Roussel comes away happy with overall effort of Rebels

By DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

NEW ORLEANS–Now the Riverside coaching staff has tape against another opponent to look at.

Watching it as it happened, Riverside Head Coach Mickey Roussel came away pleased.

“We went a series of 12 plays to start off,” Roussel said. “The defense did pretty good. The offense was a bit sluggish on the first series, the second series the defense kind of bent a little bit because we may have missed a couple of tackles. Our offense was able to get a couple of first downs on their last possession.

“Then we went to a 15-minute quarter and that was where I was the most pleased. We totally dominated the 15-minute period. We went into some game-type situations and held them to three and out a couple of times and on offense we were able to score a couple of touchdowns. What that told me was we are in good condition as far as our summer workouts. We kind of took over that last period. I’m pleased with that. I didn’t like the way that we started out, especially offensively, but we improved.”

Looking to come away injury free, Roussel said the Rebels were able to almost come away without a single injury.

“Lee Haydel tweaked his ankle a little bit,” Roussel said. “But I think that he is okay. It is a pretty good starting point for us.”

Roussel said the offense had it ups and its downs throughout the scrimmage.

“Jarid Caesar scored three touchdowns in a period and that was the only touchdowns scored,” Roussel said. “He had a nice 30-yard run and broke some tackles.

“I think we completed two passes. Our protection broke down a little bit, but the routes were open, we ran some good routes.”

The same held true for the Riverside defense.

“Defensively it is hard to tell,” Roussel said. “We gang-tackled pretty good. Kevin Bourg looked like he had a good scrimmage; Wade Delaneuville defensively had a good scrimmage. At outside linebacker Timmy Stein looked like he had a good scrimmage.

“It was a good starting point. Until I am able to look at the film, I am sure I am going to see some things I like and some things that I don’t like. Overall I am pretty pleased.”

Roussel said having tape against an opponent could only benefit the Rebels.

“You can start looking at what you did wrong,” Roussel said. “You can start to make the adjustments with the kids. It is a dress rehearsal for the jamboree next week. It gets the kids ready for the start of the season.”

SCC’s Monica encouraged

By DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

LAPLACE–So far so good for a young team that is starving for experience before the start of the real season in two weeks.

Looking to answer several questions regarding his 2005 squad, St. Charles Catholic Head Coach Frank Monica was pleased with his squad’s performance against St. Michael’s (formally Bishop Sullivan) in a scrimmage Thursday night at Comet Field.

“I’m pleased,” Monica said. “We are definitely pleased with one important factor and that was we were able to come away without any significant injuries. We had some real bright spots overall in the scrimmage. The defense played well. On offense we started out sluggishly, then I think as the scrimmage went on we kind of got in a little rhythm. That was impressive. We threw the ball a little bit better than I thought we would throw it.

“The thing is that we have to get better at running the ball if we are going to be succesful offensively.”

While the defense is expected to carry the young offense throughout the early part of the season, Monica said the offense did have its share of bright spots.

“I don’t know how good we can be offensively,” Monica said. “But I saw some things that are very encouraging. Some of the guys with very little experience played a bit better than I thought they would play. I was very pleased with that.

“There is still a long way to go. We had a couple of mental breakdowns, but I thought for the most part, we played with a little emotion.”

Monica said there were several players who had excellent performances Thursday night against St. Michael’s.

“I thought Casey Robottom had a good scrimmage,” Monica said. “Phillip Sutton had a good scrimmage on the offensive side of the ball. Chase Fletcher played well.

“I also thought some of our guys on the offensive line had solid scrimmages. I thought Chris Waguespack and Mark Murphy played well. Defensively I was pleased with Nick Adams and Nick Miller. I also thought that our secondary played well. Jared Nowell, Chase Matthews and Darin Helm played well. I was pleased with what I saw on the defensive side of the ball. Yet on the flip side of it, it was a scrimmage and we don’t game plan for scrimmages. They (St. Michael’s) didn’t know what we were going to do and we didn’t know what they were going to do. You are just trying to play against somebody else, somebody different and get a different perspective and instead of beating up on yourself, you get to hit on someone else. That is always fun.”