2013 football web

FOOTBALL 20132 AUGUST 25, 2013 The Daily News

FOOTBALL 2013 AUGUST 25, 2013 3The Daily News

Ben’s Ford Christian School . .4Bogalusa High School . . . . . . .8Bowling Green School . . . . . . .13Franklinton High School . . . . .16Mt. Hermon School . . . . . . . . .21Pine High School . . . . . . . . . . .24Varnado High School . . . . . . .28Louisiana State University . . .32Tulane University . . . . . . . . . . .33New Orleans Saints . . . . . . . .34

Football 2013: Where to Look


BFCS Schedule

Date Opponent H/A

Aug. 23 New Orleans Homeschool HAug. 30 Amite School Center ASept. 6 Columbia Academy HSept. 13 Prentiss ASept. 20 *Centreville HSept. 27 Heidelberg HOct. 4 Sylva Bay AOct. 11 *Bowling Green AOct. 18 *Central Private AOct. 25 *Silliman Institute H

*District 6AA games

Ben’s Ford Christian School

BY CHRIS KINKAIDTHE DAILY NEWS

Ben’s Ford ChristianSchool enters 2013 aftergoing 5-4 a year ago, theEagles’ first winningseason. But the teammissed out on the Miss-issippi Association ofIndependent SchoolsClass A playoffs.

This season presentsa new challenge, as theEagles are moving up toAA.

“Our district (6AA) isgoing to be a step up,”Ben’s Ford coachTommy Pittman said.“There are a couple ofteams in our districtthat are going to bepretty tough. Thenthere are a couple ofteams we can play with,I believe. We’ve got agood chance of going.500 in district.

“Our non-districtschedule is winnable. Ithink we could have

another winning sea-son. I feel confident thatwe could have anotherwinning season bar-ring injuries.”

Pittman said the play-ers worked hardthrough summer work-outs.

“They’ve put on someweight and someheight,” Pittman said.“Our 10th-grade class isour big class. It lookslike we could have some200-pounders on the

line. That’s somethingwe didn’t have at all lastyear. We didn’t have akid on the team thatwent over 200 pounds.”

Pittman said with thelow numbers (the ros-ter lists 28 players),some of the older ath-letes will have to go allfour quarters, but headded that he’s tryingto get it to where theywon’t have as many

Ben’s Ford moves up to Class AA;looking to repeat winning season

SEE BEN’S FORD, PAGE 6


2013 Ben’s Ford Gameday RosterNo. Player Position Class

1 Aaron Taylor RB/DE So.3 KeDarius Peters WR/CB Sr.4 Camron Miller QB/FS Fr.5 Daniel Pittman WR/LB So.7 Brannon Crosby WR/CB Jr.9 Bryan Johnson WR/CB Jr.10 Jeremiah Slocum WR/LB Fr.11 Ashton Hines WR/FS So.13 Josh Crain WR/CB Jr.14 Garrett Seal RB/LB Fr.15 Austin Hunt WR/FS Jr.18 Cory Caldwell RB/FS So.21 Will Owens K Jr.28 Garrett Pounds WR/CB So.34 Destin Pittman QB/LB Jr.50 C.J. McClelland G/LB Fr.51 Andrew Smith C/LB Fr.52 Jordan Thomas G/LB Jr.54 John Smith OT/DE Fr.55 Drew Creel G/DE Sr.56 Shelby Culpepper C/DE Jr.57 Connor Gallaspy G/LB Jr.64 Jonathan Seal OT/DT So.65 Gunter Miller G/DT So.71 Tyler Milner OT/DT Jr.72 Jayden Provost OT/DT Fr.77 Carter Stewart OT/DT Fr.81 Adam Mitchell WR/CB Fr.

BRYAN JOHNSON DESTIN PITTMAN COACH TOMMYPITTMAN


players going bothways.

The Eagles run aspread offense with jun-ior Destin Pittman atstarting quarterback.Pittman was the starterlast year after movingbehind center from thefullback/tight end posi-tion. Pittman threwthree touchdowns inthe team’s scrimmageagainst Amite SchoolCenter earlier this sum-mer.

Coach Pittman saidDaniel Pittman will seeplaying time at quarter-back but will mainly beused as a receiver.

Other starting widereceivers are juniorsBryan Johnson, AustinHunt and sophomore

Garrett Pounds.The coach said

Johnson led the Eaglesin receptions and yardslast season. Johnsoncaught a pair of touch-down passes from Des-tin Pittman in theteam’s scrimmage.

Pittman said seniorKeDarius Peters andjunior Josh Crainwould be first up to playreceiver if someoneneeds to come out ofthe game.

“Last year (Peters)began to get a little grit,so I’m looking forwardto him to have to get inthere and play a littlemore. He’s a real fastkid and a good athlete,”Pittman said.

The starting runningbacks are sophomoresAaron Taylor and Cory

Caldwell.The offensive line in-

cludes junior centerShelby Culpepper, jun-ior tackle Tyler Milnerand sophomore tackleJonathan Seal and jun-ior guards Connor Gal-laspy and Jordan Tho-mas.

Defensively, Ben’sFord bases out of a 4-4.

Many of the offensiveplayers will also be onthe defensive side.

The defensive linewill have Milner andSeal at tackle, flankedby ends Culpepper andTaylor.

The linebackinggroup has Thomas andGallaspy on the inside,Daniel Pittman on theoutside and Caldwelland Drew Creel battlingfor the final spot.

The defensive backsinclude corners Petersand Crain, with Huntplaying safety.

Ben’s Ford began the2013 season with itsjamboree Aug. 16 andplayed Prentiss to a 0-0tie. The defense wasstrong and gave Pren-tiss problems as it triedto move the ball.

The contest wasplayed on a wet fieldand partly in the rain.

Ben’s Ford started theregular season at homeFriday night againstNew Orleans HomeSchool.

This coming Fridaythe Eagles will be onthe road against AmiteSchool Center.

The Eagles’ District6AA opener is againstCentreville on Sept. 20.

FROM PAGE 4

BEN’S FORD: Players worked hard during summer



Bogalusa Schedule

Date Opponent H/A

Sept. 6 Kentwood ASept. 13 West St. John HSept. 20 Pine ASept. 27 Franklinton AOct. 4 Miller-McCoy Academy HOct. 11 *Amite AOct. 17 *Jewel Sumner AOct. 25 *Independence HNov. 1 *Albany ANov. 8 *Loranger H

*District 8-3A games

Bogalusa High School


Bogalusa’s Lumber-jacks are going for asecond straight District8-3A title in 2013.

The Lumberjacks area young team this year.

“We’re trying to be acompetitive team weekin and week out,”Lumberjack coachCraig Jones said. “We’llprobably put the best 22players out there whocan help us win and

compete to the best ofour ability.”

Jones enters this sea-son with a 31-37 careerrecord as Bogalusa’shead coach. Last yearhe directed the Lum-berjacks to a 7-2 regularseason record and a 4-1District 8-3A finish anda district champi-onship. The team madethe playoffs as the 20thseed but lost to 13thseeded Jennings 21-14.

One of Bogalusa’s topplayers this year could

be senior Jalen Graves,who will play offensiveand defensive tackle.

Graves, the state’ssixth best discus throw-er in Class 3A last year,went both ways hissophomore season andwas selected for firstteam all-district honorson offense and defense.

Last season, he onlyhad to play offensewhen needed.

Graves, the left tackle,said he wanted to playthe position this year to

help better the team.“Last year I really

didn’t play too muchoffensive line because Iwasn’t in shape to playboth ways,” Gravessaid. “I stepped it upbecause I didn’t wantmy senior year to beworse. I want it to begood.”

