Westgate football’s Joshua John gets extra yardage after a catch
Westgate football’s Joshua John gets extra yards after a catch during the Tigers scrimmage against Carencro at Tiger Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024.
No one from Acadiana football’s 2023 team will forget how last season ended.
“It was a tragic ending,” said Keldrick Francis, Acadiana’s senior linebacker. “We worked so hard and we got so far, and to get that far and just lose, it was just tragic. You wouldn’t wish that on your worst enemy.”
The Wreckin’ Rams didn’t have enough to get past Catholic on the biggest stage of high school football in Louisiana. They had pulled off miraculous wins to get to the Louisiana High School Athletics Association Division I Select championship. But, they ended the season on a sour note by losing 55-31 to the Bears.
Head coach Matt McCullough and his staff have spent the next few months since that loss preparing this year’s team to avenge last year’s heartbreak.
Dealing with the heartbreak
The aftermath of the Wreckin’ Rams state championship loss was a chip on the team’s shoulder.
“We had got to the Superdome, and it was a long day that day,” Francis said. “After we lost, I just didn’t want to play football for a little while. It just didn’t feel right and after losing big like that you never wanna lose again. It made us hungry.”
Tasting bitter defeat made Acadiana hungry.
And, for Francis, it lit a fire inside him — driving him to give it his all during the off-season. After being on varsity since his sophomore year, the 5-foot-10, 195-pound athlete earned his starting position as the Wreckin’ Rams’ outside linebacker for the upcoming season.
He worked on lateral drills, sprints, jumping drills and spent countless hours in the weight room and running the stairs of the newly renovated Bill Dotson Stadium.
“My biggest goal other than making it back to the Superdome is to keep my starting spot,” Francis said. “We got all these people on the team that can make it happen and I believe in everybody on this team.”
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Preparation is key
Acadiana’s 2023 season was full of promise as it ran through the Class 5A District 3 winning the District championship with a perfect 8-0 record. In non-district play, the Wreckin’ Rams were just as competitive — ending the year with an 11-3 overall record. In the postseason, they had notable wins against Carencro, Holy Cross, and Edna Karr.
“I thought we played well down the stretch, just didn’t finish off well in the state championship,” McCullough said. “So, of course, we were disappointed and the juniors, I think, took it tough too, because they wanted to come back and have an opportunity. This year’s group has that opportunity.”
Keys for the Wreckin’ Rams to cash in on this new opportunity are preparation and consistency. That game week preparation got its first trial run last week when they traveled to Alexandria to play in their first scrimmage.
“Our motto is, always, is trying to be tougher mentally and physically than the other team, but, our guys understand that if you prepare right on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday then we’re gonna have a chance to compete and win any game we play,” McCullough said.
Typically the Wreckin’ Rams go hard at the beginning of the week running various drills for the different skill positions. Tuesday, during the school’s athletic period, is when special teams get run and Thursdays are typically for film and practicing game day situations in helmets.
That game week preparation got its first trial run last week when they traveled to Alexandria to play in their first scrimmage. Acadiana handled the Trojans’ scoring 59 points compared to their 28.
Some of the standout players from the scrimmage, and the offseason as a whole, have been senior quarterback Caden DiBetta, senior wide receiver Russell Babineaux, senior running back Jonah Gauthier, senior safety Keeman Thibodeaux, senior linebacker Dajon Francis, senior defensive tackle Vallen Charles and senior cornerback Braylon Noel.
“I’ve been working on my feet, getting bigger, you know, trying to find ways to improve our offense,” Gauthier said. “I feel like I bring the power and the energy to the offense. When I’m in the field, if you coming at me, I’m, I’m not looking to juke or none of that but if I got to I will.”
Gauthier and the Wreckin’ Rams have one more final tuneup before they kick off the 2024 season on Sept. 6 against the No. 1 team in the state, Ruston. They will host Breaux Bridge at home for the 72 Annual Lafayette Kiwanis High School Football Jamboree at 6 p.m. on Aug. 30.
Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.
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Publish date : 2024-08-27 23:11:00
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