The Riverside Academy Football team carries a unique mindset that most people don’t know or understand.

Although they are a Class 2-A school, its schedules from the 2015 or 2016 seasons say otherwise, especially the caliber of pre-district opponents. Both consisted of teams from 3, 4 and 5-A, and the Rebels never played a fellow 2-A team prior to district play.

They employ the mindset of “David versus Goliath” and don’t care who they play any week of the year. This attitude originated with the backbone of the team, the offensive line.

When the coaches built the 2015 team, they sensed a handful of open spaces, especially on the offensive line, that needed to be filled. All five starting lineman began the season at positions new to them. Three of them made their first ever start in the first game, one made his first start since the beginning of the previous year and the fifth player was the only veteran, having started the two seasons prior.

The lineup took shape as follows:  Left tackle—Junior Zach Breaud, Left guard—Sophomore Mason Scioneaux, Center—Junior Glenn Bernard, Right guard—Senior Garrett Anders, Right tackle—Junior Cameron Cook. These players paved the way for a shaky quarterback system that saw three guys get behind center for the Rebels, en route to an 11-2 record. The teams also achieved a much improved run game from the Riverside teams of the past.

As the 2016 season dawned, the fairly young offensive line grew a year older and wiser. A few shake ups occurred. Scioneaux moved to right guard, Breaud moved to left guard and Cory Boudreaux returned from a year off to play left tackle.

Coaches and players understood the will of this position group, as they often made their presence known in practice with aggressiveness and huge hits. Another year of maturation and hard work in the weight room made the line more technically sound and physically stronger.

A fairly large offensive line, this group of young men averages a height of 6-feet-1 inch tall and 260 pounds, with the largest player at 6-foot-3 inches, 300 pounds. Most of the line will likely receive at least first or second team All-District honors, and Bernard has already received his invitation to the All-Star game.

This line engineered an offense that scored over 32 points per game, including over 45 points per game in the playoffs. The offense averaged 190 rushing, 195 passing yards and achieved an overall mean of 383 total yards throughout the year, with peaks of 325 passing yards and 384 rushing yards.

They produced 481 total points, 2,518 passing yards, 2,458 rushing yards, 4,976 total offensive yards, 25 passing touchdowns and 42 rushing touchdowns, an incredible amount despite playing only 13 games.

In that span, the offensive line conceded only 11 sacks, and even then some of those resulted from stupendous coverage that impeded the throw. Standout rusher Jeremy Gibson averaged 6.5 yards per carry rushed for over 1,400 yards alone and had a minimal amount of negative rushing plays.

After the most memorable two-year span in Riverside football history just concluded with two Dome trips and the school’s first LHSAA Championship, the efforts of these five young men on the offensive line cannot be overshadowed.

They never see or hear their names called in any newspaper or highlight reel on Friday nights, but that does not deter them from playing at a high level so their teammates can do their jobs and score for the Rebels to win games.

That kind of selflessness is rare in today’s sports where egos abound, but these five guys cared about something bigger than themselves.

Mason Scioneaux is a junior at Riverside Academy and is a right guard on the football team. He can be reached at masonscion@gmail.com.