Destrehan’s Stephen Robicheaux has been chosen as the New Orleans Saints high school Coach of the Year and will participate in the NFL-USA Football Youth Football Summit in Canton, Ohio.
Robicheaux is one of 51 high school coaches selected nationally. The annual summit includes educational seminars and will be held in conjunction with the NFL Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. Robicheaux has led Destrehan to back-to-back Class 5A state championships with undefeated records.
“I'm excited,” Robicheaux said. “It’s a youth forum. They bring in a bunch of Hall of Fame guys, and they talk about what the NFL can do to help high school athletics. Then there is a reception at the Hall of Fame. You know what the Hall of Fame means to everybody. I've been twice. I’m excited to go back.
“The best thing is, it’s our week off so I don’t have to miss any practice.”
New all-star game considered
With the five-year Bayou Bowl against Texas all-stars all but thing of the past, the Louisiana Football Coaches Association has initiated preparations to create an alternative game.
At its meeting last week, the LFCA voted to try to schedule a Louisiana versus Arkansas game to be played the first weekend in June, LFCA president Charles Baglio said. Possible sites include the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, McNeese State and Nicholls State.
"The first decision was that obviously we want to continue to have an all-star game,” Baglio said. “We decided to pursue a game against Arkansas. In the event that doesn’t work out, we’ll have two Louisiana teams.”
Officially the Bayou Bowl still exists, but Louisiana High School Athletic Association assistant commissioner B.J. Guzzardo said a formal announcement about its demise will be made in September. The Bayou Bowl has been played in Baytown, Texas, since its inception.
“The mayor of Baytown is going to be the new chairman of the committee that puts the game on,” Guzzardo said. “He’s already proposed that they go with a North-South Texas game instead of a game against Louisiana.
“Even though it won’t be official until it’s voted on, we’re trying to be proactive. In order to get something in place for next year, we need to start now.”
The LHSCA once held its own all-star football game matching two Louisiana sides. The game was played at LSU for more than 20 years before the Bayou Bowl came into existence. The LHSCA used to hold an all-star week in the summer that also featured games for volleyball, and boys and girls basketball.
All-star week has since been disbanded, and the Guzzardo said it will take as much as $50,000 in sponsorship money to cover the expected costs of staging an all-star football game. Baglio said the LFCA will meet again in September to discuss the issue.
Players get professional instruction
More than 100 players from the Houma-Thibodaux area participated in the 2009 Pro Football Combine Camp at Nicholls State.
“This is the most unique camp in the country because it’s run professionally,” said Albert Elias, owner of Elias Sports Management, which staged the one-day event along with Orthopedic Sports Specialists of Louisiana and Velocity Sports Performance. “These kids are going through exactly what you would go through if you were invited to the (NFL) Combine (for potential draft choices in Indianapolis). The entire camp was run like a combine.”
Providing instruction were NFL players Kevin Payne (Chicago Bears), Howard Green (New York Jets), Skyler Green (New Orleans Saints), Herman Johnson (Arizona Cardinals), Travis Daniels (Kansas City Chiefs), Eric Alexander (New England Patriots) and Jarvis Green (Patriots).
Payne played at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, but all the others competed at LSU. The campers, for their part, were appreciative of the chance to rub elbows with professional football players.
“You get to learn new things and it’s fun,” Ellender senior lineman Ardale Burns said. “It helps your skills. They (the NFL players) teach you to be a better man and a better player.”
“It’s a good feeling,” H.L. Bourgeois junior defensive back William Walker said. “It will make me better. It helps me to be faster and more football smart.”
E.D. White Catholic assistant coach Chris Bergeron said the camp is beneficial I more ways than one.
“This is a great thing for the community and a great thing for the kids,” he said. “A lot of colleges are going to one-day camps like this one. Having NFL guys around is great. You can see those guys giving back to the community.”
Echidnas roll to victory in Down Under Bowl, 20-0
Louisiana joined forces with Arkansas and Missouri to defeat the previously undefeated Texas and Nevada Sharks, 20-0, in the silver medal game of the 21st Down Under Bowl in Queensland, Australia.
The Echidnas bounced back from a 25-22 overtime loss to California with the convincing victory.
“I don’t think they respected us after the California game…so we came out and put it to them early and our team responded well the whole game,” said Echidnas coach Steven Fitzhugh of Monroe Ouachita Christian. “We wanted to prove that we were as good of team as we knew we were and the Sharks just got in our way. They had badmouthed us and told us how bad they were going to beat us since last Friday in Los Angeles, and I think the guys had had enough and wanted to prove to them how good we were.”
The Echidnas’ first drive ended with former Franklin quarterback Shaquille Conner throwing an interception at his 19-yard line. Conner redeemed himself with an interception in the end zone that represented the first of the Echidnas’ five picks.
Former Block running back John Bllodshaw scored the Echidnas’ first touchdown on a 13-yard run with four minutes left in the first quarter. A fumbled snap on the extra-point attempt left them with a 6-0 lead. The Sharks mounted a late drive that carried them to the Echidnas’ 6-yard line.
Facing second-and-goal from the 6-yard line with 26 seconds left in the game, the Sharks threw a screen pass on the 14th play of the series. Defensive end Gary Battle from St. Louis intercepted and returned it for a record 98-yard touchdown.
Battle had an earlier interception that resulted in a 6-yard return. Heath Pruitt of Delhi Charter finished with seven tackles.
Softball: West Ouachita coach leaves for another job
Lori Bruscato, who guided Monroe West Ouachita to the 2008 Class 4A state runner-up spot, has resigned her post to take a teaching job at Sterlington Junior High School.
Assistant coach Jack Goode will replace Bruscato.
“It was very hard, but I’m very glad Jack got the position,” Bruscato said. “It makes me feel at peace with my decision. He knows the girls, and I think he’s going to do a very good job. I feel very confident in my decision with him taking over.”
Bruscato said she wanted to be closer to her home in Sterlington. Bruscato is pregnant and expecting her third child in September. She will teach special education Sterlington Junior High just as she did at West Ouachita.
Bruscato spent three years coaching at West Ouachita, including the last two as head coach. This past season, she guided West Ouachita to the state title game where it lost to Belle Chasse in extra innings. West Ouachita finished 32-5. Bruscato starred at IULM before replacing former coach Sherry Helms, who resigned in the summer of 2007.
Helms had taken the Chiefs to the state quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual state runner-up Live Oak.
“I feel very privileged to be given the chance to head one of the state’s elite softball programs,” Goode said. “I’m determined to not only maintain West Ouachita’s winning tradition but further the accomplishments of our program.”
Goode was West Ouachita’s hitting coach and led the junior varsity to a 17-1-2 record. Pitching and outfield coach Ashley Burkett is expected to remain on Goode’s staff.
