Meet the Wildcats: Loaded with Talent

Put on Your Traveling Clothes Next Week For Game Against St. Thomas More on Road in Acadiana

by Woody Jenkins

CENTRAL — Young but talented — that’s a pretty fair description of the 2011 Central High Wildcat football team.

Last Friday night’s Jamboree game against East Feliciana was impressive.  The Wildcats made plenty of mistakes, but East Feliciana has one of the biggest and most talented teams Central will face all year.

East Feliciana went 12-0 last year until losing in the semi-finals to perennial State Champion John Curtis.  The fact that Central was able to stay on the field with East Feliciana was a major accomplishment.  The fact that the Wildcats walked away with a 7-2 victory was even better.

Central will be at Wildcat Stadium this Friday night against Istrouma, which played well in its jamboree but is still in a rebuilding mode.  Central fans should look past Istrouma only in one sense — it’s time to make travel plans for next Friday’s game in Lafayette against St. Thomas More.

The game against St. Thomas More will be Central’s only out-of-town game during the regular season, and it was designed by Central head coach Doug Dotson to be a serious test of Central’s metal.

St. Thomas More is a 4A school, which plays in District 5-4A.  They were 13-0 in 5A last year, until losing in the playoffs.  St. Thomas More is coached by Jim Hightower, one of Louisiana’s all-time great coaches and a mentor of Doug Dotson.  Hightower has a career record of 308-106-1.

The quality of high school football in the Baton Rouge area is significantly below that in Acadiana.  Coach Dotson wants Central to play a powerhouse of that region, in preparation for a successful run in the playoffs.

Coach Dotson is asking all true Central Wildcat fans to make plans now to travel to Lafayette next Friday, Sept. 9 for the 7 p.m. game against St. Thomas More.

St. Thomas More puts on a big show at its home field and tries to intimidate the visitors.  Coach Dotson feels your presence in the stands in large numbers could give the Wildcats a significant and unexpected advantage.

***

MAKING MEMORIES FOR A LIFETIME — Members of the Central High football team will relive the events of this coming season over and over in their minds for the rest of their lives.  The friendships, coaches, games, practices, accomplishments, victories, defeats will all be recorded and remembered.

Every person is different, and we remember different things.  I suggest to each player that you keep a journal of the season.  Keep a record of what happens each day at practice, the humorous things that are said, the inspirational comments, game preparation, and the games themselves.  Years from now, looking back, you will be happy you wrote it down.

***

JIM DOUSAY’S BIG HIT. It’s funny the things you remember and the things you forget about football.  In 1962, Istrouma won the State Championship, and 15 players received college scholarships.  It was one of the greatest high school teams in state history, people said. I was in the 10th grade and played safety on the JV team.  Later that school year, in April 1963, junior All-State running back Jim Dousay was at spring training, and so was I.   I found myself lined up at safety, and the quarterback handed Dousay the ball.  Dousay wasn’t gigantic but he was very fast and powerful.  I had seen 300-pound men knocked out by a hit from Dousay.  He went on to be All-SEC at LSU.

Dousay ran off tackle and broke through the line.  In my mind, I can see him right now heading directly toward me, very much like an angry bull.  It was a cold day, and I swear there was steam coming out of his nostrils.

Safety is a great position.  If you’re fast, you may go an entire season without actually being hit hard.  Yet, you can hit receivers hard as they go up for the ball and take them out of the play.  When defending against broken field running, you can usually tackle the runner from the side.  For the safety, it’s usually a glancing blow, nothing serious.

But Dousay was heading right toward me.  He wasn’t trying to fake me out or out run me.  I was certain he was planning to run right over me!

We were in a scrimmage mode, and everyone was there.  Little Fuzzy Brown, the principal, was watching intently, as was Mr. Clyde Lindsey, the assistant principal and former All-American at LSU.  The head coach, Big Fuzz, was watching, as well assistant coaches Moose Stewart, Leon Mc Graw, and Coon Porta.

It would have been a perfect time to quickly lay down flat or dodge Dousay somehow.  But I was trapped.  I was going to have to tackle All-State, future All-SEC Jim Dousay head on.

I was going to die.  There was no question about that.  Resigned to that fact, I was in the ready position.  Dousay had his head down, and I was about to be hit by a force about equal to a small pickup truck.

Then suddenly Dousay looked up, and through his helmet, I saw his blue eyes smiling!  Perhaps he thought for a moment, this kid is not really a football player, why should I end his life now? Maybe he’ll have children and grandchildren someday!

For whatever reason, Dousay decided to let me live.  He began pulling up.  By the time he hit me, he was going half-speed.

And I made a perfect tackle!

Me!  I tackled Jim Dousay!

“Good job, Jenkins!” Big Fuzz roared.  “Good job, son!” coach McGraw said.

“What’s wrong with you, Dousay?” Big Fuzz said.  “That was pathetic!”

Unfortunately for opponents of Istrouma and LSU, I never saw Dousay be that compassionate again!

Photo by Woody Jenkins