By LORI LYONS, Journal Sports
Lakeview Gators coach Lawrence Seawood knows that building a team takes a lot of time and a lot of effort.
Following Friday night’s 56-0 loss to Class 4A Booker T. Washington, Seawood says his Class A team needs a little more time to come together, but he was pleased with the effort.
“The positives out of this game were seeing growth out of a lot of kids,” second-year coach Seawood said. “The way they carried themselves out on the field. I saw at the end of the game, they showed a lot of character that I tried to instill in them in the off-season, a lot more discipline.
“I got the job kind of late last year and it was hard to instill a lot of my philosophies about how I want them to act. I saw a huge difference. In fact we got a lot of comments from a lot of people – parents, administrators. It didn’t go the way we wanted it to go, but it was a lot closer to what we want.”
While Seawood wouldn’t single out any one player in particular, he gave praise to his whole team for the effort they gave.
“We’re really trying to instill in these guys that it’s a team game,” Seawood said. “We’ve got to pull together for it to work. There was some finger-pointing after the jamboree and we had a long meeting with them about that. You can’t embarrass each other.”
The Gators will travel to Cedar Creek (1-0), a 19-14 winner over Delhi Charter, on Friday.
Second-year St. Mary’s coach Kedrin Seastrunk also was proud of the effort his Class A team gave in a 42-6 loss to Bunkie, a Class 2A power that reached the state semifinals last year.
Jacob Thibodaux scored the Tigers’ lone touchdown in the final minute of play.
Seastrunk said things were going pretty good until a flurry of mistakes added up to a quick 28 points for the Panthers. That included a bad snap which resulted in a safety for Bunkie.
But looking at the film, he said, it wasn’t all that bad.
“Truth be told, most fans judge by the score but coaches judge by different measures,” Seastrunk said. “The score did not depict the true fight that we gave. We fought hard and then, all of a sudden, we had four big busted plays. That’s 28 points on four plays. That took the wind out of us.”
But like his Lakeview colleague, Seastrunk sees some positives.
“We saw some great things,” he said. “I’m so excited, so pumped. Of course we lost the game, but everything we saw can be fixed. The kids’ morale is not down. It’s humbling. But it did not destroy us.”
St. Mary’s will host Red River (0-1), who lost to Catholic of Pointe Coupee 26-24, Friday night at Turpin Stadium.
NOTE – In a very classy move deeply appreciated by the visiting BTW team and fans Friday night, Lakeview High School staged a pregame moment of silence honoring beloved Lions assistant coach Terrance Winn, who passed away suddenly early last week. A 32-year coaching veteran, Winn was 59 years old and among his various roles at the school, was head girls basketball coach. (Reporting by Kevin Shannahan, Journal photographer)
