If the jamboree contest against the Southside High (Youngsville) Sharks can be used as a gauge, Iota just might have a very good team this year.
They sure looked the part on Friday. The offense moved the ball very well through the air (quarterback Trae Rambin was effective with short and deep balls including a touchdown to Mitchell Lege) and on the ground (backs Kollin Guillory and Luke Doucet at times looked unstoppable) against the inexperienced Sharks defense.
The defense overcame a couple of breakdowns with turnovers (two interceptions) and sacks (Dylan Montgomery had three).
And the special teams added some timely returns (including an 83-yard Tyrone Charlot touchdown that sealed the victory). The result was a 35-15 victory at St. Edmunds High School stadium.
However, there are a couple of things that Iota coach Josh Andrus will probably remind his players of during practice this week. That Southside is a new school competing in their first year of organized football. And considering the dominating victory by Eunice over the Bulldogs in the 2017 jamboree (Iota won the regular season contest convincingly), a jamboree victory is nice but in the long run meaningless.
Andrus seemed pleased with the Bulldog's overall effort.
"It was nice to see us start quickly on both sides of the ball," he said. "That was a problem last year but we came out quickly beginning with the first drives."
On the games opening drive, tailback Kolin Guillory beat the Shark defense's containment on the left side for a 60 yard gain to the Southside 18 yard line. After Doucet displayed some fine moves for another 15 yards to the three yard line, Rambin hit Lege for the games first score.
Doucet scored a two point conversion on an impressive run which saw him run left then completely reverse field with the entire Sharks defense one step behind him.
After the Sharks opening drive was stopped by a 13-yard Tayte Langley sack, Iota rode Rambin's arm down the field as he threw for first downs to Charlot and Chaynery Johnson. Doucet blasted through the Southside defense for a four-yard touchdown.
The extra point was good making the score 15-0.
Southside did feature some talented players at their skill positions. Quarterback Dylan Monnette tossed a 40 yard pass to Steve Pruitt that led to a short touchdown run.
Doucet finished off Iota's final drive of the first half with an 8-yard touchdown run to increase the Bulldog lead to 21-8.
On their initial drive of the second half, the Sharks rode the arm and legs of Monnette down the field before a 1-yard touchdown run drew Southside to within six points (21-15).
However, Charlot's ensuing kickoff return killed any remaining Southside hopes.
After a Lege interception, stopped the next Shark drive. Guillory outran the Shark defense for a 42-yard touchdown and the game's final score.
When asked what his team could do to improve before Thursday's season opener against Basile, Andrus said he would like his team to focus on their mental approach to the game. Iota had two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, including one that resulted in a defensive lineman being tossed from the game.
After being asked how the addition of transfers Doucet (from St. Edmunds) and Langley has affected the team, Andrus simply smiled. While Doucet's presence is obvious to anyone who reads the stat sheets, Langley is arguably just as important to this year's defense. In addition to his sack, he was constantly in the Shark backfield disrupting plays.
