Parish football teams meet for seven on seven
The high-school football season is still more than a month away, but that didn’t stop teams from Ascension Parish meeting for a little bit of competition.
On Tuesday, Donaldsonville, Dutchtown, East Ascension and St. Amant all met at the Griffin practice field to take part in a series of seven-on-seven games against one another.
It was a chance for some of the parish’s best skill players to excel. Also, it was a prime opportunity for the area’s top quarterbacks to showcase their talents.
It will be a big year for parish quarterbacks as most of the starters from last season return to lead their respective offenses.
Cole Poirrier will be back for St. Amant, after starting for the past two seasons and earning first-team All-Parish honors last season.
Donaldsonville returns Treveyon Brown, who has started for the past three years and was an all-district selection in 2021. Troy Dunn will have a year of starting experience under his belt, after making his debut last season.
Dutchtown’s top two quarterbacks in Pierson Parent and Sean Winfield each return. Parent got most of the snaps in 2020.
Donaldsonville head coach Brian Richardson said that the seven-on-seven event at Dutchtown was a great way for his team to get a sneak peak of what to expect offensively in 2021.
“I enjoyed it. We’re installing a new offense with a new offensive coordinator, so we definitely got a chance to see what we wanted to see,” Richardson said. “It’s a slow process, but it was great to see us installing it against some real, live competition.”
Richardson said that the Tigers will still operate out of the spread this upcoming season, but they’ll implement some new schemes and concepts from the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State offenses.
Dutchtown will also have a new look offensively. This summer, they have brought in a new offensive coordinator in Mike Janis, who was recently the head coach at Albany.
The Griffins also have a new run-game coordinator and offensive line coach in Josef Venus. He was previously the O-line coach at Lutcher.
They’ll have the opportunity to lead an offense that is headed by Dylan Sampson, the biggest returning offensive star in the parish. Sampson, a Tennessee commit, has been named the Ascension Parish Offensive MVP for the past two seasons.
The Griffins went 5-1 in 2020. They hosted and won a first-round playoff game against Terrebonne, before being eliminated by fifth-seeded Destrehan in the second round.
East Ascension went 4-3 during the regular season and won a first-round playoff game for the fifth straight season. Though, they lost in the second round to top seed and eventual state champion Acadiana.
Donaldsonville went 4-2. Like Dutchtown and East Ascension, the Tigers hosted and won a first-round playoff game. In the second round, they lost to eventual 3A champion Madison Prep.
St. Amant went 4-2 last season and was eliminated by fourth-seeded Ponchatoula in the opening round.
Coach Richardson said that Tuesday’s seven-on-seven session at Dutchtown was great for preparing his team for the season.
“This is super beneficial for us, provided we can keep everyone healthy,” Richardson said. “We’re a running team, but you have to be prepared to pass the ball when you need to do so, and this gets the guys more comfortable. It allows them to get familiar with the passing playbook, and it gets them ready for when the season starts. We don’t get to work that much on the passing game during the season because we run so much, so this helps us prepare.”