Sports

It’s finally that time of the year again! Fall is definitely not in the air, but football definitely is. All across the United States, high school teams are gearing up and practicing for the upcoming season. Here in Louisiana, it’s no different, as early morning practices will soon end with the ringing of the school bells. Then the teams will have to practice in the not-so-fall-like conditions of afternoon practices. We are fortunate in our parish to have high school coaches who know the dangers of overheating and heat exhaustion, and they are not stingy with water breaks and allowing players to have water and rest any time they need it. Safety is always the overriding factor with our parish coaches. It is really hard for me to fathom that when I cover the next Welsh regular season game, I will be beginning my 57th year of writing sports for the Jennings Daily News. There have been so many changes in the high school game during that time, but there has never been a shortage of athletes from our parish. When you consider the Etienne brothers who played at Jennings High and both are now in the NFL, you can see some of that great talent. Even further back, I remember the exploits of tailback Ricky Hebert as a Bulldog and then at Tulane University. I remember watching Tarius Davis run over defenders at Lake Arthur High. Before that, I recall Ivy and Edwin Woods leading a stout Tiger team.