The St. Martinville Sr High Tigers and Cecilia Bulldogs wrapped up their spring football drills with scrimmages during the past week.

    Coach Marc Broussard’s Tigers travelled to Eunice on May 19 while coach Terry Martin’s Bulldogs hosted a three-way scrimmage that included Catholic High of New Iberia and Kaplan on May 21.

    St. Martinville

    “We came out flat and were not as aggressive as I thought we should have been,” was Broussard’s quick assessment of his team’s match up against a strong Eunice club.

    The Tigers, who finished the 2008 season at 3-6, face another big rebuilding year, having lost most of their key offensive skill players along with All-District linebacker Joshua Fontenette.

    Moving up to the quarterback spot is Alex Oubre, who has handled SM’s place kicking duties for the past two years. Running back Lance Charles, who missed half of the 2008 season with a torn ACL, is expected back but was held out of spring workouts. Broussard rotated Justin Penn, Eddie Nelson, Taylor Charles and Skyler Delahoussaye in the backfield.

    Christian Guidry, who earned All-District honors at center as a junior, also missed the scrimmage after suffering a bruised shoulder in practice.

    “We’re looking at a lot of new people all across the offensive and defensive lines,” said Broussard. “The scrimmage was kinda like an audition across the board, both ways.”

    The coaching staff will begin working with players on weight training and conditioning beginning June 1. Pre-season drills begin on July 29.

    Cecilia

    With the loss of 17 starters from last year’s team that reached the semifinals of the state Class 3A playoffs, coupled with a move up to Class 4A, coach Terry Martin and his Bulldogs face some big challenges as they prepare for the 2009 season.

    “I thought our performance in last week’s scrimmage was pretty encouraging overall,” commented Martin. “Because we’re so inexperienced, we kept things pretty simple and the kids played hard with lots of intensity.”

    Cecilia will likely run a spread offense next year, starting most plays from the shotgun. Adrien Noel handled the quarterback duties for the first unit last week with All-District returnee Justin Zeno as the lone back. Montrel Carter and Brooklyn Williams also worked in the offensive backfield.

    Martin will rebuild his offensive line around All-District returnees Waylon Seneca and Payton Huval, while cornerback Keenan Dartez will bring experience to the defensive unit.

    “We’ll spend a lot of time on the basics when we get back to work on pre-season preparations,” says Martin. “We’ll be doing a lot of teaching.”