By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor
BASILE – It maybe shouldn’t have happened this way for Basile senior running back Ashton Deaville.
Deaville, who had high expectations heading into his junior year, dealt with major adversity throughout his career.
None of it though came close to rivaling his junior season.
A back injury, which head coach Kevin Bertrand described as a possible vertebral injury, sidelined him for most of the year.
For most kids, it might’ve been taken as a sign to call it quits. For Deaville, it was a sign to work hard.
Deaville came back that same season, and translated that work into a senior year that saw him run for nearly 1,400 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Deaville, along with Sacred Heart’s Hayden Droddy, was named the Evangeline Parish co-offensive MVP for 2022 as the Bearcats once again reached the quarterfinals.
“I’d like to thank my coaches and teammates,” Deaville said. “Just to play on the field and get the opportunity. We worked so hard and to have the opportunity to get that far was great.”
Deaville, who was his district’s offensive MVP, was one of the figures within Basile’s offense that gave it its identity.
Basile was never fancy on offense, leaning on Deaville and fellow All-Parish first-teamer Horace Edwards for most of its yardage.
The weekly grind would take its toll on most players. Not so much for Deaville.
“You kind of got used to as weeks went on,” Deaville said. “It’s not bad at all between the two of us.”
It became a hallmark of Basile and Deaville that as the game went on the team got better.
“We’d start rolling,” Deaville said. “We just continued to do what we do as the game went on.”
Football teaches kids how to power through adversity. For Deaville, the daily lessons of work ethic and the struggle are things he will take with him along with memories on the field.
“Beating Haynesville my freshman year was great,” He said. “Just going up there as the underdog and beating them was great. (As for) this year, winning as many games as we did and having as much success as we did was a blessing.
“Football helped my confidence,” he added “Knowing that I’d go out to the field and have success every play set me up for life, I believe. Hopefully I’ll be able to take that out into the real world.”
June 20, 2026
