By: Logan Puissegur
The 2018-2019 Holy Cross school year will be one most successful, spirited, and connected of all time. The school is “popping” with spirit as school days are enjoyable, our pep rallies are entertaining, and the HC student section is always “roaring”. Everything has gone extremely well thus far and the only thing yet to be determined is the success of the Tiger’s sports teams. This article will discuss what to expect from the tigers and their various competing sports teams.
Swimming: Second in District, First in State
The Tiger Swimming team is one of our most successful sports teams. With six runner-up seasons, the tigers expect to bring home the trophy. The team is led by captains: Antonio Rivera, Lane Coleman, David Price and Andre Farnet, who will all need to be big time in the state meet. The other top members of the team include: Sam Miester, Max Caffery, Casey Miller, Jonah Munch and Carson Doll. The tigers will be successful against teams such as: Brother Martin, Shaw, Rummel, and Destrehan. However, they will fall to Jesuit as they are coming off a division one state championship. When the state tournament comes around, Holy Cross will not face Jesuit as they are in a different division. Expect Rivera and Coleman to lead the way for the tigers during the state meet, as they alongside the rest will take total points in be crowned champions with ease. When asked upon his opinions of a state title, Rivera said, “This year is our best team and out best chance. The younger guys have stepped up their game and Coach Dale has done an excellent job motivating us. We’ve been working hard from the summer to now and it’s our time to be victorious. I’ve been second my entire high school career. I want the ring, the title and the trophy”. The Tigers compete at UNO Lakefront Arena and their schedule can be found on the Holy Cross website.
Cross Country: District and State Runner-Up
The cross-country team is losing three college-leveled runners from the previous season. Fortunately, the team has a ton of depth and a top star recruit, Cade Martin. The team also has two other returning starters, Josh Raiford and captain Trent Terminie. Alongside these three include juniors, Tharon Blanchard, Christian Lliang, and Everett Planchard. The season will be difficult as Brother Martin and Catholic pack a hard punch. In district play, the boys will run by Jesuit, Shaw, Rummel and all the other competition except Brother Martin. HC will fall short of the crusaders and use the loss as a learning tool to perform better at state. They will accomplish exactly that and place higher than Brother Martin in state. The only question left is, can they get past Catholic? While Martin, Raiford, and Terminie are all extremely good runners, the team will likely fall behind Catholic bringing home a second-place trophy. Senior captain Trent Terminie said, “This year will be much tougher as we don’t have (LSU commit) Blake Baldassaro and (UNO commit) Chris Wagner. However, this team has potential and I like our odds against Brother Martin. The biggest question right now is Catholic at the state meet. Until then, all we can do is continue to work hard. We have a lot of youth on this team and will need them to stay focus and produce.” The Tigers compete in City Park and their schedule can be found on the Holy Cross website.
Cheerleading: State Champions
Cheerleading is an emerging sport not only in the state of Louisiana, but also here at Holy Cross. Under direction of coaches, Juliane Watson, Scott Sanchez, and Matthew Zada (’10), the team finished second in its division taking home a runner-up trophy. Now that guys are on the cheer team, the spirit and power they have over the student body has grown exponentially. The number of guys on the squad is one of the most out of all teams and seems to only be growing more. After going to a few football games, senior Ashton Stephens said, “Our cheerleading team is a powerhouse that sounds like a college squad. They perform well and know how to pump up the fans”. Outside of sporting events, the squad will go and compete in months to come. While they must continue to work hard, expect them to run by Brother Martin and others to claim the State Championship title.
Football: District Runner-Up and State Finals Appearance
The Tiger football team has the chance to make Holy Cross history. The competition is tough, but the opportunity is on the board. The team’s offense is consistent, the defense is stellar, and the special teams is one of the best in the state. Starting with the offense, quarterback, Bryan Broussard, running back, Celvin Hulbert and wide receiver Tyler Kirkwood lead the way as they might as well be the best all junior set in the state. While these guys do a phenomenal job scoring the touchdowns, the credit is due to the boys up front where four of five are being heavily scouted to play college ball. The “big boys” consist of three seniors, a junior, and a freshman who have done an excellent job creating holes for Hulbert and giving Broussard enough time to finding the open man.
On the defensive side of the ball, the team has only allowed seven total points in three weeks which truly happened due to a fumble after the defense intercepted the ball. Defensively, the team starts with Robichaux, Brown, and Barnes on the D-Line, Lamm and Grubbs as the line backers and Rouzano and Stephens covering in the secondary. These guys account for a solid grade all around on defense, hence why the team has only given up seven points.
On special teams, Nolan Heitmeier (All-State Kicker recipient) and Trevor Terminie have given great efforts in both the punting and kicking game. With no kicks missed, the tigers look to turn to these two guys in critical situations. Looking at the schedule, the tigers should start off 7-0 and go in with high expectations against a top-tier St. Aug team. There they will beat the purple knights and play John Curtis. Curtis will likely win this game leaving the tigers with questions on what needs to improve. Finally, they will make these adjustments and look impressive against a strong Live Oak team. Unfortunately, the tigers will be out played on all sides of the ball placing them second in district and third going into the state tournament. When the tournament rolls around, the opportunity for greatness is truly in play as the goal for this team is to make it to the championship game played in the Superdome.
We talked to head-coach LeCompte on the subject, and he made his opinion on the team clear. “Nobody has higher expectations for the season than I do. we want a state championship”. After running statistical analysis on the various divisional teams, the boys in blue and gold will receive a bye in round one and face 6th seeded Brother Martin in the following week. There they will narrowly beat the crusaders and go on to face Catholic Baton Rouge High School in the state semifinal. Catholic is an excelling team, but the tigers will prevail to reach their goal of a game in the Mercedes Benz Superdome. From there, the tigers will face off against the top seed in the tournament, the John Curtis Patriots. The outcome will only be determined in due time. To follow the team and the course of their successful season, the schedule can be found on Holy Cross’ social media or website.