Graves said he’s inbetter shape this sea-son, and conditioningis the key for him going

Young Lumberjack team hopesto repeat as District 8-3A champs

SEE LUMBERJACK, PAGE 11


2013 Bogalusa Gameday RosterNo. Player Pos Ht. Wt. Class

1 Cedric Porter DB 6-4 170 Sr.2 Darrin Holmes RB 5-10 190 Sr.3 Kendrell Andrews WR 5-10 160 Sr.4 William Toussaint LB 5-10 205 Jr.5 Renald Roberts QB 6-0 180 So.6 Darnel Harris DB 5-10 175 So.7 Tym Toussaint QB 5-11 180 Fr.8 Trey Thomas DB 6-0 170 Sr.9 Lorenco James WR 6-3 160 Sr.10 Ronya Abrams QB 5-10 155 Sr.11 Joshua Moss WR 5-8 160 Jr.12 Tyran Holloway WR 6-4 200 Jr.13 Sean Forbes RB 5-11 170 So.14 Charles Dyson WR 5-4 150 So.15 Devonte Temple DB 5-10 180 Sr.16 Rodarrius Pittman DL 6-0 285 Jr.17 Javon Tate LB 5-8 180 Fr.18 Salehal-Dien Malike Pittman QB 5-8 160 Fr.19 Raynis Bridges RB 5-7 150 Fr.21 Urian Morris LB 5-9 190 So.22 Devonte King WR 5-10 169 Fr.23 Dedrick Briggs RB 5-3 160 So.24 Jamrian Collins DL 5-10 170 Sr.26 Jymrian Ladner WR 6-2 180 8th 28 Devontre King DB 5-11 170 Fr.32 Cameron Robinson DL 5-11 201 So.44 Latron Dillon DL 5-10 160 So.50 Daniel Fairly DL 5-11 225 Fr.51 Devonte Lenoir OL 6-0 225 So.52 Darius Turner OL 5-10 228 Sr.53 Jalen Graves DL 6-2 285 Sr.54 Micah Gray DL 6-0 235 So.55 Tyrell Pittman OL 6-0 290 Sr.56 Sheylyn Griffin DL 5-11 225 So.57 Rashard Watterson OL 6-0 235 Sr.58 Horace McGee DL 5-10 170 Fr.59 Harlum McGee OL 5-9 173 So.60 Jessie Williams OL 5-10 260 So.62 Jonathan Simmons OL 5-10 180 So.69 Zachary Saraceno OL 5-10 225 So.75 Aaron Taylor OL 6-2 210 Jr.81 Jymon Jackson WR 5-9 141 Fr.83 Dominique Tillmane WR 5-9 168 Fr.



both ways.Jones praised Graves.“He is a great athlete,

a hard worker and he’sbeing recruited, so pos-sibly, he is our bestplayer on this team,”Jones said.

Bogalusa runs aspread offense, andJones said the lineshould be its strength.He said he has five guyswho started at least atone point last season.

The line includes cen-ter Darius Turner,guards Jessie Williamsand Tyrell Pittman andtackles Graves andRashard Watterson.

Jones said they don’thave any dominatingbig guys, just playerswho are aggressive andwant to get after some-one.

Graves said the offen-sive line has chemistry.

“We’ve been togethersince freshman year,”Graves said. “Every-body that was on theline since freshmanyear is coming back.”

Graves said they arealso friends.

“We stay close togeth-er, and we play thegame together,” Gravessaid. “We even play 7-on-7 pickup games atthe park and stuff. Weall know what’s at stakefor us, so we all reallywant to succeed.”

Ronnie Abramson,Tim Toussaint andReggie Robinson arebattling for the quarter-back position to replaceBrian Williams, who isnow playing the posi-tion at the University of

Louisiana-Monroe.“Ronnie is a very

intelligent and smartquarterback. Tim Tous-saint has a strong arm,and Reggie is just anathlete,” Jones said.

Jones said Bogalusawould be in good handswith which ever playerwins the starting spot.

The running backspot is between WilliamToussaint and DevonteTemple.

Both have differenttraits. Toussaint is apower back, whileTemple is a speed back.

The wide receivingcorps has one spotsolidified with severalothers going after start-ing positions.

Kendrell Andrews isthe only lockdownstarter so far.

“He has great hands,great quickness, and heruns good routes,”Jones said. “He’ll prob-ably be our playmaker.”

Defensively, the Lum-berjacks are multiple.

Graves is a tackle on aline, which includesRodarrius Pittman andSheylyn Griffin. Thefourth spot is still up in

the air.“Everybody on the

defense has stepped up,even the new alter-nates,” Graves said.

The linebackersinclude Turner, Wil-liam Toussaint, JavonTate and Urian Morris.

Jones said his second-ary is pretty solid, buthe said he’s got peopleplaying there for thefirst time in theircareers.

“We’re getting somecontinuity there andunderstanding of whatwe have to do. It’s a bigdeal moving from alinebacker to a second-ary spot because that’sa real big difference,but we’ll be OK,” Jonessaid.

Jones said one of thekeys for this year is forhis guys to come outand compete every day.

“We just want to getbetter,” Jones said.“You don’t stay thesame. You either getbetter or worse. As longas we can show im-provement, we’ll beOK.”

LUMBERJACK: Offensive line shouldbe strength of team’s spread offense

FROM PAGE 8

KENDRELL ANDREWS JALEN GRAVES

SEE LUMBERJACK, PAGE 12


“You don’t stay thesame. You either getbetter or worse. As longas we can show im-provement, we’ll beOK.”

With several guysgoing both ways, condi-tioning will be anotherkey to the team’s suc-cess.

“That’s the most im-portant thing aboutplaying at a smallerschool, the strength andconditioning program,which I take great pridein,” Jones said. “I comeup here every day in a

week. We’re liftingweights and runningevery day preparing forthat. Nothing is like

game speed or gameconditions, but we’rereally getting after itand trying to makethem be able to obtainand sustain the condi-tioning.”

Bogalusa opens the2013 season in the Cov-ington Jamboree Fri-day. The Lumberjacksbegin the regular sea-son at Kentwood onSept 6.

Their first homegame is the followingweek against West St.John.

Bogalusa starts Dis-trict 8-3A play Oct. 11 atAmite.

LUMBERJACK: 3 with differentstrengths vying for quarterback job

FROM PAGE 10

COACH CRAIG JONES


BGS Schedule

Date Opponent H/A

Aug. 23 Columbia Academy AAug. 30 Oak Forest Academy HSept. 6 Wilkinson County

Christian Academy ASept. 13 Brookhaven HSept. 20 *Silliman Institute ASept. 27 Trinity HOct. 4 *Centreville HOct. 11 *Ben’s Ford HOct. 18 Bye weekOct. 25 *Central Private A

*District 6AA games

Bowling Green School


Bowling Greenmissed the playoffs lastyear, but this season theteam is a older and hop-ing to be better.

Last season BowlingGreen posted a 4-6 over-all record and finished2-3 in District 6AA play.

“We have done a goodjob of preparing ourkids. We have had agreat offseason withour kids,” third-year

coach Carmon Mooresaid. “We’re a lotstronger. Hopefully thatwill show up for us onFriday night.”

Moore, who enters histhird season with an 8-12 career record atBowling Green, saidthere are some goodteams in BowlingGreen’s district, but thegoal is to reach theMississippi Associa-tion of IndependentSchools’ Division IIpostseason and win

some playoff games.“Our motto when we

break down, we justspecifically say, ’12,’”Moore said. “Twelve isthe number of games(we) have to play (toreach state champion-ship game). If you’regoing to have a goal itneeds to be a realisticgoal, and it needs to besomething you shouldshoot for.”

“The first time I tellyou I don’t think we canwin a state champi-

onship, we’re just goingto try to do as good aswe can do, that’ll be thetime for somebody to goto my principal and tellher she needs to replaceme,” Moore added.

One of the Bucca-neers’ key players issenior Trent Ball, a ver-satile athlete enteringhis second year of play-ing football.

