Patience pays off for Offensive MVP Leblanc

By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor

BASILE – The old saying is that “patience is a virtue.”
It’s true. Patience isn’t an easy thing to acquire or keep. However, it is rewarding.
Patience breeds resilience, which breed toughness and all of those things breed success in the long run.
Patience was a virtue that Basile running back Tucker Leblanc absolutely needed to stay the course, bide his time until his senior year and ultimately be named the 2023 Evangeline Parish Offensive MVP.
Leblanc led the Bearcats in rushing this past season. But, more than that, he set the tone for leadership and brought a young Bearcats squad to the postseason.
“He was just such a hard worker,” Basile head coach Kevin Bertrand said. “He did everything we asked of him (both) offensively and defensively. He was just one of the guys that couldn’t come off the field. He was a guy we hung our hat on all season long. Just a really steady player and one of our guys who led by example.”
There’s so much to be said about a reliable hand, especially when coaching teenagers. Leading a high school football team, rife with teenage emotions and teenage adversity, is far from an easy job.
Thankfully for Bertrand, Leblanc’s leadership never put the direction of the season in doubt.
“It’s just his character,” Bertrand said. “He wanted to be on the field and in the mix. On third and fourth-and-one, he wanted the ball in his hands. He didn’t just want it for himself, he wanted it for his teammates as well. He’s just a high-character kid.”
The humility and by-example nature Leblanc carries is obvious when speaking to him. Some kids seem comfortable on a big stage with an audience. The impression Leblanc gives is that his leadership is for those closest to him, not for the world to see.
“We all played so hard and loved the game,” he said. “We loved it, we got along well. We’ve been (playing football) together since we were four years old. So, it was great being able to share the senior year with those guys.”
Still, for a guy like Leblanc, his biggest successes came with his teammates. In a big win over Hamilton Christian earlier this season, Leblanc was able to shine. But, one of his most cherished memories is team-based.
“Winnin’ the district championship (in 2022) was awesome,” he said. “Coach (Bertrand) has always trusted us to do what we do and just pound and get after it every Friday night.
“It was awesome when he let us do that and I was able to have a good game against Hamilton. It was a lot of fun to be in that big spotlight.”
But, as for whether Leblanc would’ve been ready for all that pressure beforehand is something we’ll never know. However, Bertrand has seen the kid he was from the beginning and knows it prepared him for bigger things this year.
“It wasn’t until this year he became a full-time starter. He just had to wait his turn. He didn’t shut it down, he kept working hard and progressing.
“We knew he’d be a guy we could rely on and be able to give it to him 20 times a game. He’s just an example that it may not come to you quick, but you keep working and it’s going to pay off for you.”