by Taylor Williams
April 1, 2010 - By all accounts, Hurricane Katrina was a catastrophic event that forced thousands of people to relocate to different places. Upon the return home, most people unsurprisingly found their residences in much worse condition than before the storm, and subsequently dealt with serious hardship and inconvenience. But for the Holy Cross Tigers, the current football powerhouse of the 3A New Orleans district, Katrina couldn’t have yielded more a beneficial aftermath. Holy Cross, a fairly established school on the gridiron, was formerly located in the infamous Lower Ninth Ward, with limited student enrollment and terrible facilities. Katrina essentially made the Lower Ninth inhabitable, allowing the school to lay claim to a huge chunk of land in Gentilly, a major commercial neighborhood in New Orleans. The newly acquired prominent location in turn provided the school with money and space for top notch facilities and training equipment. The school’s relocation has also generated a huge influx of student applicants, paving the way for its ascension into 4A status, and ultimately into the elite 5A Catholic League. The Tigers’ football team is led by Barry Wilson, a coach with experience so extensive that the term “veteran” hardly even covers it. Having coached at more than six D1 colleges, including a debut at LSU in 1969 as offensive line coach, Coach Wilson returned to his alma mater in 2002 to escape the pressures and rigors of his thirty year college coaching career, particularly as regards the recruitment process. Nine years and one natural disaster later, his squad is comfortably positioned atop the 3A hierarchy, with the goal of playing 5A Catholic League ball becoming more tangible every year. All the opposing coaches and players in the division know Holy Cross is undoubtedly the team to beat in 2010, and with its spectacular campus grounds and practice facilities, the school is certainly looking the part.
But the Tigers haven’t allowed that perception to affect their work ethic, as they continue to take full advantage of the training equipment and facilities made possible by relocation after Katrina. Combine the favorable practicing conditions with the pure, unadulterated talent and experience of the Tigers, and their opponents’ perceptions become a lot more understandable. Led by senior Ryan Deemes (quarterback) and Landon Jones (center/defensive lineman), who Coach Wilson describes as the “consummate” football player, the Tigers’ locker room already has a little swagger around it this offseason. Holy Cross will also see the return of running back Chris Melvin, who missed last season with an Achilles heel injury suffered during basketball season. At 5’11’’, 245 lbs and clocking in a 4.8 forty yard dash, Melvin epitomizes the tandem of speed and power in a running back and represents some of the serious athleticism on this year’s team. Rising junior wide receivers Joel Pichon and Darryl Watson (also a threat on kick returns), add some more explosive elements to the Tiger offense, which typically runs out of the spread formation to capitalize on its speed and diversity. The Tigers’ offense is also notable for its disproportionate amount of pass plays (around 60% on average), which makes the quarterback position so critical. Tucker Herzog, a two-sport athlete in football and baseball, will most likely see some snaps under center this season too as part of this pass-oriented strategy. Coach Wilson, an offensive coordinator by trade, believes strongly of exploiting secondary blitzes and backfield cover schemes, which he believes are the toughest positions to coach defensively. The ability to run numerous pass plays out of various formations is a clear testament to the depth and experience of the Tigers’ squad, who know they’ve made the most of their school’s impressive resources. Walking through the campus and facilities yields an inescapable feeling that the football program now stands on the cusp of high school football greatness, and a sense of irony from the unusual helping hand provided by Hurricane Katrina.
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