Moore said Ball couldplay quarterback,

Bowling Green team strongerafter good off-season workouts

SEE BOWLING GREEN, PAGE 15


2013 BGS Gameday RosterNo. Player Position Ht. Wt. Class

2 Patrick Roublow WR/DB 5-10 165 Sr.3 Trent Ball QB/LB 6-3 210 Sr.4 Elgin Austin RB/LB 5-9 195 Sr.5 K.J. Robertson WR/LB 6-0 200 Sr.6 Sedale Payton WR/DB 5-9 140 Sr.7 Bryan Ottinger WR/DB 5-8 140 Jr.9 Roo Breland RB/DB 5-11 160 Sr.12 Nick Casanova RB/DB 5-10 190 Sr.13 Brady Goings WR/DB 5-9 140 Jr.15 Connor McCain QB/DB 6-3 165 Jr.16 Grant Alexander RB/DB 5-7 140 Jr.17 Dillon Morris QB/DB 5-6 130 Fr.18 Brody Schilling RB/DB 5-9 150 So.23 Hayden Thompson RB/DB 6-0 200 So.24 Jace Ball WR/DB 5-9 140 So.26 Cody Morris RB/DB 5-8 145 Fr.27 Sammy Graves RB/DB 5-8 140 Fr.33 Hamp Roberson RB/DL 6-0 205 Sr.35 Jack Bickham RB/LB 5-9 140 So.38 Donovan Vortarina K 5-8 130 Jr.40 Brock Faust RB/LB 5-9 160 Fr.49 Terrance Stogner RB/LB 5-9 155 So.50 Hampton Creel OL/DL 5-8 205 Fr.51 Matt Pierce OL/LB 6-1 175 So.53 Trevor May OL/LB 5-10 200 Sr.56 Chris Wascom OL/DL 6-1 185 So.57 Colby Knight OL/DL 6-0 240 Sr.60 Barren Lockhart OL/DL 5-11 160 Jr.62 Seth Mixon OL/DL 5-10 170 Fr.64 Drake Spears OL/DL 6-1 255 So.70 Danny Canatella OL/DL 5-9 230 Sr.72 Nathan Case OL/LB 5-8 150 Fr.73 Ray Magruder OL/DB 5-11 160 Fr.74 Spencer Graves OL/DL 6-4 220 Jr.75 Lane Adams OL/DL 6-0 190 So.77 Coleman Knight OL/DL 6-0 240 Sr.78 Jacob Brumfield OL/DL 6-0 240 Fr.81 Austin Reedy WR/DL 6-1 165 Fr.84 Logan Wood WR/LB 6-0 190 Jr.88 Colby Powell WR/DL 6-2 190 Fr.


running back, tight endand wide out offensive-ly and will be the team’smiddle linebacker ondefense.

“He did not play inthe 10th grade, and inthe second half of theseason (last year) I real-ized how good he couldcatch the ball and howhis yards after catchwere really good. He’s areal tough runner withthe football,” saidMoore. “He has alsodone really well throw-ing the football. Wethought we needed abackup quarterback forConnor (McCain) anddidn’t realize he wasgoing to be pretty tal-ented there, too.”

Moore said the Bucs’defense is designed fortheir middle linebackerto make tackles.

“We put our best tack-ler there and that’s him,which is why we’re go-ing to try and rest himas much as we can onoffense, so he can befresh enough to playand be strong in thefourth quarter on de-fense.” Moore said.

Ball, an all-districtoffensive player lastseason, spoke about hisstrengths.

“On offense, I guess

I’ve got some prettygood hands. And I’mnot scared to hit,” Ballsaid. “On defense youhave got to be the cap-tain, so I’ve got to leadthe team as middle line-backer.”

Besides Ball, the re-ceiving corps includesseniors Patrick Rou-blow, K.J. Robertsonand Sedale Peyton andjunior Brady Goings.Connor McCain alsoplays at receiver whenBall is behind center.

The Bucs’ power-I of-fense has worked onseveral formations thatcan be whittled downdepending on the oppo-nent.

McCain, an all-dis-trict player last season,begins his second yearas the starting quarter-back.

The running backsare senior Elgin Austinand sophomore HaydenThompson.

Moore said the line isbigger this year. Soph-omore Matt Pierce (6-0,170 pounds) is the cen-ter and is flanked bysenior left and rightguards Colby Knight (6-0, 240) and Trevor May(5-10, 200). Senior Cole-man Knight (6-0, 240) isthe left tackle, soph-omore Drake Spears (6-1, 255) is the right tackle

and junior Logan Woodis the tight end.

Defensively, BowlingGreen bases out of a 4-3.

Coleman Knight andColby Knight are thetackles and will beflanked by ends seniorHamp Roberson andjunior Spencer Graves.Roberson was all-dis-trict last season.

Linebackers are Ball,flanked by the weaksidelinebacker Pierce andstrongside linebackerMay. Austin can playstrong side and middle.Sophomore Jack Bick-ham backs up Pierce.

The secondary hascornerbacks Roublowand senior Roo Breland.Senior Nick Casanovastarts at strong safetywith Thompson at freesafety.

“If we can stayhealthy and not turnthe ball over as much aswe did last year offen-sively, I think we’ll havea chance to do well,”Moore said.

The Buccaneers op-ened the season with ajamboree Aug. 16 atCentral Private. Bowl-ing Green lost to Silli-man, 19-6, and defeatedBaton Rouge Home-school, 30-0.

The regular seasonbegan Friday against atColumbia Academy.

TRENT BALL CONNOR MCCAIN COACH CARMONMOORE

BOWLING GREEN: Staying healthy keyFROM PAGE 13


Franklinton Schedule

Date Opponent H/A

Sept. 6 Tylertown, Miss. HSept. 13 Covington ASept. 21 Brother Martin ASept. 27 Bogalusa HOct. 4 Amite HOct. 11 *Pearl River HOct. 18 *Salmen AOct. 25 *Lakeshore ANov. 1 *East Jefferson HNov. 8 *Riverdale A


Franklinton High School


Franklinton is look-ing to reach the playoffsfor the eighth straightseason.

The Demons are com-ing off of a 6-4 seasonand finished runner-upto Salmen in District 7-4A with a 3-1 record.

The Demons lost inthe first round of theplayoffs, 33-6, to La-Grange.

Franklinton has 15

returning starters andhas team speed andstrength.

“Our measurablesfrom a speed standpointare better than whatthey’ve been the lasttwo years and compara-ble to what they were in‘07, ‘08, ‘09 and 2010,”Demons’ coach ShaneSmith said. “From thatstandpoint, we do havespeed. Strength, obvi-ously we have also asfar as our measure-ments are and our test-

ing. We’ve got those.That’s only part of theequation, but it’s a bigpart.”

Senior Ron Robinsonmoves from widereceiver to quarterbackthis year. He saw limit-ed time at signal callerlast season.

“He’s progressing,”Smith said. “He’s thefastest quarterbackwe’ve had (4.5 in the 40),and that’s a positive.We’ve had people say,‘Well, so he’s faster

than Terrence (Ma-gee).’ Well, Terrencewasn’t the fastest guy,but he was extremelyskilled.

“I’m not telling youhe’s better than Ter-rence by any stretch,but he’s a fast kid. Hecan run. When hedecides to pull it down,he’s going to presentpeople with some prob-lems.

