You know it when you hear it.
And you hope you don’t screw it up.
Sportswriters talk to coaches and players following games, asking for insight on what just happened, so we can share it with you.
There are a few things heard this high school football season good enough to share again.
They’re gems, although none rises to the level of my favorite postgame quote of all time, back when I was only a few years older than the seniors at St. Martinville High School. In the school’s first meeting in over 40 years with nearby New Iberia, the visitors posted a stunning season-opening 14-0 upset of a No. 1-ranked NISH team on its homefield.
A key was the Tigers’ fierce defensive line, and the standout was a transfer from California playing his first-ever football game. Rodney Phearse was a Golden Gloves boxer who landed in south Louisiana before his senior year, went out for the defending Class 3A state champion team, and earned a starting defensive end job, explained his coach, Carroll Delahoussaye, who called Rodney over to talk with me.
“So coach says you’ve never played football before, Rodney. You were a Golden Gloves boxer before you moved here. Can you tell me what happened out there tonight?”
“That’s easy,” he said, grinning. “We were doing the hitting. They were doing the getting hit.”
This fall has added a few gems to my collection. None was better than what Haughton running back Brandon Craig said after the Bucs, picked to finish last in District 1-5A in a poll of the coaches, opened with a 50-36 win over Captain Shreve as he ran for four touchdowns and 186 yards on 25 carries.
“Coming to this game, it was like just something different. I shed a tear when I woke up today. I was like man, I can’t lose this game. Because I just wanted to prove everybody wrong that was sleeping on us, that listed us number nine. I just wanted to prove everybody wrong.”
Thank you, Brandon. He and the Bucs did, playing for the district title last week. He ran for 28 touchdowns, seven in one game, tying the local record.
Caleb Beaver has only one TD this year for Airline, but he’s a defensive end. He got to the end zone with a 25-yard pick six in the third period, catching a ball thrown right at him at the line of scrimmage, and spurred the Vikings to a blowout of Benton.
What made it more special was how far he’d traveled – not to the end zone, but back on the field after knee surgery that sidelined him all of the 2025 season. He reflected on overcoming the threat to his playing days while recalling a play he’ll remember forever.
“Even though I sat out all last year, these coaches, Coach (Justin) Scogin especially, all pushed me, and, man, when I saw that ball come straight to me, I thought in my head, ‘I can’t drop this. It’s coming straight to me.’
“It came straight to my chest. I couldn’t have dropped it. Hands got soft, and I caught the ball. Then I just made a move, and I scored,” said Beaver.
We all recognize the exceptional talent that’s been displayed these past three seasons by Evangel quarterback Peyton “Pop” Houston. Reporters can count on him as much as his receivers have – Pop, who is a 4.0 student, always provides thoughtful answers and tells it like it is.
In the wake of a 43-27 home loss to Neville in Week 2 that doesn’t look bad at all right now, considering that Neville is undeniably one of the state’s very best, Houston stood tall. After suffering three first-half interceptions, one a pick six and another returned to the Evangel 6, he revealed what he told teammates at halftime.
“Really the main message was for the defense not to give up on us.”
They didn’t. And after two opening losses, the Eagles have gradually improved in all phases and defended their 1-5A championship last week.
With a mostly new receiving corps suffering dropped passes at an alarming rate, Houston turned more to his legs instead of forcing passes. He’s always been dynamic when he tucks and runs, as noted by one of Neville’s radio crew.
“It’s like trying to catch a deer,” the announcer said.
“That’s just the way I’m reading the play,” Houston said on the field postgame. “My dad always tells me to be a point guard, but sometimes, we can make a couple bad passes, trying to do too much.
“So when I see green grass from now on, I’m going to start taking it.”
He did, and missed by five yards becoming only the fourth local quarterback in over two decades to have 1,000 yards both rushing and passing in a 10-game season.
Had he not gotten hurt, missed three quarters of one game and sat out another, and have been on a tight leash the last two weeks with directions not to run, Houston would easily joined that exclusive club.
Benton’s Malachi Zeigler did. The SMU commit, also a 4.0 student, had 1,015 rushing yards to go with 1,566 passing. He also fired off a quote early this season to John James Marshall that displayed uncommon depth for a high school senior.
“It’s all about being present where your feet are,” he said. “I want to be able to look across the horizon but still be able to enjoy the view where I am. You don’t want to sprint by it, but you don’t want to crawl either.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com