While coaches want and expect their teams to perform well in jamborees, the one thing they hope they are able to say at the end is “we got out of here without any injuries.”
Unfortunately, at least two coaches of Webster Parish teams were unable to say that at Friday’s Pineland Jamboree at W.W. Williams, Jr., Stadium, also known as The Pit.
New North Webster Head Coach Christopher Wilson was hit the hardest.
In the Knights’ first 15-minute “game” against Lakeside, senior Braedon Robertson, a first-team All-District 1-3A selection last season, was hurt on the second play after ripping off a big gain on the first.
He was on the ground near the goalline for several minutes before being helped off the field.
“He dislocated his knee,” Wilson said. “The doctor popped it back into place. He’s scheduled for a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday where we’ll find out more details. Our second running back got knocked out with a concussion. It was one of those kinds of nights.”
New Lakeside Head Coach John Ware was Robertson’s head coach last year.
“That was one of my boys and I hate it happened like that,” Ware said.
North Webster and Lakeside played to a scoreless tie in the second “game” of the night.
In the first, Haynesville defeated Lakeside 14-0. In the third, Minden and Haynesville played to a scoreless tie. In the fourth, North Webster fell to Homer 13-8. In the nightcap, Minden edged Homer 14-12.
Ware said a couple of his players were injured and that caused some issues on special teams.
Other than that, he and his staff were pleased with what they saw. Aside from giving up a few big plays against Haynesville, last season’s non-select Division IV runner-up, the Warriors’ defense was especially impressive.
“We were excited about it,” Ware said. “We’ve got some things obviously we’ve got to work on. We felt good going into it just trying to worry about us. We weren’t worried about no opponent. We were trying to do everything right that we could do.
“We made some mistakes. We got a little sloppy on special teams. We had a couple of guys go out on special teams and it kind of threw us off, had a couple of guys get hurt. But other than that we were pleased. We didn’t turn the ball over. We got two turnovers on defense, two interceptions. So we were certainly pleased with the effort.”
Lakeside picked up a couple of first downs early against Haynesville on good runs. Against North Webster, a bad punt snap set the Warriors up deep in Knights territory but the North Webster defense made a big stop just before time ran out.
North Webster was hit with several penalties early against Lakeside.
“Early in the Lakeside game we were breaking in some of our guys that hadn’t played,” Wilson said. “They had worked really hard in practice and we wanted to give them an opportunity and see what they can do when the lights are on. In my opinion that’s what the jamboree is for.”
Against Homer, the Knights scored with about a minute left. But the Pelicans returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown after bobbling the ball.
“Just a jamboree,” Wilson said. “We’ve just go to clean up our transitions and now at this point with the guys down we have got to have some of our better players fill in on offense as well as play defense.
“We’re still trying to work out the kinks. This is only the second time we’ve put this offense out there against somebody. So we’re still trying to work some stuff out.
“We’re still learning how to play. In the Homer game we gave up a 4-yard slant. Our starting corner gave up the inside and (the receiver) took it. But he didn’t play last week and didn’t play at all as a freshman so those are the things you just have to learn with playing time and experience and learning the game.”
Minden Head Coach Spencer Heard was pleased with his team’s performance. The offense got off to a slow start against Haynesville before putting together a good drive.
Heard was especially pleased with how his defense played against the Tors.
Against Homer, the Tide’s running game was a big positive.
“I thought our O-line did a great job,” Heard said. “Defense played well. We’ve got some stuff we’ve got to clean up, maybe in the secondary a little bit, try to get a little more pressure on the quarterback. But overall it was good work and I thought we got better tonight and that’s the main thing.”
Freshman running back Lucas Owens had some impressive runs against Homer.
“I put him in in that second game at running back and it was pretty special,” Heard said. “He hits it very fast. Great vision so he’s going to be a big asset for us this year.”
Running back Caylien Aubrey and slotbacks Porter Neal and Kaiden Shine also contributed. Aubrey scored both touchdowns against Homer on runs of 8 and 4 yards.
“I though they all ran it well,” Heard said. “We’re getting better. We had one fumble in that game. That kind of killed one of our drives. We’ve got to make sure we clean that up.”
Minden opens the season Friday at Mansfield. North Webster visits Haynesville and Lakeside is at Arcadia.
Minden Medical Center Apache Jamboree
North Webster’s Wilson and Lakeside’s Ware aren’t the only parish coaches dealing with injuries.
Glenbrook’s starting tight end suffered a knee injury in the Minden Medical Center Apache Jamboree Friday night at Glenbrook.
That comes on the heels of last week’s scrimmage that saw several Apaches suffer injuries.
Lineman Daivari Jackson suffered a sprained ankle in the scrimmage.
“He’s the best player on our team in my estimation,” Glenbrook Head Coach Reagan Smith said. “He got two snaps last week and sprained the ankle. We’re hopeful that he can return pretty soon. He did not play tonight.
“We’ve kind of been bitten by the injury bug. We have probably five or six guys, primarily seniors, out with various injuries that are somewhat lengthy. We’re a 1A program so that makes it pretty tough.”
Smith said the injuries are of the “wait-and-see” type as to when the players might be able to return.
“Fortunately, I think the majority of these are not season-ending,” he said. “We hope they come back somewhere between Week 3 and Week 6 and we’re able to be good at the right time.”
In the three-team jamboree, Glenbrook and Montgomery played to a scoreless tie. The Apaches had a chance to win late but missed a field goal of about 40 yards.
In the final “game,” Glenbrook fell to Loyola 14-0.
“I thought it was really good,” Smith said of his team’s overall performance. “We went into it with the attitude of it being more or less a preseason-type of game, looking more to see how our players responded, who’s learning, who needs to be caught up more, and basically find answers for when the games actually count.
“It wasn’t a situation where we were trying to win the jamboree. We needed to find out if our players and our plays were working as well as we need them to.”
Glenbrook opens the season Friday in Shreveport against Magnolia School of Excellence.