“He’s capable of

Demons return 15 starters; aim for 8th straight playoff appearance

SEE DEMONS, PAGE 18


2013 Franklinton Gameday RosterNo.Player Ht. Wt. Cl

2 Relik Wilson 5-10 215 So.2 Marty Lee Fr.3 Charmal Magee 5-10 165 Sr.4 Daryl Fortenberry 5-11 175 Sr. 5 Enrique Garrett 5-11 190 Sr. 6 Josh Magee 5-8 170 Jr.7 Renaz Wilson 5-10 205 Sr.8 Donovan Alonzo 5-11 165 Sr.9 Martavius James 6-0 175 So.10 Azende T. Magee 5-6 160 So.10 Marcus Conerly Fr.11 Ron Robinson 5-8 170 Sr.11 Jeremiah Burkhalter Fr.12 Chandler Davis 5-11 170 So.12 Fudge Burkhalter Fr.13 Michael Wilson 6-0 190 So.13 William Walters Fr.16 Darius Dawson Fr.17 Tavion Partman 5-9 170 So.18 Pierre Wilson 5-11 180 Sr.19 Taylor Scott 5-10 160 Sr.20 Damien Dawson 5-11 200 So.20 Jamarian Crain Fr.21 Dakeithan Gholar 5-9 160 So.21 Chandler Scott Fr.22 Clarence Brumfield 5-10 160 Sr.24 Justin Alford 5-10 175 Jr.24 Jairus Bryant Fr.25 Jordan Barnes 6-0 165 So.26 Michael Herbert Fr.27 Daniel McElveen 5-8 145 So.28 Jordan Dale 5-8 165 Jr.29 Tremario Magee 5-10 150 So.30 Casey Riley 5-10 175 So.31 Devin Elzie 5-6 160 So.32 Trevor Stafford 5-6 155 So.33 Aldric Calhoun 5-8 145 Jr.34 Jamireo Wilson 5-8 185 Sr.35 Cole Williams 5-9 155 So.37 Landon Colley 5-8 175 Sr.38 Peyton Dyess 5-11 170 So.40 Trevor Davis 5-9 200 Jr.41 Tamerio Pittman Fr.42 Kobe Henderson 5-10 200 Jr.43 Arkeem Buchanan 5-9 220 Sr.45 Major McElveen 5-8 200 So.46 Ryché Jenkins 6-0 190 So.47 Jonathon Cosse 5-10 175 Sr.48 John Knight 5-9 165 Jr.49 Dillon Hensley 5-9 165 Jr.50 Adam Boyd 6-0 210 Sr.

No.Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

52 Zach Ginn 5-8 220 So.52 Kevin Todd Fr.53 Austin Lebo Fr.54 Woodie Watson Fr.55 Zeke Moses 5-8 220 Jr.55 Grayson Wills Fr.56 Devin Lewis 5-11 240 Sr.58 Jonathan Crain 5-10 240 Jr.60 Tyler Mulkey 5-10 200 Jr.62 Clayton Garza 6-0 270 Jr.63 Deante Cotton 6-0 245 So.64 P.J. Buckhalter 6-1 260 Jr.65 Mason Edwards 6-2 235 Sr.67 Jack Keller 6-1 215 Sr.68 Levi Tarver 6-0 265 So.70 Kevin Reed 6-0 270 Jr.71 Chance Granger 6-0 220 Jr.74 Tyler Leblanc 5-10 225 So.75 Matthew Vince 6-0 265 So.75 Stephon Crain Fr.76 Adrian Magee 6-4 275 Jr.77 Lance Ragas 6-2 220 Jr.77 Damontrell Garrett Fr.79 Alex Reed 5-10 240 So.80 Jacob Ragas 5-9 155 So.80 Rodney King Fr.81 Dakota Tetreau 5-9 155 So.82 Alvero Ocampo 5-9 130 Sr.82 Jacquan Anthony Fr.83 Rhett Tynes 6-0 175 Sr.83 Djimon Jenkins Fr.84 D’Andre Allen 6-0 175 Jr.84 Damien Fox Fr.85 Adrian Fox 6-0 155 So.88 Antwan Graves Fr.89 Walker Andrews 6-0 160 So.89 Cameron Blackwell Fr.90 Jarvis Catchings 5-10 190 Jr.90 Trey Washington Fr.91 Adam Bush 6-2 185 So.92 Dominique Warren Fr.93 Kobe Crain 6-0 180 So.93 Jacob Smith Fr.94 Dalton Talley 6-1 240 Jr.94 Angel Alvinez Fr.95 Aaron Bennett Fr.96 Dalton Castille Fr.97 Shunti Conerly 6-1 240 Sr.98 Titus Conerly Fr.99 Conner Ackerman 5-9 160 Jr.


generating some bigplays. That’s somethingwe had in the springgame (againstLoranger). He’s still gota long way to go as faras his reads and hisdecisions at the posi-tion, and those thingsare concerning, buthe’s got a great attitude,a great mindset, hestays cool and calm, hedoesn’t lose his compo-sure, and I think thoseare positives. He’s justgot to continue toprogress in his deci-sion-making as far asthrowing the football.”

Robinson said he’sworking to get better.

“I’ve got to work onsome things, but we’re

going to get it right. I’mgoing to work to figureit out,” Robinson said.

“We’ve got (two) re-turning starters com-ing back” at wide re-ceiver, Robinson said.“We’re going to be goodon that side of the ball.

We’re going to try andmake some plays, try toget open and try tocatch the ball.”

The Demons’ return-ing receivers are sen-iors Donovan Alonzoand Daryl Fortenberry.Newcomers are sopho-

more Azende T. Magee,junior D’Andre Allenand sophomore Chand-ler Davis.

“They’ve all gotspeed, and they’ve allgot pretty good hands,”Robinson said. “If I putit in any little areathey’re going to goadjust to the ball andget it. I feel confident inthem.”

The center is juniorP.J. Burkhalter (6-1, 260pounds). Devin Lewis(5-11, 240) is the leftguard. He’s been in-jured but is expectedback by Friday’s jam-boree. Jack Keller (6-1,215) takes his spotwhile he is out.

Adam Boyd (6-0, 210)is the left tackle, LanceRagas (6-2, 220) is the

right guard and AdrianMagee (6-4, 275) is theleft tackle.

Smith said when youhave an experiencedline, you fight at somelevel.

“They have to contin-ue to push themselvesto strive for perfec-tion,” Smith said.There’s always thingsfundamentally you cando to improve.”

The Demons’ startingrunning back is sopho-more Renaz Wilson (5-10, 205), a physical run-ner.

Smith said his teamdoesn’t have a lot ofdepth on the line or inthe secondary on de-fense.

“Both groups could bea strength, not to slight

our linebackers,”Smith said. “(LB) Relik(Wilson) missed half ofthe season and hadshoulder surgery. Hestarted as a freshmanthe first five games.He’ll be back at line-backer. The secondaryhas the potential to beone of the most com-plete secondaries we’vehad here. Those guysare all athletic, they’refundamentally sound,they understand theirrole within our defense,and I’m excited abouttheir potential.”

Defensive backs in-clude returning start-ers senior Pierre Wil-son along with juniorJosh Magee and senior

JOSH MAGEE RON ROBINSON

DEMONS: New quarterback is fastest Franklinton has had under SmithFROM PAGE 16

SEE DEMONS, PAGE 20



Charmarl Magee. Thenew starter is sopho-more Martavius James.The two Magees willplay corner, while Wil-son and James bothplay safety.

The defensive line hassize with senior ShuntiConerly (6-1, 240) andjuniors Jonathan Crain(5-10, 240) and DaltonTalley (6-1, 240).

The rest of the line-backing corps includesreturning starter sen-ior Taylor Scott and

junior Enrique Garrett.Newcomers to the start-

ing lineup are seniorJonathan Cosse andjunior Justin Alford.

The punter is juniorRhett Tynes, with sen-ior Alvaro O’Campohandling the place kick-ing duties.

The Demons open theseason in the CovingtonJamboree Friday.

The Demons’ beginthe regular season byhosting Tylertown onSept. 6.

District 8-4A playstarts with the home-coming game Oct. 11against Pearl River.

DEMONS: Smith excited about thepotential of the defensive secondary

FROM PAGE 18

COACH SHANE SMITH


Mt. Hermon Schedule

Date Opponent H/A

Sept. 6 Jewel Sumner HSept. 13 Ridgewood ASept. 20 Crescent City ASept. 27 *St. Helena Central HOct. 4 *Northlake Christian HOct. 11 *Springfield AOct. 17 *Pine AOct. 25 *Pope John Paul II HNov. 1 *St. Thomas Aquinas ANov. 8 *Archbishop Hannan H


Mt. Hermon School


Mt. Hermon’s YellowJackets are looking toturn things around asthey move up to Class2A this season to com-pete in District 8-2A.

Coach Henry Craw-ford, whose club went 1-8 last year, enters hissecond season at thehelm and fifth overallat Mt. Hermon. He said

the Yellow Jackets havefaced several opponentson their schedule overthe past two seasons.

“We played NorthlakeChristian in a jam-boree, we played Pine,and Hannan was in ourdistrict,” Crawfordsaid. “We playedSpringfield two yearsago, and last year’sgame was cancelled.

