Creative offense has Mamou wanting more against Oakdale

By: RHETT MANUEL Sports Editor MAMOU – Ideas can be dangerous. History is full of deadly ones. History, however, is also littered with great ideas that helped humanity. Electricity, automobiles, the printing press. Each of them made human life easier. So, while not comparing his latest idea to the most deadly or beneficial in human history, Mamou head coach Dwight Collins had to feel pretty good about his idea to give Devin Ardoin the ball early and often last week in his team’s 36-31 win over Ville Platte. Normally operating as a big-play receiver, Ardoin carried the ball 23 times for 231 yards and four touchdowns in last week’s win. Not bad, and a trend Collins has to hope continues as his Green Demons host Oakdale tomorrow night in non-district play. Ardoin shouldered much of the load in a hybrid role last week, alternating between slot receiver and playing some quarterback alongside Dezmond Bradley. “At the beginning of the year, we knew he’d play some quarterback. We just didn’t know how much or how soon,” Collins said. “With how well (Dezmond) developed, we didn’t need him as much. But last week we had to adjust and use it more. It helped because we could just bump Dezmond out to receiver.” While wildly successful, Collins isn’t ready to commit to wholesale change nor a two-quarterback system. “I don’t want to corner myself into anything,” he said. “That was an adjustment we made and we were prepared for. His number got called and he had a good game.” Mamou has found itself with a 3-2 record and another good offensive unit. It faces another strong unit in Oakdale. “They run the veer and they’re really good at it,” Collins said. “They main back, who has stacked up a bunch of yards for them, was missing last week. I think he’ll be back this week so that gives us something else to prepare for.” A big theme of this year, according to Collins, has been how slow his team has started. He acknowledges that, if his team bucks that negative trend, they’re capable of more. “We’ve seen the mistakes on film,” he said. “We haven’t really played as a fully cohesive unit yet. I will say this – if this team gets on the same page at the same time I think we have the talent to do some really good things.”