Ponchatoula defeated Covington 28-7 last year, using a power running game that produced 385 yards. The Green Wave averaged 7.1 yards per carry in last year’s victory.
Covington first-year coach Malter Scobel described Ponchatoula as a hot club.
 CHS looks to rebound against PHS |
“It’s a hard offense to prepare for because you don’t see it that often. It’s going to be a real challenge for our defense.”
Former West Jefferson head coach Hank Tierney, who is in his first year with the Green Wave as the offensive coordinator, runs the Ponchatoula triple option offense.
Scobel was an assistant under Tierney for the past six years at West Jefferson. Scobel also coached with him for eight years before that at Archbishop Shaw. With more of a connection, Scobel played for Tierney as a junior and senior tight end/placekicker/punter in 1985 and 1986 when he was at Shaw.
“Coach Tierney is the reason I am a head coach today,” Scobel said.
“ We have to get things turned around after last week to get headed back into the right direction,” he said. “We were being competitive up until last week’s game against Slidell. We didn’t help ourselves at all. We didn’t execute our game plan, and we had a lot of mental busts.”
One bright spot for the Lions was the continued strong offensive output of junior running back Phillip Bickham.
He gained 93 yards on 15 carries.
“Phillip earned every yard he got. He normally had to make a tackler miss in the backfield. He had to work hard to create yardage on his own,” Scobel added.
Scobel credited Slidell head coach Artie Liuzza and Tigers’ defensive coordinator Donnie Sorrells with a solid game plan.
CHS junior quarterback Tyler Scott completed 9-of-25 passes for 102 yards but threw two interceptions last week.
CHS junior defensive back Otis Jacobs intercepted a pass last week while leading the Lions with six individual tackles and two assists. Junior Denizel Ladner recovered a fumble. He posted seven solo stops with one assist. Junior Ryan Robinson was credited with five tackles and one sack. Junior linebacker Kyle Crouch was in on four tackles, including two stops for losses.
Ponchatoula second-year head coach Mike Baiamonte said it was certainly good to open district last week with a victory over a real good Northshore team.
“The breaks went our way in the second half. We took advantage of it,” Baiamonte said.
Baiamonte described this week’s opponent, Covington High, as a much improved team despite last week’s loss to Slidell.
“They are better than they were a year ago. They run an excellent defensive scheme that allows them to stay in games. They also have enough offensive talent that they can make you pay if you don’t play good defense,” Baiamonte said.
Ponchatoula is off to a strong start with junior fullback Joseph Green (5-11, 220) carrying the load. Green carried the ball 23 times for 170 yards last week in the victory over Northshore with rushing TDs.
“He is coming off of three solid weeks with quality games for us,” Baiamonte said.
Baiamonte said sophomore quarterback Eldrid Palmer (5-9, 165 is giving the Green Wave quality play. Junior running back Jacques West (5-8, 220) also gives Ponchatoula depth in its backfield.
Ponchatoula senior linebacker Corey Morse (6-1, 180), senior safety Ben Schaff (5-11, 195) and sophomore tackle Jonathan Kichen (6-3, 270) lead the Green Wave defense.
Senior linebacker Brandon LeBlanc recovered a key late fourth-quarter fumble for the Green Wave.
Baiamonte said his defense would have to concentrate on stopping the Lions’ Bickham.
“He is one of those guys that you have to coral. He’ll make you miss, and when you do, he’ll make you pay for it. They do a good job of getting him the ball. They did some direct snaps to him last week, giving different looks. We know they will use him and his talents,” Baiamonte said.
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