By TEDDY ALLEN, Journal Sports
Airline football coach Justin Scogin and wife Bonnie are expecting their second child, another boy, in January.
Oh, if predicting football seasons were only that “easy.” Precisely what to expect the Vikings to deliver this fall is a different ballgame.
A program that made the state quarterfinals in 2017 and 2019 saw everything go wrong last season on the way to a single win in 10 games. Injuries early. Couple of tough September losses.
“Then all of a sudden you’re playing in one of the best 5A districts in the state and you lose a couple early, morale is down and it’s hard to bounce back sometimes,” said Scogin. “I’ve been there.”
But not last year. Scogin was in Leesville for the past five seasons, and each year the Wampus Cats won at least one playoff game. Is that kind of ending too much to hope for this fall on Viking Drive?
“We have the right kind of kids, a good core nucleus that’s willing to push through and work hard,” Scogin said. “There’s no reason to harp on (last season). We can use it as a lesson to build off failures, to learn from them. But regardless of last year’s record, we have plenty of potential to be pretty good this year.”
The Vikings have the numbers: they’ll dress around 90 and have 110 on the roster, so “want-to” is not an issue.
Junior Preston Doerner and sophomore Ben Taylor remain locked in a battle to start at quarterback. Junior Ladarius Epps, in the QB mix in the spring, will be at safety.
Airline has “moved some guys around” on the offensive line, Scogin said, and have some “really good returners there,” led by senior guard Reid Hawsey, one of five projected senior starters along with guard Hunter Howard, tackles Jackson Warren and Artis James, and center Hunter Kendrick.
The 1-2 punch at receiver is Cameron Jefferson and Daxton Chavez, both projected as Division I players. Chavez, 6-4, 198, has “everything you look for in a D1 receiver,” Scogin said, “and Cam (6-0, 185) is a 4.5 slot or safety at the next level; he’s probably the best overall guy on the team.”
The Vikings also have what Scogin thinks are “two of the better corners in the area” in senior Chris Montgomery and junior Jeremiah Boudreaux.
A couple of other things Scogin feels he can safely predict? “Watch for kids playing hard for each other,” he said, “and doing the right things all the time.”
The Vikings will be tested early and often. Before beginning what’s always demanding district play, Airline will face two of the state’s better 4A teams in North Desoto and Northwood, and sandwiched between that pair of games is a matchup with arguably the best team in 3A, Union Parish — a testy trifecta for any team.
“That,” Scogin said, semi-laughing at the obvious understatement, “will get us ready to go.”
Contact Teddy at Teddy@LaTech.edu
Photo by TEDDY ALLEN