“The biggest problemwill be depth. That’s

something we’ll have toovercome, being able tolast four quarters ag-ainst a team that hasnumbers. We’ll have tobe in decent enoughshape.”

The Yellow Jacketshave a small roster interms of the number ofplayers with just 23, soabout six to eight play-ers could be going bothways. Mt. Hermongraduated 10 seniors

last year and has justfive this season.

“The underclassmenwill have to step up,which will always bethe case with our smallnumbers,” the coachsaid.

Crawford said one ofthe big keys to the sea-son will be keeping hisplayers healthy.

He said their

Mt. Hermon moving up, butfacing many familiar teams

SEE MT. HERMON, PAGE 22


strengths this year willprobably be at the skillpositions.

“We have some kidswho are coming out atthose positions whowill be able to com-pete,” Crawford said.“The biggest weaknesswill probably be over-coming a lack of size onboth lines. The summerweight program partic-ipation level h a s n ’ tbeen as high as it needsto be. This will be myfifth year (overall) be-ing there. Between thetalent and the skill,we’ll be as good aswe’ve been in the pastfive years.”

Mt. Hermon runs theflexbone offense.

The tandem of fresh-man D.J. Elzey andsophomore CorterioWilliams will be in aquarterback rotation.

“D.J. is not a verylarge kid, but he is verystrong, he’s very athlet-ic, decent feet, decentspeed and reliable,”Crawford said. “I trusthim to be at practiceand work hard at prac-tice. He comes to thesummer workouts pret-ty good. That’s whatyou need in a quarter-back is trust. This is myfifth year coachinghim.

“(Williams) is a littletaller, a little morewirey. He’s fast. He hasa decent arm. He’s gotgood quickness. Hisbiggest weakness is

that he’s never playedfootball.”

The rest of the back-field is a competitionwith four players bat-tling for three spots.

Freshman D’OntraeJefferson and seniorLamont Brownridgeare vying for the full-back position, whilesophomore Joseph Ma-gee and Jessie Pounceyfor challenging for theslot positions. Fresh-man Jack Brister couldbe the backup for bothspots.

“If D’Ontrae shows tobe the better fullback,then Joseph (Magee)would probably playslot,” Crawford said. “Ifsomething happens andI need to move Jack(Brister) to slot, that’s

how I’m creating depth.We got five guys to fillthree slots.”

The offensive line hassome experience withseniors Chris Wilker-son and Dwayne Brum-field, who are bothreturning starters, han-dling left and rightguard, respectively.Freshman tackle Bran-don McElveen, whostarted six games lastseason, is a tackle.

There is a positionbattle at center betweensophomores Jase Fort-enberry and MatthewRaymond.

The wide receiversare James Roberts andeither Pouncey orBrister. Pouncey wasthe backup QB last yearand will be in his first

year at receiver.Mt. Hermon’s defense

bases out of a 3-5-3.Crawford feels the sec-ondary is its strength.

“I think my cornersand my safeties willallow us to play man toman,” Crawford said.“We haven’t been ath-letic enough in the pastto play man to man, sowe’ve played zone.That’ll allow us tobring more pressureand blitz a little bitmore.”

The defensive backsare all going both wayswith Williams andRoberts at corner andPouncey playing safety.

The defensive linefeatures junior ArionDillon along with sen-ior Skylar Riley and

sophomore Mason Mc-Elveen.

The linebackers in-clude Wilkerson, Jeffer-son, Magee, sophomoreMarshaun Dillon andpossibly Elzey.

Dillon said the line-backers could be astrongpoint of thedefensive unit.

“The linebackershave speed, and theycall the plays. They cantell the linemen whereto go,” Dillon said.

The Yellow Jacketsstart the season in thePine Jamboree Thurs-day. Mt. Hermon opensthe regular season byhosting Jewel SumnerSept. 6. The District 8-2A opener is Sept. 27 ag-ainst St. Helena Cen-tral.

MT. HERMON: Freshman and sophomore tandem will rotate at quarterbackFROM PAGE 21


2013 Mt. Hermon Gameday Roster

No. Player Ht. Wt. Class

1 Lamont Brownridge 5-8 175 Sr.3 D’ontrae Jefferson 5-6 185 Fr. 5 Dwayne Elzey 5-7 150 Fr.12 Jesse Pouncey 6-0 150 Jr.13 Gerald Bunch 5-9 125 Fr.14 Logan McGregor 6-0 170 Sr.20 Corterio Williams 5-11 155 So.21 Joseph Magee 6-1 175 So.27 James Roberts 5-11 140 Fr.30 Jack Brister 5-8 155 Fr.45 Hunter Newman 5-9 140 So.46 Cedric Carpenter 5-4 160 So.50 Brandon McElveen 6-0 270 Fr.52 Lavarion Jefferson 5-6 200 Fr.54 Jase Fortenberry 6-2 220 So.55 Demarion Jefferson 5-7 210 Fr.59 Chris Wilkerson 6-1 215 Sr.56 Matthew Raymond 5-7 180 So.63 Cody Hoover 5-7 180 Fr.68 Marshaun Dillon 6-1 230 So.70 Mason McElveen 6-0 275 So.73 Trevor Lindsey 5-9 280 Fr.75 Arion Dillon 5-11 280 Sr.76 Skylar Riley 6-2 380 Sr.78 Travis Tynes 6-1 265 Fr.

JESSE POUNCEY ARION DILLON COACH HENRY CRAWFORD


Pine Schedule

Date Opponent H/A

Sept. 6 at Pearl River ASept. 13 at Varnado ASept. 20 Bogalusa HSept. 27 *Archbishop Hannan AOct. 4 *St. Thomas Aquinas AOct. 11 *Pope John Paul II HOct. 17 *Mt. Hermon HOct. 25 *Springfield ANov. 1 *Northlake Christian H Nov. 8 *St. Helena Central A


Pine High School


Pine went 5-4 last yearand just missed out onthe playoffs under thenfirst-year head coachBradley Seal.

Heading into last sea-son the Raiders hadgone 7-23 over the lastthree years, but theyturned their fortunesaround last year.

“I think hard workpays off,” Seal said. “Wedidn’t just show up(last) year and win. Iwasn’t here in the past,but they were moving

in the right direction.Those seniors playedwith (Christopher) Fus-sell for three years, andhe had been workingthem hard and theywere ready to win.They (seniors) lost somuch that they werewilling to do whateverit took to win.”

He said this year’steam needs to be just ashungry.

Pine will face somenew challenges, includ-ing inexperience. TheRaiders return just fivestarters on offense andthree on defense.

One of the key play-ers coming back is sec-ond-year starting quar-terback Derrick Dillon,a junior who couldwreak havoc on oppos-ing defenses from theRaiders’ spread offense.

The first-team all-dis-trict athlete from lastyear accounted for 70.2percent of his team’scombined passing andrushing yards. Dilloncompleted 55 of his 130passes (42.3 percent) for950 yards with ninetouchdowns and justtwo interceptions.

He also showed off

his speed, running 132times for 1,207 yardsand 14 touchdowns. Asa team Pine combinedfor 3,072 passing andrunning yards with Dil-lon alone posting 2,157.

“He’s a touchdownwaiting to happen,”Seal said. “Anytime youhave him on the fieldyou have a chance. Anyplay is not over untilhe’s down. Teams haveto come in wanting tostop him, and we’re go-ing to make them.There’s not going to be

Pine hopes to keep moving inright direction, continue winning

SEE PINE, PAGE 25


any guessing aboutwhat we’re going to do.We’re giving him theball and letting himtake us where we’re go-ing.”

Seal said Dillon is anaccurate passer.

“He’s got a strongarm, but I think it’smore key to be accuratein high school,” Sealsaid. “The thing that’simpressive with him is,I think he’s better in thegames than he is inpractice throwing theball. People look at himmore as a runner be-cause that’s what he’sso great at, but he canbeat you with his arm,too.”

Pine participated in afew 7-on-7s this sum-mer, which Dillon saidhelped him improve.

