Acadia Parish teams set for jamboree action

CROWLEY – Area prep football fans got a small taste of what is in store for their local teams last week when each of the five Acadia Parish teams participated in their annual scrimmages.
Tonight, four of those teams - Crowley High, Church Point, Iota and Rayne - will be in action again when they participate in the Acadia Parish Jamboree at Church Point High School.
Crowley High will take on Iota at 6:30 p.m. while the host Bears will take on Rayne shortly after.
“It’s the last dress rehearsal for us and we’re excited about it,” said Crowley High coach Josh Fontenot. “What we like about it is the special teams’ aspect of it. It’s the first time you get to run your punt team out there and it’s the first time for the kids to line up on the sideline and get it right.
“You’re probably going to have a breakdown at some point, but hopefully you can keep it to a minimum with substitutions and things like that. We’re just looking to come out of it as clean and healthy as we can.”
As for as the opponent, Fontenot says Iota will be a good measuring stick for his team.
“I haven’t seen much on Iota in the past, but coach (Neal) Legé does a real good job with the defense so you know they’re going to be where they need to be and they are going to play hard,” said Fontenot.
Offensively, Fontenot will be matching wits with a former member of his own staff, coach Josh Andrus, who took over this year as Iota’s offensive coordinator. Andrus worked with Fontenot and the Gents’ offense the last two seasons before taking the job with the Bulldogs.
“Coach Andrus went over there and kind of gave them a new look on offense and they are working through it,” said Fontenot. “As far as his strategy goes and his offensive mind, it’s hard to replace a guy like that. He knows a lot of football and he’s a good coach.”
For Legé, the scrimmage is just another step in building for the season opener next week.
Legé’s Bulldogs return six starters on offense and just two on defense so his main concern is still finding the players to fill in the gaps.
“We’re trying to play a bunch of guys right now and give some guys some looks to see who and who can’t help us,” said Legé. “You’re getting ready to start your season, so this is pretty much your last rehearsal.
“We do have some guys banged up a little, some we will hold out, and we will limit some of our guy’s touches. But at the same time, you want to get a good look at your guys and that’s what the jamboree is for.”
Legé says his squad will be challenged in the scrimmage, especially on the defensive side of the ball against the Gents, who return the bulk of their skill players.
“Their tailback is a good athlete, their wideouts are good athletes and their quarterback executes well,” said Legé. “It’s going to be a good test for us. I think Crowley is a little more athletic at certain positions than Eunice or Kaplan was so it gives us a chance to see how our guys matchup against certain people.
“We just have to tackle a little better than we did in the scrimmage. It (things to work on) is things that we saw that we’ve gone back to and we’re trying to correct this time of the year.”
The final game of the night will pit the homestanding Bears against longtime rival Rayne.
The two teams were district foes for years before Rayne moved up to Class 4A two years ago. During their final two seasons as league opponents, the Bears and the Wolves played each other in the regular season and the playoffs each year.
“Anytime you play a school that’s close and you’ve played them twice two years consecutively, the kids will get up for it,” said Church Point coach J.C. Arceneaux. “But the approach we’re taking is that it is a glorified practice and we’re just trying to get better at the things we need to get better at.”
The Bears, who advanced to the Class 3A state quarterfinals for the first time in the school’s history in the 2013, return five starters on offense and seven on defense.
That experience should go a long way in the Bears’ making another deep playoff push.
“A lot of our guys have experience and even a lot of our guys that weren’t starters got to play significant time last year,” said Arceneaux. “Like I said, we’re just trying to come out and get better and be ready for Week 1 when it counts.”
Rayne coach Curt Ware is also looking for improvement in his squad that struggled at times last week in their scrimmage with Catholic High of New Iberia.
“Up front, we have some work to do as we found out in the scrimmage,” said Ware. “We have three new guys up there and they have to step up. It was just a little too fast for them last week.
“And the defensive line is the same way; we have two new starters there; that’s where we have to improve over the next two weeks because our skill guys have a chance to be pretty good.”
KIWANIS JAMBOREE
For the second time in two weeks, the Notre Dame Pioneers and the St. Thomas More Cougars will square off on the gridiron.
The Pios and the Cougars played in their annual scrimmage last Thursday and the two teams will hook up once again this evening in the second game of the Lafayette Kiwanis Jamboree at Teurlings Catholic.
Opelousas Catholic and Vermilion Catholic will take the field for the first game at 6 p.m. while Lafayette Christian and Westminster will play in the night cap.
“You go into the jamboree and the scoreboard is on and you’re in full uniform; so anytime they are going to put points up there, it adds a little bit to it,” said ND coach Lewis Cook. “You want to come out of there looking decent, but we’re going to be pretty basic in what we are doing. We’re not trying to go in there and trick anybody. We want to be fundamentally sound and look for great effort from the kids.
“Next week, the sense of urgency is going to pick up and it will be a little more serious, but we’re anxious to get a chance to go and find out where we are.”
Cook said the jamboree is still part of the preseason phase and he admits that a win or a loss isn’t that important. But even though it doesn’t mean much, a victory is still much better than a loss.
“You’re still looking for who will be able to play in the moment, when the game is on the line,” said Cook. “The outcome is really not important. But they are keeping score so somebody will say they won and somebody will say they lost. But that’s not the most important thing at this particular time.”