In his first year at the helm, head coach Byron Porter and the Westminster Christian Academy (Opelousas) Crusaders are looking to bring success back to the 337 this coming season. Gridiron Football recently held the Inaugural Gridiron Football Media Day event, and coach Porter arrived with his Crusaders looking to gain their viewers’ attention before the season begins. Looking to bring past success back to the program, Coach Porter is looking to instill discipline and toughness into his team. They have had success in the past, and now he is looking to make that a reality for his players this coming season.
Like stated above, Coach Porter and WCA Opelousas are looking to bring the past success to this season’s team. Coming off a two-win season, the Crusaders are looking to move past that and have some success with their first year head coach Byron Porter. He mentions how he is looking to change the culture surrounding his football program.
“Well, it’s been good. I’ve been coaching about 10 years. I’m a retired state trooper. So I retired to go into coaching. Westminister is a smaller school and the last couple of years they haven’t had that much success. So I’m just trying to come in and kind of changed the culture of the program. They’ve had success in the past. So just trying to bring the success back that they’ve once known. We will be disciplined, smart, and tough. Like I said, we are a 1A school, so the numbers aren’t there. So just just tough, smart, committed guys who are going to play hard every week in and week out.”
WCA Opelousas Head Coach Byron Porter
Being his first year at Westminster, getting an insight on how he thinks his Crusaders fare against their district was important. He acknowledges the tough competition they will face and names some of the specific schools. WCA starts off this season by playing Jeanerette in their Jamboree.
“The district is extremely tough. You have OCS, Catholic Pointe Coupee, St. Edmund’s, Sacred Heart, North Central. So the district is, in my opinion, probably one of the toughest if not the toughest 1A district in the state of Louisiana.”
WCA Opelousas Head Coach Byron Porter
As a former Division II college coach, Porter knows what it takes to bring success back to Westminster. Now, it is about building a winning program with his new staff and players. He brought quarterback Stephen George, who was a starter as a freshman for the Crusaders. As he is in the class of 2026, he has much time to improve on his game and fix anything that Coach Porter needs him to. He also brought Brenn Ray, who is a returning first team all -district starting OL. Brenn has the ability to play on both sides of the ball for the Crusaders. He has tremendous power inside on either side of the ball, and can provide a lane for his running back or sack opposing quarterbacks if need be. Joshua Cassimere, who does it all for the Crusaders, was also in attendance. He is an returning all-district athlete, who plays safety, wide receiver, and returns kicks as well.
“First guy is Brenn Ray, returning first team all-district guy, and he is the epitome of a leader for this football team. It’s what you want to see in a leader, he’s hard-working and encouraging other guys to move forward. He never says a bad word or anything, there’s nothing negative about Brenn and he just goes out there and plays hard. Another guy is Stephen George, a sophomore quarterback, who is well beyond his years. He’s smart, has a great IQ, you don’t have to repeat many things to him as he is a fast learner and a hard worker as well. The other guy today is Josh Cassimere, he’s a returning all-district player as well, and he is in my opinion one of the best offensive players in our district. He will be a two-way player for us, maybe three-way player as he works in the return game as well. Those guys are very important in what we want to do going forward, and I think they possess a good foundation to build upon from this point forward.”
WCA Opelousas Head Coach Byron Porter
There are many things that Coach Porter is looking forward to in his first season as the Crusader head coach, but he is just looking to get out on the field and give the fans what they have been waiting for. He believes in his team’s preparation and he thinks they are well-suited to have a great season once again. He wants the school community to know how hard he and his staff have been working on everything.
“Well, we are going to be smart, fast, and physical all the time. We are going to come out ready to play week in and week out. We feel as if these three things will aid us in trying to establish a new culture here at Westminster.”
WCA Opelousas Head Coach Byron Porter
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