Parish teams talk about jamboree

OPELOUSAS – The St. Landry Parish jamboree has been around for 19 seasons.
Eunice head football coach Paul Trosclair has been a part of every contest since that first jamboree held at Bobcat Stadium on 1997.
This year’s jamboree will be held Friday at Opelousas’ Donald Gardner Stadium.
Eunice and North Central will begin at 6 p.m.
Port Barre will face Beau Chene at 7:15 p.m., while OHS and Northwest conclude the jamborre at 8:45 p.m.
The games will be divided into two 10-minutes halves.
Coaches from Eunice High, Beau Chene, Northwest, North Central, Opelousas and Port Barre joined for the annual St. Landry Parish jamboree kickoff supper Thursday night in Opelousas.
“Lack of experience will be our biggest problem,” Trosclair said, “because we lost so many good players.
“But I like they are focused and dedicated.”
Eunice will split its squad between the parish jamboree and the Joe Nagata Memorial Jamboree.
“I think it is great for the kids,” he said. “A lot of them get to play and that is a plus.”
North Central head coach Jacobi Theirry said the jamboree is important for his Hurricanes.
“It will be real big for us because we haven’t had a full team yet to practice due to the weather.
“We had to cancel the scrimmage so the jamboree will be the first time for us to put the pads on an hit somebody.”
Theirry said the lack of depth has been a problem for his team, but this season they are dressing out 25 players and is hoping to improve on their 1-9 finish in 2015.
“We are excited about the season,” he said. “We are young but hopefully we can win four or five games.”
Port Barre head coach Mac Mistric said he is ready to see his team perform.
“We have 12 guys who are starting for their third season,” he said. “So experience helps, especially on our offensive line.
“We are moving a free safety to quarterback –Jacque Roza – he is very talented athlete but he doesn’t have experience as a quarterback.
“Hopefully we get better as the season progresses,” Mistric said. “The jamboree is very important as we are excited to start the year.”
Beau Chene head coach Josh Guidry said his first class are now seniors and the 27 players are leading his team.
“They took their lumps as freshmen and sophomores,” he said. “They are experienced and that will pay off on the field.”
Chris Edwards is entering his second season as Northwest’s head coach after leading the Raiders to a 10-3 finish.
“We are trying to pick up where we left off,” Edwards said. “We have eight guys returning on defense, so I think our defense will be pretty sound.
“We are hoping our defense will carry us through the first half of th e season as the offense picks up.
“We replace a quarterback, a running back and three offensive linemen.”
Northwest will have a split squad as the Raiders participate in the Opelousas Kiwanis jamboree Thursday and the parish jamboree on Friday.
Opelousas High’s Dwight Collins is entering his second season with the Tigers after an 0-10 start.
“They understand the expectations we have,” the coach said. “We have some good senior leadership who are working hard.
“I am worried about our offensive and defensive lines,” Collins said. “We need them to become consistent, if that happens we will be fine.
“We have some guys I think can make some big plays for us on offense.”
Jerome Robison, parish athletic director, said the recent floods have disrupted both academics and athletics.
“We want to see all the teams be successful,” he said. “We are looking forward to the start of Friday night football.”