Louisiana football jamborees signal coming of regular season

West Monroe gives powerful performance in crushing Rayville; Evangel falls to Loyola.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Dave Moormann
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Aug 31, 2010, 10:03am
If the performance by West Monroe in the fifth annual Bayou Jamb was any indication, the Rebels' No. 6 ranking in the MaxPreps.com Xcellent 25 preseason poll is more than warranted.

The defending Class 5A state champion looked as if it planned to repeat in routing Rayville 48-7. West Monroe will open regular-season action against Leesville on Friday. Rayville will face Oak Grove (La.).

West Monroe senior quarterback Paul Turner, a recent LSU commitment, rushed for three jamboree touchdowns, including a 56-yarder on the Rebels' first drive of the game. He also scored on runs of 21 and 19 yards.

"Paul did some good things, but he did some bad things," veteran West Monroe coach Don Shows said in downplaying Turner's display. "He had one pass that could've been a touchdown, and he should've checked out of some plays that he didn't."

West Monroe's vaunted defense also scored, as Austin Carr returned a second-half interception for a 35-yard touchdown. Cade Stone set up another touchdown with an interception return to the 1-yard line. West Monroe held Rayville to one first down in the first half.

Rayville averted a shutout when sophomore running back Marquon Hunter ran back a kickoff for a 98-yard touchdown.

Elsewhere in jamboree action around the state:

* Defending Class 2A state champion Evangel Christian Academy (Shreveport) didn't fare as well in its jamboree, as it lost to Loyola College Prep (Shreveport) and tied Arkansas (Texarkana, Ark.).

Loyola preserved its victory when it blocked the extra-point kick after Evangel quarterback David Dee Duron threw a touchdown pass to Judah Jones on the game's final play.

"We didn't really make a big deal about the fact that it was Evangel (in) the jamboree," Loyola coach Steven Geter said. "We've done more preparation for St. Frederick (Monroe) (which Loyola will face in the season opener) and just working and getting better as a team.

"But when you come out on top of a great team like that, and it happens to be Evangel, well, sure, it feels pretty good. It gives the whole school something to rally around."

After Evangel and Arkansas battled to a 6-6 tie, Arkansas rebounded to stop Loyola, 10-7. Each team in the jamboree played one another in a 15-minute quarter.

* Defending Class 1A runner-up South Plaquemines (Port Sulphur), under new coach Damieon Mills, lost to Class 4A Walker (New Orleans), 16-12.

Walker's Mike Barthelemy rushed 15 times for 79 yards, including a 4-yard score. The teams played for 30 minutes.

"We've got some work to do," Mills said. "I'm sure Walker feels the same. But we will be ready next week (against Belle Chasse)."

* First-year school East Feliciana enjoyed a 13-6 victory over host Port Allen in the Placid Refining Jamboree. East Feliciana is a consolidation of Clinton and Jackson high schools.

East Feliciana quarterback Kendall Beckwith threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Tekemian Ceasar and a 39-yarder to Courtney Mathews.

Douglas’ showing not enough
Despite the best efforts of Baton Rouge Christian quarterback Stevie Douglas, the Memphis commitment couldn't lead his team past Claiborne Academy (Haynesville) in Mississippi Association of Independent Schools regular-season action.

Douglas threw four touchdowns passes, including two to Nathan Jenkins, in the Patriots' 58-30 loss. Claiborne Academy's Zach Ruple countered with four touchdowns, including runs of 56 and 84 yards. He returned an interception for a 65-yard score.

Baton Rouge’s Demond Singleton caught on an 18-yard touchdown pass and returned a kick for a 65-yard score.

Callihan commits to Stanford
In following the lead of his quarterback, who accepted a football scholarship to an academic school, Catholic (Baton Rouge) defensive tackle Lance Callihan committed Stanford.

"Stanford is the perfect fit for me," said Callihan, who also had offers from Tulane, Richmond, Maryland, Memphis, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. "It's too good of an opportunity to pass up. They stress academic and athletic excellence just like Catholic High. That's what I wanted."

As a junior, the 6-foot-3, 295-pound Callihan helped Catholic to an 11-3 record and a spot in the Class 5A state semifinals last season.

In the same vein, Catholic quarterback Zack Oliver recently committed to Northwestern.

Turf in the works
Denham Springs has begun plans to resurface its football field with artificial turf, a move that will cost between $700,000 to $900,000. The Yellow Jackets hope to raise $200,000 on their own and recently held a successful gala to help defray costs.

The Livingston Parish School Board has earmarked money for the project and appointed an architect. Denham Springs also is scheduled to get a new science and technology building. Zachary and Parkview Baptist (Baton Rouge) of nearby East Baton Rouge Parish already have artificial turf fields. Likewise, the Louisiana Leadership Institute has artificial turf in its stadium that will be used by several high schools for games this season.

Baseball: Episcopal hires Canevari
In the hopes of capturing some of the magic that Dan Canevari performed as an LSU assistant baseball coach, Episcopal (Baton Rouge) hired the veteran coach to lead its program.

During Canevari's tenure, LSU won five national championships between 1991-2000, including the last two with Canevari as pitching coach. Canevari also spent three years as head coach at Southeastern Louisiana.

He spent the past year operating a lawn care and landscape architecture business with former LSU and major league pitcher Chad Ogea. At Episcopal, the 52-year-old Canevari replaces Chris Counts, who resigned after a successful 15-year career.

"I knew if I wanted to get back into coaching, it needed to be at the high school level and I wanted it to be in the Baton Rouge area," said Canevari, a New York native and University of Miami graduate. "This job was a perfect fit at the right time for my situation."

Canevari previously coached on the high school level at Coral Gables in Miami from 1988-90. Canevari will teach physical education at Episcopal.

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