“It taught me to gothrough my reads,” Dil-lon said. “It helped meout with the receiversand their timing. Withthe defense on them, itshowed how much timeI have to throw.”

The offensive line fea-tures three returningstarters: senior rightguard Devin Phillips (6-1, 270 pounds), juniorcenter Chris Brown (6-2, 315) and sophomoreleft tackle BrandonJones (6-0, 235).

The newcomers arejunior right tackle Cole

Dillon (5-9, 200) andsophomore DannySmith (5-10, 205).

“We lost two greatseniors in (left tackle)Trent (Ard) and (cen-ter) Eddie (Gabler). It’stough to replace them,”Seal said, but he addedhe thinks the line over-all will be improved.

Junior Tory Robert-son is the lone return-ing receiver. Otherstarters are senior NickAdcox and juniors De-vonta Pigott and PaulGuttuso.

“Devonta Pigott is go-ing to try to take therole as our deep threat,”Seal said. “He’s big, he’sphysical, he’s got thesize and the speed to doit. Nick Adcox runsgreat routes and isgoing to catch the ball.”

Seal added that LowalPittman also did a nicejob in 7-on-7 games.

At running back issophomore AdariusBerry.

Defensively, Pine isswitching from a 4-3 tothe 3-4.

“We would like to geta little more pressureand show a few moredifferent looks, and youcan do that out of the 3-4,” Seal said.

The Raiders returnthree defensive startersin cornerback Dillon,junior lineman Thad-deus Bickham and jun-ior linebacker Tyrais

Robertson.“Those two and Der-

rick (Dillon) have tomake the defense go,”Seal said. “ Tyrais (Rob-ertson) is going to behuge on defense. We on-ly have three guys com-ing back, but I think thedefense as a whole canbe better.”

Sophomore linemanMark Dillon, who mov-ed from Texas, is alsoexpected to contribute.Seal said he had a goodspring.

Junior Jacob Miller(5-10, 220) is the otherlineman for Pine. Otherlinebackers are Berryand juniors Matt Stuartand Dustin Prevost.

Seal said seniorstrong safety TrevorStuart, a first-year play-er, will help also.

“He had one of thebetter springs than any-body,” Seal said.

The rest of the sec-ondary includes juniorscorner Blake Nielsonand junior free safetyGrady McDaniel.

Guttuso will handlethe punting duties, withDillon kicking off.

Pine will host a jam-boree Thursday thenbegin the regular sea-son at Pearl River onSept. 6. The home open-er is Sept. 20 againstBogalusa. Pine beginsDistrict 8-2A play atArchbishop Hannanthe following week.

DERRICK DILLON TREVOR STUART COACH BRADLEY SEAL

PINE: 7-on-7 competitions helped offenseFROM PAGE 24


2013 Pine Gameday RosterNo. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl.

2 Devonta Pigott WR 6-1 180 Jr.3 Chris Gordon WR 5-6 130 Fr.4 Derrick Dillon QB 5-11 170 Jr.5 Jerron Hughes WR 5-8 140 So.7 Tory Robinson WR 5-5 145 Jr.8 Thaddeus Bickham DL 6-0 245 Jr.10 Nick Adcox WR 5-8 155 Sr.12 Paul Guttuso WR 5-11 150 Jr.13 Blake Nielson DB 5-9 140 Jr.14 Trevor Stuart DB 5-10 165 Sr.16 Jamie Adcox WR 5-7 135 So.20 Ted Crain LB 5-7 165 Sr. 21 Adarrius Berry RB 5-9 180 So.23 Rion Terrell RB 5-8 150 Fr. 24 Mason Vince RB 5-7 140 Jr28 Demarcus Fland QB 5-11 180 Fr.31 Cam Wallace WR 5-4 145 Fr.32 Nick Sapp OL 5-11 175 Jr.33 Dustin Provost LB 5-8 195 Jr.34 Tate Roach LB 5-8 170 Fr.36 Matt Stuart LB 5-11 175 Jr.37 Detarus Magee DB 5-7 155 Jr.40 Grady McDaniel DB 5-9 150 Jr.42 Jordan Galloway WR 5-9 140 Jr.43 Avery Sheridan LB 5-4 130 So.44 Austin Magee DL 5-10 170 Sr.45 Markell Dillon DL 5-10 220 So.

No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl.

52 Tyrais Robertson LB 5-10 230 Jr.54 Cole Dillon OL 5-9 200 Jr.55 Danny Smith OL 5-10 205 So.56 Joel Brumfield LB 5-9 180 Jr57 Demartez Haley DL 5-6 200 Fr.58 Chris Brown DL 6-2 315 Jr.59 Ryan Seal OL 5-8 250 Jr.62 Joey Andrade LB 5-7 195 Jr. 64 Tyler Jenkins LB 5-6 150 Fr.65 Shannon Smith OL 5-11 210 Fr.67 Clayton Plokey OL 6-0 180 So.69 Seth Brown DL 6-3 270 Jr.71 Allen Rodgers DL 5-9 220 So. 73 Jacob Miller DL 5-10 220 Jr.74 Kabartis Ginn OL 5-8 200 So.75 Brandon Jones OL 6-0 235 So. 76 D.J. Thomas OL 5-9 205 Fr.77 Devin Phillips OL 6-1 270 Sr.80 Michael Seal DB 5-9 160 Jr.82 John Jenkins LB 5-9 120 Fr.83 Korey Hobgood DB 5-8 140 So. 84 Chance Knight WR 5-8 125 Fr. 85 Eric Creel WR 5-11 160 Jr.86 Colton Terrell DB 5-7 120 So.87 Trevor Vince WR 5-9 140 So. 88 Lowal Pittman WR 6-2 160 So.



Varnado Schedule

Date Opponent H/A

Sept. 6 Dexter, Miss. ASept. 13 Pine HSept. 20 Jewel Sumner HSept. 27 Albany AOct. 4 Pearl River AOct. 11 *Kentwood HOct. 17 *Christian Life HOct. 25 Haynes Academy HNov. 1 *Southern Lab ANov. 8 *Madison Prep A


Varnado High School


Varnado was a youngteam last year and post-ed a 1-8 record, but thisseason the Wildcats areolder and have highergoals.

“(We were) new lastyear and we really did-n’t have high expecta-tions,” second-yearcoach Scott Shaffettsaid. “We had a veryyoung bunch of kids.We had no quarterbackfrom the previous year.They lost a lot of play-ers from previous year,

so we knew were goingto be real young lastyear.”

But Shaffett said go-ing into this season isjust the opposite.

“The guys have expe-rience, so we’re lookingforward to it,” he said.“We’ve had to changeand make a move in cer-tain places that I thinkwill help us be betterthis year. But moreimportantly, they knowour system. They’restill learning it, butthey know it a lot morethan what they did ayear ago.”

The Wildcats run aspread type of wing-Toffense with DelrickAbrams at quarter-back. Last season thesophomore was a re-ceiver and the backupsignal caller.

Abrams said one ofthe improvements he’smade for this season ispassing.

“I’m working hard totry and make it better.Coach (Jeffery) Schirois working with me toget my elbow high andrelease right,” Abramssaid.

The 6-foot-2 quarter-

back also possessesspeed.

“I’m trying to get fas-ter, stronger and morepowerful. I need tomake the deep throwright,” Abrams said.

Besides what fanswill see from Abramson the field, Shaffettsaid Abrams is also avery hard worker.

