Ascension Athletics for Aug. 3, 2017 – The Advocate

Football is back

Man, its hot probably way too hot to even think about football. But like it or not, the time is now. I remember those hot August days in shorts and helmets, hitting the practice field back at East Ascension in my sophomore year.

Well, thats what its going to be like for the young men who hit the practice field for the Ascension Christian Lions starting Aug. 2. Its two times a day as they get in physical shape and prepare to build stamina for those Friday nights that will be here before you know it.

The football program is still considered pretty young as the fledgling team took to the field back in 2009 and struggled just like any beginning team might be expected. The fact is, Ascension Christian is still a small private school and that limits the pool of prospective players to choose from.

Until a few years ago, most players had to play on both sides of the ball, which demands much more physical stamina. That took its toll on the Lions team but not their determination to be a competitive football team in time. In their first four years of existence, the gritty Lions had four 0-fers under their belts and an 0-26 record.

In 2013, took the reins as head coach for the Ascension Christian Lions with one goal in mind.

I wanted our kids to be able to play football in high school. We hadnt won a game in four years and we were struggling with numbers as a small school. Basically, we were just trying to keep the program alive, Puryear said.

Well, in his first year the team struggled to what most would consider a dismal year with a 2-7 record.

I feel like we developed more with each game and established that we could play football. We were in a tough district. So we accomplished a couple of things. We put the program in the right direction and we won or first game in team history, Puryear said.

In 2014, the team went 3-7 with one more win that the previous year. In 2015, the Lions surprised everybody and even themselves with a 6-4 season record. That set pretty high expectations, especially from the fans, to do even better the next season, but could they produce?

For the 2016 season, Puryear and his Lions were looking for a team motto that would define the path forward for this program that would stick.

I picked up a book by Hall of Fame Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelley that talked a lot about culture of a program that stuck with me. So our motto became Culture Beats Scheme, the coach said. Because of our low numbers, some of these kids are playing football for the first time, our lack of size and speed; we took on the culture of strong work ethics. We really had to learn to do the little things well.

That strong work ethic paid off in spades as the Lions went 8-2 on the season on the arm and running ability of senior quarterback Peyton Ballinger.

The guy threw for over 2,700 yards and our receivers, especially Ian Carter, caught the ball extremely well, Puryear said. The number of breakout players we had exceeded my expectations. Most of our senior class had been with me since the start of my career as freshmen. It all came together for a memorable season.

The very thing that created the opportunity for the successful season will be the big thing Ascension Christian will have to overcome in the 2017 season.

Were going to have to replace about 4,000 yards of offense this year. Losing Peyton Ballinger and Ian Carter, who led the state in receiving, along with our running backs leaves a big hole. The backbone of our defense is gone as well. Nick Schexnayder on the defensive line and Dylan Capiel in our linebacking corps gave opposing offenses fits, Puryear said.

Because the team has developed the work ethic of the culture beats scheme attitude, Puryear is confident that the Lions will be very competitive in 2017.

We have two quarterbacks working for the offense. One is Zack Diez and the other is Erik Varnado. Zack has played quarterback before in his seventh through ninth grade and Erik is just a good athlete who helped our team last year as a ninth-grader, he said.

Diez is a freshman, and Varnado is a sophomore. Their abilities are somewhat unknown.

Tyler Cambre is a junior who will play both ways as a slot receiver on offense and strong safety on defense. Another sophomore who will help at the running back position is Byron Hansley. Two bright spots on the defense helping the Lions defense at the linebacking position will be seniors Landon Ortego and Brennan Tramonte. One tough break for the Lions will be the loss of 6-foot-2-inch, 318-pound Eric Sims at the right offensive tackle. Sims tore up his knee playing soccer and will be out for his senior year.

The Ascension Christian Lions will have a tough time exceeding their 8-2 record from last year but the program has developed into something that will last for a long time. Good luck, Lions!

The summer heat has kicked in on all burners. So has the fishing in our great state known as the Sportsmans Paradise. Its a title that has been earned over the years as one would be hard pressed to find a better place to fish in terms of numbers and opportunities.

The Atchafalaya Basin is on the fall, which means the Spillway is getting red hot, as well as the Lake Verret area. Early morning is always good for some top-water action in terms of poppers and hollow body frogs. As the day goes on, the action usually picks up fishing plastic baits. June bug has been the choice of color.

Bayou Black and the marsh has been on the map as the best place for the last month but things have slowed down a little as the water has fallen. Its still very good with top water baits early but the action heats up on the points as the day goes on.

A big-time congrats goes out to two of Gonzales own professional anglers as Greg Hackney finished in ninth place way up north on Lake Champlain at a recent tournament. The Hack Attack steadily improved his weight each of the three days as he brought limits of 17 pounds, 18 pounds, 11 ounces and 19 pounds, 3 ounces to the scales for a total of 54 pounds, 14 ounces and earned a check for $12,000.

Gerald Spohrer stayed really consistent with his weights of 17 pounds, 13 ounces, 17 pounds, 2 ounces and 16 pounds, 4 ounces for a finishing weight of 51 pounds, 3 ounces and a 28th place finish. His earnings for the trek up north were $10,000.

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Ascension Athletics for Aug. 3, 2017 - The Advocate