By LORI LYONS, Journal Sports
When Evan Lirette was a freshman football player at Loyola College Prep, he hated being on the sideline with nothing to do.
One day during a boring practice, he looked down the field and saw the Flyers’ special teams coach working with the kickers. He was intrigued.
“I just decided that it was something I could do because I hated just sitting around not doing anything,” Lirette said. “So I decided to work on it after practice by myself and eventually, I got good enough that they recognized (it). It was a slow start but once I did it for a little (while) I feel like the fundamentals and the mechanics that went into it kind of became natural after doing it for a prolonged period of time. After that I just kept working on it.”
By his sophomore year, Lirette was the Flyers’ starting kicker. Even with a broken pinkie finger suffered earlier this season when he made a tackle as a free safety, Lirette has remained steady. He has made 28 of 29 extra points for the Flyers, who advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a 63-36 win over Sophie B. Wright last week. The No. 10 Flyers will play at No. 7 Leesville this week.
Lirette said his longest field goal was a 39-yarder last year. He has hit from 50 yards in practice.
“I think I’ve done a fairly good job,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed it a lot.”
Lirette seems to like taking on the difficult tasks and making them work. It’s how he enjoys his favorite subject – math.
“Sometimes it gets a little hard and tricky, but that’s what I enjoy about it,” said Lirette, who plans to study mechanical engineering at either the University of Louisiana-Lafayette or Louisiana Tech. “I enjoy that you have to work hard at it to be good at it.”
It’s how Lirette landed as one of the top students at his school and on the annual National Football Foundation McNaughton Chapter’s Preseason Scholar-Athlete Watch List. A total of 21 scholar athletes from the area are nominees who must have at least a 3.2 grade point average, have won all-district honors and be involved in extracurricular activities.
In the spring, one Watch List standout will receive a $1,000 college scholarship award, from those 14 recognized with a Griffin’s Game Ball presented weekly by KTBS and Southern Classic Chicken in honor of the late Bob Griffin, the longtime sports journalist who was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
Others will be among nominees for eight more $1,000 scholarships issued by the McNaughton Chapter.
Lirette, who was a nominee for Loyola’s Student of the Year award earlier this year, said he was honored to be recognized.
“Just like getting any other award, I was excited because I know that something I did, other people are recognizing that it,” he said. “It just makes me glad that my hard work is paying off. It makes me happy that what I’m doing is right or that I’m doing a good job at it.”
Lirette, who also plays baseball on the Flyers’ baseball team, said he enjoys just about any activity outdoors, whether it’s tennis with his mom or Ultimate Frisbee with his friends.
Mostly, he’s happy to carry on a family tradition at Loyola. All of his siblings, the children of Dr. Aaron and Alicia Lirette, have enjoyed rather storied careers at the Shreveport school. Sister Celeste played soccer; oldest brother Nathan played football and is now in seminary school.
Brother Collin and even youngest brother Joshua, played football. And all the brothers were the holders for the kickers on the team. Collin even got to hold for Evan.
“It was kind of funny that, when I got here, I became the kicker instead,” he said.
Contact Lori at sportslyons@gmail.com