“He doesn’t miss aworkout, he doesn’tmiss a practice, hestays in the weightroom, and he’s workingreally hard,” Shaffett

Varnado players a year older,expectations for season higher

SEE VARNADO, PAGE 30


2013 Varnado Gameday Roster

No. Player Ht. Wt. Class

1 Delrick Abrams 6-2 165 So.2 Tyrandis Crosby 5-11 150 So.3 Preston Spikes 5-8 155 Sr.4 Dominique Harry 5-5 150 Sr.5 Nick Darden 5-6 160 So.6 Chris Foster 5-9 145 Sr.7 Kamerhon Moses 5-11 165 Sr.8 Deroldrick Jefferson 5-11 160 So.9 Keith Allen 6-4 190 Sr.10 Andre Jones 6-3 165 Fr.11 Damon Kirsh 5-10 165 Fr.12 James Williams 5-11 155 8th13 Jamarion Davis 5-10 150 Fr.14 Demontrey Mingo 6-2 170 Jr.16 Champ Shaffett 5-11 148 Sr.20 Eddie Brooks 5-8 155 Fr.21 Chris Matthews 5-5 140 So.22 Dearius Parker 5-4 175 So.23 Randy Boudreaux 6-0 140 So.24 Wilbert Gray 5-10 215 Fr.25 Kevin Boudreaux 5-9 140 Fr.30 Jequante Bickham 5-5 145 So.31 Devontae Newkirk 5-11 165 Sr.32 Travon Stokes 5-4 145 Fr.33 Richard Magee 5-11 170 Sr.40 Brandon Foster 5-2 125 Sr.50 Tyvonta Fortenberry 5-9 235 Jr.51 Blake Fornea 5-10 220 Fr.52 Alandia Starks 5-6 145 Fr.53 Austin Freeman 5-10 200 So.54 Jadarrell Magee 5-5 200 8th55 Cody Walker 6-0 230 So.56 Presley Mark 5-11 170 Sr.60 Nick Blackburn 5-10 220 So.61 Justin Arnold 5-6 265 Jr.66 Kyle Slocum 5-10 205 So.69 Alan Alexander 6-3 250 Sr.71 Greg Davis 5-10 190 Jr.74 Donell Peters 5-10 205 Jr.82 Ardale McGowan 6-0 170 Jr.

said. “All of that isshowing on the field.This kid has come along way. Last year hedid some JV (juniorvarsity) quarterback-ing. In January wedecided to make thatmove and go ahead andput him at quarter-back. He has reallycome a long way.”

Shaffett said Abrams’biggest improvementhas been confidence.

“He’s a good athlete,but he’s got confidencein himself and his play-ers. He’s putting goodtouch on the ball. He’sthrowing the ball, andhe’s the type of kid thatcan run the ball. He’sall of the time wantingto learn something new.The best thing about

him is his work ethic. Itis unreal,” Shaffettsaid.

Joining Abrams inthe backfield will bereturning starters sen-ior wingback DevontaeNewkirk, sophomoreDearius Parker andnewcomer senior wing-

back Dominique Harry.Senior Preston Spikes,who started at quarter-back last season, willalso be at wingback thisyear.

The Wildcats’ return-ing receivers areDeMontrey Mingo andKeith Allen, who will

play both wide receiverand tight end.

“They can jump andgo get the ball,” Ab-rams said. “They’refast and athletic.”

Shaffett feels theteam’s biggest improve-ment should come fromthe offensive line.

Freshman Blake For-nea (5-7, 200 pounds)will get the start at cen-ter.

“He lives in theweight room,” thecoach said. “He bustshis butt every day. He’sbeen at football campsthis summer. He doeseverything you ask akid to do. I wish I hadabout 10 of him.”

Shaffett said one ofthe reasons Fornea is atcenter is because heknows he has stabilitywith Fornea.

“I know I’ve got a kidthat’s going to be thereevery day,” Shaffettsaid. “I know I’ve got akid who wants to learnand is very coachable.Not only is he coach-able, he understandswhat’s going on aroundhim. When we’ve got aguard pulling, if thatguard asks, ‘What am Idoing?’ and they go toBlake, who is theyoungest kid out there,Blake’s telling him,‘You’ve gotta pull.’You’re talking about afreshman who’s comingin able to do that kindof stuff.”

Shaffett said playersare jockeying for posi-tions at the other spots.

Defensively, Varn-ado’s 4-4 base returnsseven starters.

Shaffett said he feelsgood in certain aspectsof the defensive game.He said he expects a lotout of Allen, whoreturns at end and isplaying both ways.

Shaffett said sopho-more tackle CodyWalker (6-0, 230) willanchor the line.

“Cody is a big strongkid. He’s just going tobe a sophomore. He was

really good as a fresh-man. The only thing Ineed him to improve inis the weight room,”Shaffett said.

Newkirk, who will begoing both ways, willcaptain the defense.

“Newkirk is going tobe making our calls,”Shaffett said. “He’sgoing to be the anchor.He’s going to be side-line to sideline. That’swhat I like about thekid. He’s reallymatured a lot this year.He’s fast, and he’s ahard hitter. He worksreally hard. He doesn’tmiss a day. He’s beenhere every day all sum-mer long weight lifting.He’s there all summerlong at practice. If I cankeep him healthy, he’sgoing to be a player.”

Shaffett said his son,senior outside line-backer Champ Shaffett,improved a lot last yearand was the team’sleading tackler in thespring game againstArchbishop Hannanwith six solos and twoassists.

Other returning de-fensive starters are sen-ior linebacker Kam-erhon Moses, corner-back Mingo and seniorend Richard Magee.

The newcomers areSpikes and inside line-backer Parker.

Varnado opens theseason with a jamboreeat Pine Thursday. TheWildcats begin the reg-ular season by travel-ing to play Dexter onSept. 6. Their firsthome game is againstPine the followingweek. The Wildcatsopen District 7-1A playby hosting KentwoodOct. 11.


DELRICK ABRAMS BLAKE FORNEA COACH SCOTT SHAFFETT

VARNADO: Shaffett pleased with players’ hard work during off-seasonFROM PAGE 28


BATON ROUGE (AP)— The reasons to doubtLSU's ability to contendfor Southeastern Con-ference and nationaltitles this season startwith the 11 regularswho left school earlylast winter to turn pro.

The Tigers, who had aschool-record eight de-fensive players drafted,will have four newstarters on the defen-sive line alone.

The offense has re-tained many of its skillplayers, includingquarterback Zach Met-tenberger, receiversOdell Beckham Jr., Jar-vis Landry and KadronBoone, and runningbacks Alfred Blue, Jer-emy Hill and KennyHilliard.

But that unit ranked

near the bottom nation-ally in passing in 2012,so long-time collegeand NFL coach CamCameron was broughtin as offensive coordi-nator, raising hopesthat LSU will add amore dynamic passingattack to its formidableground game into 2013.

Five things to watchthis season at LSU:

1. QB PRESSURE:Senior quarterbackZach Mettenberger hasone last shot to realizethe potential many sawin him when he was aprized Georgia recruita half-decade ago. Legaltrouble stemming froman incident with a wo-man in a bar led to hisdismissal from theBulldogs. Then came a

season in communitycollege and a season asa backup at LSU beforehe finally started anSEC game as a junior.But last season didn'tgo as hoped. LSU was92nd in the nation inpassing, averaging200.5 yards per game.Cameron says all signspoint to a better Met-tenberger in 2013.

2. YOUTH MOVE-MENT: LSU expects

significant contribu-tions on defense fromfreshmen such as de-fensive tackle ChristianLaCouture, defensiveend Tashawn Bower,and defensive backsTre'Davious White andRickey Jefferson.

3. PERIFERAL PER-RIL: LSU has onceagain had to contendwith off-the-field dis-tractions. This sum-mer's off-the-field dra-

ma involved Hill, lastyear's top rusher, whowas caught on videopunching a man out-side a bar. After a judgedecided Hill's secondmisdemeanor plea intwo years did not meritrevoking his probation,coach Les Miles al-lowed him back on theteam.

Hill, who had 755yards rushing and 12TDs last season, insistshe is determined tobecome a better personand make the most ofhis third chance to playfor LSU. "I'm a lot morefocused ... and I'm notletting off-the-field dis-tractions affect me,"Hill said. "I know this isa privilege and I'm sohappy to be back. ... AllI can do is do the right

things."

4. BLUE'S BACK:Blue was LSU's No. 1running back in 2012until he blew out hisknee in Week 3, afterwhich Hill emerged asthe Tigers' top rusher.Now Blue is back, ap-parently in excellentshape and poised forhis best season yet.

