5 takes as Tarpons get to 6-3 with district win

The South Lafourche High School football team got a 38-7 win over Ellender, punching the team’s ticket into the Division I Non-Select State Playoffs.

It was a fun night and we saw some good things for both teams.

Let’s dive in with our 5 takes.

5 TAKES AS SOUTH LAFOURCHE ROLLS PAST ELLENDER

TAKE ONE: JOSH MACK’S BIG NIGHT: We could not be happier for Tarpons quarterback Josh Mack. He broke the school’s single season record for touchdown passes, taking down a record that has been in place since Bobby Hebert played. That’s amazing. Josh has had an amazing career, but now, we have to find this kid a Saturday home. He’s too good of a football player to have 0 offers. Get out of the portal, coaches. Heck, just look 40 miles up the road. How’s that portal project going? Oh yeah, he’s benched for local kid. Imagine that.

TAKE TWO: A FEW WORDS ABOUT ELLENDER: I could not be more impressed with Ellender’s football team. That is not sarcasm. I know some will scoff and say, ‘Dude, they are 2-6.’ I don’t care about that. In 365 days, that team has improved so much. They are young, yes. They made some mistakes tonight that they’d like to have back, yes. But Coach Aaron Butler has done a remarkable job with that team. The next leap forward will be a big one. That team is trending in the right direction.

TAKE THREE: TARPONS’ DEFENSE PLAYS WELL: The South Lafourche defense played well tonight – as well as they have all season. They had waves of kids flying to the football and those kids were laying the wood and making big-time plays on guys in open space. That was as good of a performance for that group as we have seen all season and I know Coach Mike Woods has to be happy with that effort.

TAKE FOUR: ELLENDER’S DEFENSE HAD FIRE: Outside of Thibodaux and Vandebilt who both did a very nice job slowing down South Lafourche, Ellender gave the Tarpons offense the most problems that they have seen all season. Yes, South Lafourche got 38 points, but they had some short fields and different things that helped that. The Patriots made the Tarpons struggle for every yard for most of the game and played very well. They did break down late, but they were also on the field all game.

TAKE FIVE: CHUBBY T … IN DA HOUSE: It will be so different next season when we are calling football games and Terrance Pitre will not be catching touchdown passes from Josh Mack. How many has it been this season? 15? 16? More? It is just such a regular occurrence now that it’s becoming something it will be hard to envision not seeing in the future.

TAKE SIX: PLAYOFF BOUND: The Tarpons are going to the playoffs. That’s an awesome accomplishment – especially for a school who is not a Division I school, but who is bound into Division I by ineptitude. To go to the playoffs as an under 1,000-student enrollment in a classification full of 1,500+ enrollment schools and some even 2,000+ enrollment schools is a feat and that coaching staff and those players deserve a pat on the back for a job well done.

TAKE SEVEN: A FIELD GOAL!: I give Coach BJ Young such a hard time in the offseason about special teams. South Lafourche has had some seasons where kicking has been a struggle and I have playfully ribbed Coach Young about those issues in the past. Safe to say, I will not be talking much about those issues in the future. South Lafourche kicker Wilbert Cerino is a good one. He is playing the ball well on his kickoffs, he made all his PATs tonight (that’s common place now) and he made a field goal. That’s massive improvement for Big Blue.

TAKE EIGHT: NATIONAL ANTHEM … GOODNESS: I don’t have the details. I had headphones on and was doing a pregame radio show. But who is that 8th grader from Golden Meadow Middle who sung the anthem? Goodness. That kid can sing! What a way to start the game!