Evangeline Parish football teams get ready for jamboree

Image

It is that time of the year again where football coaches around the state begin to find out who on their team is ready to play and who is not quite up to getting on the field just yet.
It is also the time where schemes are evaluated and staffs tweak their playbooks for the regular season opener.
One of the major ways that coaches can do those things is through the jamboree. So, tomorrow night, every gridiron squad in the parish will be on display in this year’s version of the Evangeline Parish Jamboree.
The annual event, which rotates from school to school in the parish, will take place at Ville Platte High School this season. The jamboree will consist of three 15 minute contests between Basile, Pine Prairie and Sacred Heart and a 30 minute contest between Mamou and Ville Platte. First game is set to kickoff at 6 p.m.
Last week, each of the teams in the parish participated in a fall scrimmage, and from the reaction of the coaches, things went as well as could be expected.
“I was pleasantly surprised how our team performed against a program the caliber of Westgate,” stated Ville Platte High head coach Jorie Randle, after they took on the Tigers of Iberia parish. “I thought we did well considering we have just started to install the major portion of our offense. We still have a long way to go, but we are slowly moving in that direction.”
Sacred Heart head coach Josh Harper was very excited about his team’s efforts against Bunkie last Thursday.
“I thought our offensive and defensive lineman have improved a ton over the last few weeks,” said Harper. “They are starting to be more aggressive and they are utilizing the techniques taught to them. Offensively, we were very vanilla in our approach. But, for just running four basic plays, I thought things went well. Defensively, we were quick and did a good job reading our keys.”
Pine Prairie head coach Yves Prince also saw some good things with his young team and commented about it after their scrimmage this past Friday against St. Ed’s.
“Our offensive line did a good job of getting JJ (Sims) out in the open,” said Prince. “We just have to learn how to carry our feet with us when we block. But, overall, I thought our guys played as well as could be expected.