Laird pleased overall, but ‘still lots of work to do’
, buddy@rustonleader.com
05-21-2006
Ruston High School’s football team hopes to pick up in early Septemberwhere they left off on Friday evening.If that happens, then the 2006 season could bode well for the Bearcats.
After struggling early on, the Class 5-A Louisiana High School Athletic Association member finished on a strong note, the very last play in a nearly two and a half hour spring game against Bossier City Airline High being a touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Alsup to wide receiver O.J. Simmons.
Alsup, the No. 1 ranked pass yardage performer among Northeast Louisiana players in 2005, fired a 25-yard end zone strike to senior Simmons, who grabbed the pass in between two Vikings’ defenders.
It was the type of finish that head coach Billy Laird and his staff were hoping for during a spring-ending contest that had its typically good, bad and even ugly moments.
“Well, there were a little bit of both,” Laird analyzed about those ‘good’ and ‘not so good’ happenings. “We got pushed around on defense too much and had some trouble technique-wise. Offensively, seven turnovers certainly didn’t help at all. Three pass interceptions, four
fumbles.
“But with that said, we also had some good things happening for us. I thought we moved the football well, running and receiving, and we got better defensively at times as the game went on. Once we get those techniques down, we’re going to be okay (on defense).”
One big reason figuring into the defensive unit’s struggles was the number “9”. That’s how many starters are gone from last year’s team that posted a 7-5 record and played two games in the LHSAA’s 5-A state playoffs.
“We lost the entire front line,” Bearcats’ defensive coordinator J.P. Dunbar noted before reeling off the names of LSU signee Lazerius “Pep” Levingston, Louisiana Tech signee Randy Grigsby, John Nelson and Anthony Casteel. “And Colton Perritt, who was going to be starting as one of the linebackers today, had to go into the hospital with a strepped throat today. “Bolton Warren filled in for him and we’ll just have to check the film and see how he and some of the others who had to step up did for us.
“Yes, we’ve got a lot of work to do and we’ll have to work hard this summer, but there’s a lot of good young players out there who are going to be contributing for us and things will get better.”
Alsup started slow, but picked up his throwing touch as the spring game went on. His first two passes were intercepted.
But he began to find the groove with the presence of senior wide receiver Lamar Haddox, who was seemingly everywhere on the field, making in-the-middle and near-the-sideline receptions. Late in the game, he hauled in a 32-yard gainer that helped to eventually set up the TD toss to Simmons.
“Ben has confidence in him and vice-versa,” Laird said of the Alsup-to-Haddox tandem, which produced for a TD hookup with about five minutes remaining.
“Ben got to rolling late. You got to understand that he’s been with us for only six practices (having been on the Bearcats’ baseball team for the majority of the spring).”
Haddox ended with nine catches and Simmons five and such numbers will
have to become even more consistent, now that projected receiving star LaDell Gray has been dismissed from the team because of disciplinary reasons; the latter was among North Louisiana’s top long range threats in ’05 and was being tabbed as a preseason all-star by several in-state gridiron publications over the past several months.
The Vikings, who went 5-4 last year and was a 49-21 winner over Ruston at James Stadium, got on the scoreboard within the game’s opening five minutes, driving to the end zone with an average of 4.5 yards per running play.
After having his initial two attempts swiped by Airline defensive backs, Alsup regrouped and located Simmons for a 32-yard gainer and then the Bearcats made a march into Vikings’ territory with additional hookups between Alsup and wideouts Garrick “Stick Man” Jackson, Chase Patterson and Kelby Langston. More yardage resulted from runs by backs DeUndray Johnson, Kevin Caesar and Byron Wilson.
Sophomore Ross Garbarino operated as a backup to Alsup and teamed up with Langston, dubbed as “The Weapon”, and Patterson for a drive that ended at the Vikings’ 12-yard line.
Helping provide protection and blocking for the RHS drives were tackles Matt Stone and Steven Warner, guards Ryan Tatum and J.D. Frasier, tight end Jeremy Williams and center Dustin Serpas, all cited with solid efforts from offensive interior coach Shannon Frasier.
“i thought our protection was good overall,” Laird said.
Among the bright spots on defense was the alert play of secondary member John Richardson.
“John came up with two pass interceptions and was around the ball a lot,” Laird said. “He’s one of the young kids who has stepped up and done a good job this spring.”
Added Dunbar: “Kenny Freeman and Brandon Robertson along with John Richardson did a good job in the secondary for us and we’re going to be helped with the move of Graham Fuller to free safety.
“We’ve just got so many young kids being worked in right now and, with the losses we had from last year, it’s going to take some time and a lot of hard work.”
More good finishes like the one on Friday, however, will help make that time go by a little faster.
SPRING JOTTINGS: Faces in the James Stadium crowd: former Ruston High/LSU/NFL star BERT JONES, ex-Ruston High School head coach TOMMY REEDER, Louisiana Tech head coach JACK BICKNELL and Oklahoma State assistant coach GUNTER BREWER. Bicknell has a son, JOHN, who is a sophomore tight end for the Bearcats. Brewer is the son of former Tech and Ole Miss head coach BILLY BREWER who starred as a wide receiver at Cedar Creek High and who has had coaching stops at North Carolina and Marshall prior to joining the OSU program in Stillwater last year .... Former Ruston High quarterback PATRICK RAMSEY provided some “plugs” for the Squire Creek Country Club during a live interview with the popular Collin Cowherd show on ESPN Radio Friday morning.
Ramsey told Cowherd that his show is mentioned often among his friends in the pro shop at the Choudrant-based course..... Watching from the RHS sidelines was MATT EL-AWADI, a 2005 all-district linebacker for RHS who has been named for the mid-June “Bayou Bowl” in Texas.
BUDDY’S BLOG: Get the football to Lamar Haddox. This sleight-of-hand wide receiver can make the tough-to-grab catches, as evidenced throughout the spring game, particularly on one near-the-sideline catch that the official ruled he had barely stepped out of bounds.
Still, it was a signature reception that has become a staple for Haddox during his Bearcats’ career and that quarterback Ben Alsup should enjoy in his repertoire of pass schemes this fall.
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