Bears prepare for quick start, strong finish

Church Point began the 2016 football season with five straight losses.
The Bears recovered to win three of their five disdistrict games and earned a rematch with rival Jennings in the playoffs.
Church Point head coach John Craig Arceneaux is hoping for a better beginning to the 2017 season.
The 3-8 finish in 2016 was the worst season since 2010 when the Bears finished 4-6.
Church Point is coming off six consecutive playoff seasons and Arceneaux is excited about the possibilites.
“We know we have the nucleus for a good season but we are going to have to start fast,” he said.
Church Point will scrimmage Erath and Welsh on Thursday before facing North Vermilion Spet. 25 in the jamboree at Kaplan.
The Bears open the seaon at Jennings, a team they lost twice to – in the regular season (27-21) and 35-8 in the playoffs – before a home game against Abbeville.
Church Point then visits Kaplan before opening District 5-3A at Pine Prairie on Sept. 22.
“We are excited about this group,” he said. “We have some with experience because we played so many young kids last season.
“We are still going to have to put some inexperienced players on the field,” Arceneaux said. “That is always scary early in the year because you know they are going to make mistakes – you hope they don’t make them at critical times.”
The Bears did find some pieces during their struggles last season.
Junior Breelyn Jones (5-5, 135) moved into the full time role of quarterback during the 2016 season.
Arceneaux believes that Jones will add big play ability as the quarterback.
“After splitting time last year between quarterbacks, he will be the guy this season,” the coach said.
“We are going to take a different approach with him at quarterback,” Arcenaux said. “We have built in some quarterback runs and break out from the Wing-T a little bit.
“He has tremendous speed so we know if he can turn the corner and get into the open there are very few people who will be able to run him down.”
Also returning on offense is sophomore Rodney Dupuis, who finished last season as the Bears leading rusher.
Dupuis carried 179 for 1,301 yards with 12 touchdowns. Dupuis will be leaned upon heavily to carry the run game, according to the coach.
“Rodney has some impressive skills as he rushed for 1,300 yards on a 3-8 football team,” the coach said. “He has great vision and is not going to go down on first contact.
“He has worked really hard this off season to increase his speed,” Arceneaux said. “Hopefully he can put up some bigger numbers.”
Other offensive threats for the Bears include junior running back Tyrin McDade (5-9, 160) and senior split end Karson Matte (5-9, 160) along with freshman running back Gavin Richard.
“Our strength offensively will be our line,” Arceneaux said. “We have three guys with experience and they really got better as the year went on.”
The offensive line will need to replace All-District first team tight end J.C. Arceneaux, but the Bears do return three starters along the offensive line, led by the All-District combination of senior tackle Gage Higginbotham (6-2, 245) and senior guard Kane Bergeron (6-1, 255).
Senior Matthew Kidder (5-10, 215) returns at center, while juniors Darenion Gobert (5-9, 215) and Hayden Lejeune (5-11, 220) are new starters at guard and tackle, respectively.
On defense, Coach Arceneaux has plenty of question marks.
“We think we have a bunch of athletes on that side of the ball,” Arceneaux said. “But we have to prevent the big play and force the offenses to drive the field to give ourselves a chance.”
Senior Ethan Daigle (5-10, 175) and junior Eduardo Briceno (5-9, 165) will be counted on heavily as pass rushers and run stoppers.
The outside linebacker corps will be young and inexperienced and will need to step up.
The defensive line will be led by tackles Ben Henry (5-10, 240) and Kane Bergeron, who will be doing double duty on defense as well as offense.
Junior Ian Meche (6-1, 215) and sophomore J’Keil Citizen (5-9, 155) are potential starters at defensive end.
Breelyn Jones will lead the secondary for the Bears after earning All-District honors last season.
McDade will join Jones along with juniors Trey Babineaux (5-10, 185) and Travon Walker (5-8, 145).
“The key for us is to keep Trey healthy,” the coach said. “He is a true leader on defense.
“He has started since he was a freshman and he understands the coverages and help get people in the right places.”
Senior Austin Manuel returns as the placekicker and punter for the Bears after being named to the All-District team last season.
“We have to win on third downs,” the coach said. “That was the biggest difference to why we started 0-5 last year because we lost on third down.
“When we played Kaplan they converted seven times and we couldn’t get them off the field,” Arceneaux said. “We couldn’t make plays on third down so defense spent too much time on the field.
“If we can win on third downs early in the year then we like our chances to get off to a good start.”
The new District 5-3A includes Iota, Crowley and Mamou along with rivals Eunice, Northwes, Pine Prairie and Port Barre.
“I think it will be very similar to the district last year,” Arceneaux said. “It is anybody’s race.
“Eunice, Northwest, Crowley and us are probably the four frontrunners.
“Iota is supposed to be much improved so they have a chance to be a pretty good football team,” he said. “Coach Yves Prince is doing a good job at Pine Prairie and I think coach Craig Stephens is going to do a great job at Port Barre.
“Every week you better show up to play or you are going to get back on the bus dissapointed.”