The Titans travel to Franklinton today to battle the Demons junior varsity
Lakeshore High family members, friends and teachers had an opportunity to take part in the Meet The Titans event last Saturday on the school’s beautiful state of the art turf field as the fans were introduced to the Titans’ players, cheerleaders and dance team.
  
|
Coach Route (45), a 1982 Covington High grad, who served as the Lions’ offensive coordinator last year, talked about the “Meet The Titans” day.
“The players had an opportunity to unveil our new uniforms. For some of the players, it was the first time they had seen the uniforms. It was a great day and a tremendous feeling. The kids are excited and can’t wait to go against Franklinton’s junior varsity squad in the jamboree,” Route said.
“The players got to vote on the school colors, the mascot so they felt like they were a part of the decision making process. The parents were extremely supportive during the summer before our facilities were ready. We have had great parental support and it should be a really good situation,” Route added.
Route said he wants his club to just go out and compete.
“We want to continue to improve and play with solid effort. The best thing about freshmen and sophomores is that they will become juniors and seniors with experience under their belt. I feel we will be a competitive team.”
“We have a good balance of speed and we have some size. It’s a good combination. Our depth isn’t where we want it to be, but I think our first 11 on each side of the ball are pretty decent,” said the first-year head coach.
Titans’ sophomore wide receiver Mikal Mazik (6-6, 183) talked about scoring the school’s first TD in the Bogalusa scrimmage.
“It was fantastic to be part of history scoring the first touchdown for my school. I ran a slant and Michael Ball hit me in the middle. I was able to run past some people and went untouched into the end zone. I thought I might get hit in the middle by linebackers, but once I got past the secondary I was gone,” Mazik said.
Mazik, a two-way performer, also starts at defensive end.
Sophomore running back Nick Williams from Lacombe talked about the team’s performance against Bogalusa in the scrimmage. Williams did his part scoring on a 65-yard run.
“I was a little nervous and I didn’t want to mess up. We fought through it and we did well. I was really excited to be playing and couldn’t wait for the whistle to blow. I loved getting that first hit. The offensive line did a good job blocking,” Williams said.
“It means a lot to me to be a player on a first year team at a new high school. I love everything about the school.”
The Titans run a spread offense with quarterback Michael Ball calling the signals.
“We want to spread the ball around and want to get the ball into the hands of our skilled athletes including Mazik, Al Damion Riles, Nick Williams and Jared Scott,” Route said.
Route also served as offensive coordinator at Helen Cox for six years in addition to last season at CHS.
“I learned a lot from coach (Malter) Scobel (CHS head coach) about organizational skills and how to organize successful practices. We’re in the spread, but I’m an old offensive line coach so I like to run the ball.”
Route said he has an excellent experienced coaching staff and everybody works well together.
Freshman middle linebacker Sean Wight (5-6, 142) said it’s been a good experience being a member of the Titans.
“It’s been a lot of fun. I think we are going to be a good first-year team. We have a lot of good players,” Wight said.
Wight said he likes playing linebacker because the team has a lot of blitz plays.
“It is key for me to get in there and get to the quarterback. It is part of my job to help keep the defense focused. I do my best to keep the team’s spirits up,” Wight added.
Wight said they have some really good coaches.
Titans’ defensive coordinator Glenn Rivero, who is in his 15th year coaching, said it is an exciting feeling to be part of the Lakeshore coaching staff.
“This is an opportunity for me as a coach to grow with the program. It is a joy to watch these kids grow up and see what we are developing long term. It’s a good feeling,” Rivero said.
Rivero, age 34, coached baseball at John Curtis for five years and at Archbishop Shaw for four years. He coached at Higgins for three years along with one year each at Pope John Paul II and Northshore.
Rivero said he was very pleased with his team’s defensive performance in the Bogalusa scrimmage.
“We run a very aggressive 50-defense. We caused seven turnovers (three interceptions and four fumbles). That’s our goal to get the ball back to the offense. There are some things we have to work on like everybody else, but for these freshmen and sophomores playing against a varsity team we thought they held their own,” Rivero added.
Rivero said his defense believes in shooting gaps.
“We send guys from all over the place trying to keep the offense off balance. Our defensive players love the scheme. They like the way we fly around.”
Titans’ athletic director Steve Alfonso, who will also serve as the school’s boys head basketball coach, said it’s been a very exciting time at Lakeshore High.
“Things continue to move in a positive direction. I guess reality set in when we played Bogalusa in last week’s scrimmage. The players did a really good job and it showed that we are headed in the right direction,” Alfonso said.
“When our players got off the bus they were all chanting and cheering showing their enthusiasm. They walked in a single file line to the field and were ready to play. They played hard and were excited to represent their school,” Alfonso added.
Alfonso said as the AD he is excited about being in a position to help build the school’s tradition.
“We have a great group of wonderful coaches. All of them continue to work hard and worked extremely hard over the summer. We are excited to be part of this. St. Tammany Parish school board and the system did a tremendous job providing the foundation for what we need to build on.”
Coach Route provides over 20 years of experience as a football coach.
“He is an experienced offensive coordinator and during the process of selecting a coach Larry really stood out.”
Alfonso said the community voted on the team colors.
“The players like it and the booster club is doing a good job to promote them and get our name out there in the community. We are just looking to build some tradition here. The booster club has done a tremendous job so come out and support us,” said the athletic director.
If anyone is interested in becoming a member of the Lakeshore Booster Club they can contact the club president Kevin Thames 237-9902.
Freshman cheerleader Kaylan Fairburn, a captain, talked about how special it is to be a cheerleader at a new school and to participate in the Saturday’s event to meet the players.
“It’s awesome being a captain. It’s a sense of pride and I’m just so happy to be here. It is a wonderful feeling being a part of school history as the first ever cheerleaders,” Fairburn said.
“We are looking forward to cheering at the jamboree. Cheerleaders work very hard probably more than the ball players know.”
Fairburn said the Lakeshore cheerleaders participated in a cheerleading camp competition at Southeastern Louisiana University in June.
“We performed our routine and won third place for our home pom routine,” Fairburn added.
Sophomore captain Megan Riviere shared her thoughts on being a member of the Titans cheerleading squad.
“It is a very exciting time for us to be able to show off our uniforms. We can’t wait to get out there and get the crowd pumped up at the jamboree. We are also looking forward to cheering at our first home game,” Riviere said.
Riviere said tons of hard work goes into becoming a good cheerleading group.
“We practice two hours a day after school. We also get together on weekends and do lots of things together,” Riviere added.
Riviere said it was really fantastic finishing third at the SLU camp after only practicing together for a couple of weeks.
Jennifer Henry coaches the Titans’ cheerleaders.
The cheerleaders spent time creating a large paper banner for the Titan football players to run through to open the “Meet The Titans” event last Saturday.
View Jobs
View Homes
View Autos
Comments