getting a guy who is going to have an immediate impact. If the Trojans would have made the playoffs, I’d have probably given him the title outright. But I give a piece of this award to Allen, because there is no player in the area more valuable to his team than Allen is to the Tarpons. South Lafourche is run heavy and Allen is their primary rusher. Teams know he’s getting the football, but still can’t stop him. He’s been injured for the past 11 quarters for the Tarpons and they’ve not been the same team – not even close. Seeing that made me have to give him a piece of this prize. He deserves it.
