Coach Simoneaux Reviews 2023 Season

Central High head football coach David Simoneaux, is proud of the 2023 Central football squad and the way the school’s program is developing.

Having just completed his first year as head coach, Simoneaux said, “The foundation has been laid. It always has to be rooted in relationships.  I’m proud of the support we have had from the students and the community, especially as we went down the stretch in the playoffs.”

He feels the most significant games were De La Salle, West Feliciana, East St. John, Neville, and Dutchtown.

“One of the things that meant the most to me and which revealed so much was the fact that in the stretch, our fans outnumbered the other teams even at away games. It is a tribute to the kind of community we have.”

“We want to win as a by-product of being championship human beings.  We want to play good football, but we have championship expectations in everything especially academics. We expect the best in social, spiritual, and sports.”

“Our parents really made a difference this year.  They formed a pancake platoon to feed the kids three times a week.  They prepared pre-game meals.  Behind the scenes, they were spectacular.”

Season Highlights

“The win against West Feliciana (8-2) was very big for us, coming off the opening loss to De La Salle. West Feliciana had the No. 1 recruit in the state in Joel Rogers, but we were able to win 41-9.”

“It was a game where the mentality we are trying to instill came out.  We were able to overwhelm our opponent with our physicality.  It was the opposite the week before.”

“Damon Blocker went off on a huge run and took it to the house. That was the beginning of the avalanche. West Feliciana’s only other loss was to Opelousas 7-0, and now they are in the championship.”

“Catholic High showed we were a team who could play with the big guys. Although we lost 42-38, it opened a lot of eyes.”

“We bounced back against Zachary.  Although we lost to Zachary 35-28, we established that we were not just a one-game wonder but consistent.  I’m not into moral victories, but we showed we had the right stuff.”

“In the end, both Catholic and Zachary played in state championship games.”

“Our first game in the playoffs was against East St, John. They were in the Quarterfinals last year.  We were proud to be in the playoffs and happy with a 43-15 victory.  It was a very physical victory, and I was very satisfied with the way our crowd travelled to support us.”

“The signature win of the season was against No. 2-ranked Neville at their home in Monroe. They are a perennial power and everyone respects them.  To go against them on the road was a challenge.”

“We went down 16-0 in the first five minutes of the game.  It was not a pretty sight.  But then the last 41 minutes, we shut them out and won 17-16!  The defense played so well.”

“I have to credit our coaches for all they did.  Everyone attaches success to the head coach but the reality is a lot of people made the difference.  You have to start with the superintendent and the principal, who give us the tools we need.  We have 150 kids on the roster from the 9th through the 12th grade.”

“We look for very special people as our coaches. We want men who put the kids first who are Godly role models and who love football.  We have 18 coaches down to the freshman level and great athletic trainers.”

“In Central’s history, the most offensive records were set in 2009 with the Briscoe brothers.  This year we were second only to 2009.”

“Our coordinators did a magnificent job!  They have toughness and passion, and they teach those things.  By the end of the season, it all came together.”

“One of the great things was having on the staff eight of the men who played with me at Central.”

“I’m excited that some of our kids have potential to play at the next level, and some of them will. The thing that’s different today is the college transfer portal.  It means that so much recruiting goes on with kids who are already in college instead of at the high school level.”

Coach Simoneaux said he is excited about spending time helping develop kids in youth leagues in Central.

Now that the season is over, the team will turn to heavy weight training and some conditioning. Also, there is a lot of attention paid to nutrition. “We work on tearing down muscle and rebuilding it,” he said.

Coach Simoneaux said he is very excited about the new $3 million weight room, which will be one of the premier weight rooms in the South.

Next year’s schedule will be a bit harder.  Denham Springs and Walker are back on the schedule. The season will open with De La Salle, Denham Springs, and Walker in that order.

“We weren’t prepared last year for Zachary and Catholic.  One of the reasons was the early schedule wasn’t tough enough.  However, Denham Springs and Walker will provide strong competition.”

The annual football banquet two weeks ago was a big success with more than 500 in attendance.

2023 was a great season but if David Simoneaux has his way, we haven’t seen anything yet!