Already one of the state’s most respected football coaches, Central’s Sid Edwards will add to his duties this coming school year. Edwards has taken on the additional responsibilities of interim athletic director and interim boys basketball coach.
Central found itself with a coaching vacancy when Wes Watts resigned to take a job as assistant principal at Zachary.
“Since the opening happened so close to the start of the school year, nobody wanted to make a quick decision,” Edwards said. “So I was asked if I would consider doing it for just this year, and I agreed. My goal will be to make the season as enjoyable and productive as possible for the boys on the team.”
Coaching two sports is nothing new for Edwards, 46. He guided Baton Rouge Redemptorist to the Class 3A state football title in the fall of 2002 and then brought the Wolves the Class 3A basketball championship in the spring of 2003. Edwards hasn’t coached basketball since leaving Redemptorist.
Edwards is entering his third year as Central’s football coach after leading the Wildcats to the Class 5A state semifinals last season and an 11-2 record. During the overlap of football and basketball seasons, Edwards is expected to rely upon assistant basketball coaches Scott Osborne and Ron Lewis for much of the early-season duties.
“You have 11 or 12 guys on the (basketball) team who play football, so that will make for a smooth transition,” Central principal Bob Wales said. “Sid’s a fantastic manager of people and we believe he can accomplish those goals.”
Football: Taffi loses one job, gains another
Days after being fired as Reserve Riverside Academy’s head coach, Tim Taffi landed on his feet with a job as an assistant coach for two-time Class 5A state champion Destrehan.
Taffi also will teach physical education at Destrehan based upon expected approval from the St. Charles Parish School Board.
Destrehan has gone undefeated the past two seasons.
Taffi was relieved of his duties at Riverside Academy after former coach Mickey Roussel came out of retirement to coach the team. Taffi had replaced Roussel for one season in which Riverside Academy finished 4-6 overall, including 1-3 in District 10-2A. Riverside Academy lost to Many in the bi-district round of the playoffs, 36-12.
Taffi spent 11 years as Roussel’s defensive coordinator before Roussel stepped down. Roussel was Riverside Academy’s head coach for 19 years during which time he compiled a record of 168-71. His teams reached the Class 2A state finals in 1993, 1998 and 2000. Only his 2003 failed to make the playoffs.
"I'm out of retirement," Roussel said. "After all is said and done, I'm excited. The year off was a great rest. It helped me see things in a different light. Now I'm ready to get back to work."
Evangel falls in tournament semifinals
Shreveport Evangel Christian bounced back from a slow start to reach the semifinals of the National Select 7-on-7 Championships before losing to Florida defending Class 4A state champion Plant of Tampa, 26-22.
Evangel finished 5-2 in pool play, earning a No. 4 seed and a first-round bye in the double-elimination tournament.
Evangel began pool play with a 42-8 victory over Pleasant Grove. It was Evangel’s second victory over the Alabama team. The tournament took place in Hoover, Ala.
"We played like we should play," Evangel coach John Bachman said. "We did with them what we should have done with them. They were one of the lower-seeded teams."
O. Perry Walker loses cornerback to injury
New Orleans O.P. Walker received a blow to its lineup when highly-regarded senior cornerback Urell Johnson suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament that is expected to sideline him three to four months. Johnson recently suffered the injury while running and jumping during a team drill.
O. Perry Walker coach Emanuel Powell said it wasn’t a complete tear and there is a possibility Johnson could play this season. Johnson, ranked 32nd nationally by rivals.com, already has begun rehabilitation after successful surgery.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Johnson originally committed to Southern Mississippi in July before changing his mind. He continues to be pursued by Southern Miss, Texas Tech, Virginia and Tennessee.
"This does absolutely nothing to his college prospects, because everybody continues to recruit him," Powell said.
Johnson won the long jump at the Class 4A Outdoor Track and Field State Championships last May with a leap of 23 feet, 9.25 inches. He ran on both the 400- and 800-meter relay teams which finished second and third, respectively. Johnson has been timed at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
Girls Basketball: Coaching legend dies
Edna “Tiny” Tarbutton, who set national records while coaching girls basketball at Baskin in the 1940s and 1950s, has died at the age of 87. A member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, Tarbutton’s teams won a record 218 consecutive games from 1947-53.
After finally losing to Winnsboro, Baskin came back to win a state championship while going on a 95-game win streak. In all Tarbutton won nine state titles, including eight in a row. She retired in 1977 with a 33-year coaching record of 654-263-2.
“She was a true pioneer and there is no doubt that for a certain time frame she was the best our country had,” said former Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore, also a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. “She did it better than anyone else.”
Baskin was featured in Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” in 1952 with the notation that it had “played basketball for five years, scored 2,038 points and never lost a game.”
“Coach Tarbutton was definitely special,” said former player Wanda Templeton-Allen of Ruston. “She was part policeman and part mama. She gave us advice for life and was a great motivator. We wanted to win for her. She seemed to understand each individual, and she made us all feel special.”
