SM Tigers working hard in summer under new coach

‘Fast, physical, finish’ is team’s mantra

St. Martinville – First-year St. Martinville Senior High School head football coach Garrett Kreamer has a simple philosophy that he sums up in three words when it comes to what he wants his team to do — fast, physical and finish.

“Everything we do, we want to run on and off the field,” Kreamer said as he takes the Tigers through his first summer at the helm of the program. “We want to play a fast, physical brand of football, and finish everything that we do.”

Kreamer took the job at the beginning of the summer after Vincent DeRouen resigned in May following a 10-year span with the school. Kreamer had served as head coach at Lafayette High the past two seasons after two years at Patterson High.

The Tigers will run a spread offense under Kreamer, who played quarterback at Comeaux High School.

“I tweak it every year based on the kind of athletes we have and make a couple of changes or adjustments along the way, but offensively we’ll be a spread and run a little bit of zone power and counter with some passing concepts,” Kreamer said. “And on defense we’ll base it out of a four-down (four linemen with their hands on the ground) cover three (three deep zone defensive backs each covering a third of the field) with them being multiple and be able to go into a three-down and play some coverfour and some different stuff.”

Kreamer said the coaches will try to keep things as simple as possible scheme-wise so the team can play fast instead of thinking about what they have to do.

“But (we’ll) have enough wrinkles to where we can be effective in what we want to do,” he said.

The coaching staff is largely comprised of returning coaches, with Kreamer set to call plays on offense. Newly-hired Chris Bland will be the defensive coordinator and Taylor Latiolais will be the run-game coordinator and offensive line coach.

Through the middle of summer, Kreamer likes what he’s seen from the team.

“So far they’ve bought in,” he said. “They’re working hard. They’re really starting to understand it and get it, so I think now it’s just a matter of keep repping it, repeat it as many times as we can so we don’t have to think about it and it just becomes second nature and we’re just playing out there, playing fast, physical and finish the way we want to do. How many reps can we get? We’ve got a fall scrimmage coming up and then the jamboree and hopefully once we get those two games under our belt we’ll be ready for week 1.”

The team started work in early June, lifting weights and running and learning concepts.

“This July we’ve got to have a strong second half of the summer now,” he said. “I want to see us grow as a team. I want to see the boys become great teammates, show love for each other, work hard. We’ve got to have leaders step up. I just want to see us get bigger, faster, stronger and learn the game of football, but most importantly become a team.

The Tigers have a good senior group that has stepped up already as leaders, he said.

“Led by the quarterback Khyrie Francisco,” Kreamer said. “He’s taken a leadership role. Guys really rally around him. He’s a good player.

“Also, Kylun Skipper is going to have to play multiple roles for us. He’s a big-time leader for us. Zy Johnson’s going to play different multiple positions for us. He’s a leader. Kohen Clues — the list goes on. We have a bunch of guys that have stepped up who can lead vocally and by example, so I like those guys. I’m happy with their development and where they’re at right now.”

The team has a sizeable freshman class as well, and Kreamer hopes that more freshmen come out for football once school starts.

“We love all the help we can get,” he said. “We see this not only as a football team but as a ministry, and hopefully we can help these boys not only just in high school football but in life after, once they get into the real world.”

The team has gotten a lot of seven-on-seven work in, usually twice a week, Kreamer said, including work at St. Thomas More’s Quick Slants this past week.

“You get to play against other teams and see different looks and learn from the different schemes you’ll see,” Kreamer said. “It’s been really good. I know our boys have enjoyed it. You can’t really simulate live reps going against a different opponent in practice, so we like that aspect of it.”

Kreamer said the coaches know they have their work cut out for them in District 5-3A with opponents like Kaplan, Erath and Abbeville.

“We have our work cut out for us,” he said. “Everybody on our schedule is going to be good. We know that, so we’ve got to come ready to battle every week. There’s no off week. We’ve got some talented teams with good coaching in our district. We’re going to have to be ready and just put one foot in front of the other and keep trucking, and take it one week at a time.”

SMSH also faces a challenging non-district schedule with parish rivals Cecilia, the defending Division II Non-Select state champion, and Breaux Bridge.

“Those are always two big games, and I know boys will be excited for it,” Kreamer said. “We’ll be ready for it, and I know they’ll also be ready. It’ll be exciting and fun.”

The schedule also features Class 5A Lafayette and Woodlawn of Baton Rouge and playoff teams in Parkview Baptist (Division III Select second round), Westgate (Division I Non-Select second round) and Jeanerette (Division IV Non-Select quarterfinals).

“I’m just excited to see our team come together and compete,” Kreamer said. “I just want to say a big thank you to all the players and their parents for the work they’re putting in, the donations, the generosity in our coaching staff to keep mentoring our boys and help them along the way.”