5. TOUGH SLATE: Ifbeing in the same divi-sion of the SEC as Ala-bama and Texas A&M,as well as improvingMississippi and Mis-sissippi State, wasn'ttough enough, LSU alsomust play two of thetop teams in the SECEast: Georgia (on theroad) and Florida (athome).

Aug. 31 @TCUSept. 7 UABSept. 14 Kent St.Sept. 21 AuburnSept. 28 @GeorgiaOct. 5 @Miss. St.

Oct. 12 FloridaOct. 19 @Ole MissOct. 26 FurmanNov. 9 @AlabamaNov. 23 Texas A&MNov. 29 Arkansas


LSU counting on youth to stay in contentionLSU Schedule


NEW ORLEANS (AP)— After eight consecu-tive years with fourwins or fewer, Tulane istalking turnaround.

Eight returning start-ers on both sides of theball, a lighter scheduleand some key transfershave raised hopes.

The most prominentaddition is junior quar-terback Nick Montana,son of NFL Hall ofFamer Joe Montana.Montana lost a tightbattle for the startingjob at Washington in2011, played at a juniorcollege in 2012 and isthe clear front-runnerat Tulane.

Tulane also broughtin 6-foot-4, 334-pounddefensive tackle ChrisDavenport, who was apremier recruit at LSU

in 2009 but never foundhis niche with the tal-ented Tigers.

Here are five things towatch with Nick Mon-tana leading Tulanethis season:

1. MONTANA'SDEVELOPMENT: Thecoaches hope Montanahas the same touch aspredecessor Ryan Grif-fin, who turned in thetwo most prolific pass-ing games in school his-tory last season. Theyknow Montana is moremobile than Griffin,which should come inhandy behind a shakyoffensive line.

Montana started onlyone game at Washing-ton, but he was highlyrecruited as a highschool senior in 2010.

Almost all of the GreenWave's receivers areback, including first-team All-ConferenceUSA pick Ryan Grant,who caught 76 passesfor 1,149 yards last sea-son.

2. NEWCOMERS:Davenport, a graduatestudent in his final yearof football eligibility,was unblockable in thefirst two weeks of pre-season practice. The

difference betweenLSU, where he playedsparingly and wasmoved to offensive linein 2011, and ConferenceUSA is tremendous.Also, former Arkansaslinebacker Tyler Gil-bert, a junior, will playdefensive end, and Tu-lane's freshman class isfaster and more physi-cal than in previousyears.

3. BETTER BLOCK-

ING: The offensive linestruggled mightily in2012. With four of thefive starters havingnext to no experienceentering the season,Tulane averaged 39.6rushing yards, the sec-ond lowest total for anyFBS team this century.The Green Wave did notscore its first rushingtouchdown until theeighth game. All butone of those linemen isback, and sturdy seniorcenter Zach Morganreturns after missing2012 with a shoulderinjury.

4. SECONDARYSTANDOUTS: TheGreen Wave had threefreshman starters atdefensive back, and allthree were productive

as they learned on thejob.

Free safety DarionMonroe, who renegedon a commitment toTexas A&M to signwith Tulane, led theteam with 96 tackles.Cornerback LorenzoDoss had five intercep-tions. Cornerback Jor-dan Batiste had 41 tack-les.

5. SCHEDULE: Tu-lane plays a light sched-ule this fall. After open-ing with FCS opponentJackson State, theGreen Wave faces SouthAlabama, North Texas,Florida Atlantic andTexas-San Antoniowhile avoiding formerConference USA power-houses Houston andUCF.

Tulane seeks turnaround with Montana at QBAug. 29 Jackson St.Sept. 7 South Ala.Sept. 14 @La. TechSept. 21 @SyracuseSept. 28 @UL-MonroeOct. 5 North Texas

Oct. 12 E. CarolinaOct. 26 TulsaNov. 2 @Fla. AtlanticNov. 9 @UTSANov. 23 UTEPNov. 30 @Rice

Tulane Schedule

Payton glad to beback coaching

METAIRIE (AP) —Finally, Saints coachSean Payton gets to dowhat he loves the most.

Nearly 19 months af-ter he coached his lastgame, Payton was backon the sideline whenNew Orleans played theKansas City Chiefs inan exhibition openertwo weeks ago at theSuperdome, which wasrocking for his returnfrom an unprecedentedyear-long suspensionfor his role in the boun-ty scandal.

Much has changedsince Payton walked offthe field at CandlestickPark on Jan. 14, 2012.

Without Payton, theSaints slipped to 7-9 lastyear, losing their firstfour games en route to

their first sub-.500 sea-son since 2007. Aftersetting an NFL recordfor most yards gainedin 2011, they shatteredthe mark for most yardsallowed in 2012.

Then-defensive coor-dinator Steve Spag-nuolo was fired andreplaced by Rob Ryan,who has changed thedefense to a 3-4 align-ment from a 4-3.

Quarterback DrewBrees, who threw for anNFL-record 5,476 yardsin 2011, tied the NFLhigh with 19 intercep-tions in 2012.

Colston expectsto be productive METAIRIE (AP) —

Saints wide receiverMarques Colston hasnever been to Hawaii.

His teammates wouldlike to see him go theall-expenses-paid route,with what would be hisfirst Pro Bowl selection.For that to happen,Colston probably willhave to record the sev-enth 1,000-yard receiv-ing season in his eight-year career, and do sowhile coming backfrom a foot injury thathas sidelined him muchof the preseason.

Colston playedthrough pain in his leftfoot last season. He hasmissed more than adozen days of practicesince 2013 trainingcamp opened in lateJuly and said he is"really trying to be cau-tious and take my time,knowing that we've gota long season to play."

He added that he is"probably not" 100 per-cent at this point but isworking toward it.

Colston, 30, has 7,394

yards receivingthrough his first sevenseasons, which ranksninth among all re-ceivers during thatspan. Colston's 58 TDcatches is tied for sec-ond among all receiverssince 2006, trailing onlyLarry Fitzgerald's 59.The only time Colstonhad fewer than 1,000yards receiving in aseason was 2008, whenhe missed five gamesbecause of a hand in-jury and finished with760 yards.

Familiar roles in new defenseMETAIRIE (AP) —

When the Saints' WillSmith burst throughthe line for his firstsack of this preseason,he was lined up at thedefensive end spot he'splayed the first nineyears of his career, notat his new outside line-backer spot.

That doesn't mean theSaints are leaning to-ward making Smith alineman again, coachSean Payton said, butdoes mean the club willroutinely play toSmith's establishedstrengths as a passrusher in its new 3-4defense.

Smith's sack of Oak-land starter Matt Flynnlast Friday night cameon what Payton saidwas a tackle-end stunt,in which the tackleslants wide to rush onthe edge and the endcuts behind the tackletoward the inside.

For Smith, that playwould be "very similarto what he's done for thelast (nine) years,"Payton said.

Drafted 18th overall

by New Orleans in 2004,Smith lined up as adefensive end, with hishand on the ground, ina 4-3 front.

This season, he some-times lines up standingupright and sometimesgets down in a three-point stance as a tradi-tional end might.

Smith's career-high insacks came in 2009,when he had 13 in help-ing the Saints to theironly Super Bowl title.He has not has as manyas seven sacks in a sea-son since but said that'sin part because oppo-nents' blockingschemes accounted forhim more during thepast few seasons, whenhe had to take on num-erous double-teams.

Hicks won't takerole for granted METAIRIE, (AP) —

Hardly two years re-moved from playing col-lege football on a 12-man defense in westernCanada, Akiem Hicks isprimed to emerge as afull-time starter on anNFL defensive line.

But he won't admit tobeing encouraged bythe fact he played withthe starting unit in thepreseason opener and isregularly practicingwith the first team.

The 6-foot-5 Hicks,about 330 pounds, iscurrently playing theleft defensive end incoordinator Rob Ryan'snew 3-4 defense (threelinemen, four lineback-ers). Last year as arookie, drafted in thethird round out of theUniversity of Regina(Saskatchewan), Hicksplayed reserve defen-sive tackle in a 4-3.


Notes from Saints camp



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