The Cecilia Bulldogs are a 2-1 team, sitting in 4A District 5 classification. Coming off an excellent season last year, where they went 12-2, and 4-0 in division, they look to build upon this and improve in every aspect of the game to potentially win a championship. Under Head Coach Dennis Skains, the Bulldogs key players to look out for would be names such as Christian Menard, Ellis Stewart, and Rylan Hardy.
“We kind of just took last year and we added some things. It’s kind of what we do every year, I’m sure as you’re aware of. We just kind of tweaked some things we had last year, but a lot of 7o7, a lot of hitting the weight room, we do a ton of special teams stuff in the summer and just try to improve and kind of try to leave each day better than we arrived.”
Coach Skaines when asked how they prepared in the summer.
“We played East Ascension, Coach Matherne and his staff and I thought we had a great Spring. You know, we got eight day in plus the game so we’re happy with that sometimes you don’t know south Louisiana weather, but we were able to get in what I though was a great Spring. Just trying to transition and let this senior class try to learn their voice and learn how to lead and just try to pick up where we left off and improve on it.”
Coach Skaines when asked on how they prepared in the Spring
“I’m a big believer that every team has it’s own personality, and just trying to learn, I start noticing this team’s personality and then also watch. I think it’s fun to watch them, you know they have to learn how to lead the right way, how to learn to lead a peer, where they’re usually, even some of our better players, who were Juniors a year ago, weren’t necessarily the vocal guys, but them trying to find their own voice and learn how to lead and become a unit and to grow. It’s always one of my favorite experiences, every year, to experience just because you see them grow so much and just part of becoming a man and each of them, in their own way, learn how to do it. Learn how to lead the best that they know how, you know their personality and if you’re not a vocal person, I always try to say, “if you’re not vocal, then maybe that’s not the way you’re going to lead, find a different way.”…”
Coach Skaines when asked what he saw from guys stepping up.
Standing at 6’0 and weighing 185 lbs, #8 Ellis Stewart looks to be a key contributor to this team’s offense. The dual-sport, senior athlete has potential to build upon what he did for the team last year as runner-up state champions and could be in store for a big year under the spread offense the Bulldogs run.
“Well we’ll be a lot of what we were last year. I think in defense we were more of almost a 3-3-5 look, very multiple. Offensively, we’ll be spread, mostly. We’re like a lot of people around Lafayette area, you’re going to run. We’ll run with a tight end at time but not all of the time, we’ll run with a HB or a sniffer but not all of the time. We will go some spread with some true 2 by 2 and 3 by 1 but it’ll be a lot of the same stuff from last year. A lot of power read, a lot of traps, gap scheme stuff.”
Coach Skaines when asked about the schemes
Rylan Hardy is a 5’10, 220 pound senior Nose Guard for the team. He looks to expand upon what he was able to do last year and help the team succeed in hopes of taking them one level higher than the previous year. He is a tone setter for the defense and they will heavily be relying on him through the remainder of this season.
“Principal Usie has been awesome, recently she’s just been supporting us. She understands the value of Athletics, which I don’t think has always been the case at Cecilia, but she’s kind of come over to that side and understands that we can do a lot of good with the kids and really with the entire school if we do things the right way. She’s been very, very supportive of that. We’ve had some turnover with our administration, but John Chevalier would be the assistant principal along with Rachel Bergeron. Those guys are always there, they’re always helping, they’re always supporting. I feel bad at times, because I know it’s chaos on Game Night in Cecilia and they are the people that run the show behind the schemes.”
Coach Skaines when asked about the administration
Christian Menard is a heavily utilized players on this team, as he plays both offensive and defensive tackle. His contributions will be needed and felt throughout the entire game. Another senior, dual sport athlete but with a huge frame. Standing in at 6’4 and weighing in at 260, Menard’s impact will be needed on both side
“He’s returning(the quarterback), he’ll be a three-year starter for us at quarterback. Diesel Solari, he’s one of our better players last year and he’s returning. You always feel a little bit better when the quarterback is coming back. He’s been having a good year, he’s obviously a great runner, he’s not a true quarterback but he’s learned how to become a quarterback…”
Coach Skaines when asked about his quarterback
“I haven’t been to the status yet where nobody says yes(to playing us), but we didn’t have much trouble. We have always played St. Martinville first week, that’s a rivalry game. We’ll play St. Amant week 2, they’ll come to us. Week 3, Northside Highschool, right there in Lafayette and then we actually come across the bridge, over and we’ll play at Central Baton Rouge this year. Then, we’ll have Notre Dame week 5 in Crowley. We’ve been playing them the last three or four years and it’s a game that makes everybody better. I think hopefully we’re helping them get better, but I know they make us better. Then we’ll go into district from there…”
Coach Skaines when asked about making a schedule.
“That’s a beautiful thing about Cecilia.(the community)We had one year where I didn’t think we weren’t very good, up to the standard that we should be since I’ve been there. This is my ninth year, and even in that year, the stadium was packed. Home games are always packed, they always travel well. I guess in that down year, we probably heard more things, some things we didn’t want to hear, but they’re passionate. They expect winners, they want winners, they’re a typical small town, a community that loves football. They showed their support the week of the Dome(game) and we actually gotten a bus as we were leaving to go to New Orleans and we traveled from each of the schools in Cecilia. Elementary schools, junior highs, and then back through the high school again and it was unbelievable just to see the people that were there to support. It’s a passionate community. They want to win, they expect to win and I like that expectation. I like the fact that if we aren’t winning then you get mad at me.”
Coach Skaines when asked about the community
The Cecilia Bulldogs look to accomplish more in throughout this regular season. A team that made it deep enough into the playoffs, that they were able to play at the Caesar’s Superdome as runner-ups for the state championship. Under Coach Skaines, they look to bring Cecilia High its first state championship in 29 years. The foundation for this has been made under Coach Skaines and the 2-1 Bulldogs will continue their season and hopefully build towards a championship against Central High in an away game.
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