Wildcats Face No. 8 Jesuit in New Orleans Friday

Defending District 4-5A champion Central High (2-0) begins a five-game run that will test its mettle Friday, when the Wildcats travel to Jesuit in New Orleans. After that, Central will face, in succession, McKinley, Scotlandville, Denham Springs, and Zachary. Jesuit, ranked No. 8 in State 5A football, is “the real deal,” according to Wildcats head coach Sid Edwards, who coached at Jesuit for one year after Katrina. “They have all their components in place. They’re a hard-nosed, well-coached football team. It’s a tall order to go into their arena and play with them.”
Coach Edwards said it’s hard to believe that we are already one full month into the football season, if you include the scrimmage, the jamboree, and two regular season games. “I’m very pleased with a lot of things the Wildcats are showing, especially their continued improvement week to week.”
Central defeated Morgan City Friday by a score of 57-27. What could be deceiving about the score was that Central’s 1st team defense held Morgan City scoreless. The 1st team has not yet played a full 48 minutes, in part because of the weakness of the opponents, the need to give others more playing time, and the desire to protect the starters from the intense heat.
One thing that worries Central coaches is the fact that the Wildcats have faced two relatively weak opponents in Kipp and Morgan City, while Jesuit has played two of the top teams in the state in Ponchatoula and St. Paul’s. They narrowly lost to No. 4-ranked Ponchatoula 24-21 and defeated an always powerful St. Paul’s team 49-22.
Indeed, Jesuit is an experienced team. They played the spoiler last year in Central when they handed the Wildcats their only regular season loss. That Jesuit has 18 of its 22 starters returning, while Central has only four of 22 starters returning.
Coach Sid was pleased with the performance of Leo Brownfield last week against Morgan City. “It was Leo’s best game,” he said. Others earning special praise were wide receiver Daelon Richardson who had a great touchdown catch; De’Kelvin Smith, and Shane Smith.
Offensive coordinator David Simoneaux also mentioned wide receiver James Schopp. “He only had five touches but once again proved himself to be a warrior who can do it all.” Coach Simoneaux also cited quarterback Gabe Brown for nice throws. “He’s growing every week.” Simoneaux praised defensive coordinator Ken Hilton’s 1st team defense for their performance. “They had a solid night,” he said.
Simoneaux said Jesuit represents a major challenge for the Wildcats. “Our guys are preparing hard. You will see a high level of intensity from our team when facing a quality opponent like Jesuit.”
Edwards said he felt Central was the more talented team in last year’s game against Jesuit but Jesuit was always in position to make the play. “They are as sharp as you will see. This year, they have a great offensive line, an outstanding quarterback, and a big burly tight end who is the quarterback’s favorite target.”
“Jesuit will be a big jump for us. Our starters are going to have to be prepared to play 48 minutes. We’re a 4th quarter and can always come back, but we have to be in position.”
PUBLISHED IN THE CENTRAL WILDCAT