TDL: Two-A-Days - East Beauregard Trojans

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - 2019 will bring plenty of change to the East Beauregard football program. Earlier this year, legendary coach Gordy Glaser announced his retirement leaving big shoes to fill.

“I cried whenever coach Glaser left,” East Beauregard quarterback Noah Gill admitted. “I love that man. He was great for East Beauregard but he was ready to leave.”

The Trojans didn’t have to look too far as they promoted offensive coordinator Ronnie Simmons to lead the program. Simmons was last a head coach with the Oberlin Tigers.

“Coach Simmons is a really good coach and I think we’ll do great behind him,” East Beauregard running back Jackson Lewis said. “He’s been running the same offense for a while and I think we’ll do really good with him.”

“We hated to see him go but we’re trying to continue doing things the same way he’s done them for so many years,” East Beauregard head coach Ronnie Simmons said.

Another adjustment for the Trojans will come in scheduling as they’ll drop back down to Class 1A. It’s a change that should benefit the team as they won 35 games in a four year span the last time they competed at the 1A level.

“It’s a lot smaller so we don’t have to go against as many people,” Gill said. “We can’t have 11 people on offense and 11 people on defense where most of the teams in 2A do. 1A is a better fit for us.”

“We know every week is going to be a battle,” Simmons said. “There are no easy games on this schedule and we know every week if we don’t come to play we’ll get beat.”

Offensively, East Beauregard will stick to their double-wing attack and are fortunate to return four linemen including all-district performer Karter Cooley.

“We have kids that know what to do,” Simmons added. “They understand the offense and with the offensive line understanding things it allows us to add some things in and hopefully give us a chance to be more successful.”

The Trojans also return experience at the skill positions with senior running back Jackson Lewis and a four-year starting quarterback Noah Gill.

“Whenever you need that fourth-quarter motivation Noah is always there to give it to you,” East Beauregard offensive lineman Alek Smith said. “He’ll cheer you on.”

“Noah brings things to the table that are hard to coach,” Simmons admitted. “He has great leadership and knows the offense so well.”

On the defensive side, East Beauregard will be young on the field with only three starters returning. However, the team is confident in how they’ll stack up. Senior linebacker Seth Willis will be the leader for a unit that prides itself on stopping the run.

“We let the guys at linebacker keep the run contained,” East Beauregard defensive back Jackson Lewis said. “All around we’re looking pretty good both run and pass defense.”

“Our front seven is our strength right now just because of the guys we have coming back,” said Simmons. “They play really hard to get to the ball. If we can be aggressive and swarm to the football I think we’ll have a chance to be okay on defense.”

While the Trojans plan on duplicating their 1A success, they want to do more than just win in 2019.

“I would love for us to win a lot of games but that’s not really what it’s about,” Gill said. “It’s about being a team and being a leader and learning something that’s going to help us after football.”>

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