August 16, 2018
JACKETS ON THE AIR
Catch DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL in 2018 on FAMILY RADIO 91.9 FM AND ON THE NET AT JON FINE PRODUCTIONS. COM. This is our 23rd year announcing Denham Springs Football. Josh Ward will call play-by-play with Andy Duckworth on color commentary for Coach Bill Conides’ team.
BRUSLY BACK IN BUSINESS
Lionel Franklin/KBRS will be producing Brusly HS Football radio broadcasts in 2018 on KBRS, 106.9 FM.…
Lionel Franklin will be calling play-by-play, with Jason Manola on color commentary for Coach Hoff Schooler’s team.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
College football coaches can be so weird. I say weird, but I really mean paranoid.
Think about it. NFL teams practice during training camp against other teams. Their practices are open to the public for the first three weeks. High school teams don’t have the ability to keep people from watching their practice. They play a scrimmage that is filmed and the film can be traded. Then high school teams play a jamboree.
None of those facts give Mark Richt enough security for him to even give out meaningless stats from his scrimmages. Many other college coaches are the same way.
Ed Orgeron is probably one of the more open coaches. LSU had it first scrimmage last week, and LSU gave out stats. What good did that do anyone? Clearly nobody since everyone was shocked that Narcisse (and probably McMillan at the time I am typing this) is going to transfer. The stats LSU gave out did not give that away at all. Yet, other coaches would try to fire someone if anyone knew the stats from a scrimmage.
I suppose there are some scenarios where statistics can help an opponent. In baseball, I have a slight advantage as a hitter if I know the pitcher tends to walk as many batters as he strikes out. I can be more selective at the plate.
In basketball, a coaching staff has a huge advantage if they know the guards for the other team are poor free throw shooters. You can start fouling a lot earlier.
For LSU though, K’Lavon Chaisson and Devin White had great stats in the first scrimmage. If Mark Richt and Miami didn’t already know that Chaisson and White are really good, then LSU is in really good shape and Miami needs a new coach. The Miami staff is not relying on that stats for their game plan, yet they won’t release stats from their scrimmage, and they are not the only ones.
Football is just different from baseball and basketball in this respect. When football coaches scout, their most vital information is tendencies based on formations and situations. Basketball coaches can say, “Don’t guard John Johnson so close on the perimeter, he is shooting 10% from three point range.” Football coaches can’t say, “Don’t guard wide receiver Phil Philson so close, he only runs deep routes because he had 2 catches for 50 yards in the scrimmage.”
None of these facts prevent college football coaches from guarding information from their fall camps like nuclear codes. Yet, that isn’t to say I don’t understand why they keep media from watching full practices. The main reason is what happened this week with LSU. What if Narcisse missed practice on Tuesday and then came back to the team instead of transferring?
The reaction in the 3 hours between everyone knowing Narcisse wasn’t at practice and Narcisse announcing he was going to transfer was nuts. LSU fans live in such a bubble. Nobody thought LSU’s quarterbacks looked great in the Spring Game. Everyone has predicted for 2 months that Burrow would be the starting quarterback. Vegas had to take the prop bet off their board. Everyone expected one or two quarterbacks to transfer as a result. That is happening, and now the sky is falling because LSU won’t have a quality third quarterback (if McMillan transfers). What?!
According to that logic, Taysom Hill or Tom Savage better be a great third quarterback for the Saints in case Brees gets hurt. Do we not understand the reality that when third string quarterbacks play, the season isn’t going to go very well?
Georgia’s second string quarterback last year transferred to Washington. Their third string quarterback left in May. Their backup is a true freshman. No LSU fans are worried about Georgia being a good team this year.
In this era, third string quarterbacks do not stick around for year three (or year two). Almost everyone plays one quarterback these days, which means the backup gets no playing time. That means the third string quarterback plays less than none (whatever that is).
Personally, I am a little disappointed Narcisse is leaving because I really think he has the physical talent to provide something special, like Tebow did for Florida. On third and short or goalline situation Narcisse could have added an element to the offense that is pretty rare whether he was first, second, or third team. If Tiger fans feel LSU is missing out for that reason, I won’t argue. But all this nonsense about depth at quarterback, and all that is just silly.
We were probably 3 days away from people freaking out that LSU has been splitting reps between four quarterbacks. Actually, LSU fans were probably already freaking out. It is just what LSU fans do now I guess.
I don’t know how things will work out, but I think there is a very good chance it works out for everyone. Hopefully, Narcisse can stay healthy and get playing time (out of the SEC) because he is very talented. If McMillan transfers, he could be productive at a lower level. Burrow has every opportunity to be very successful at LSU, and so does Brennan. As for depth at quarterback, LSU has a very talented quarterback committed for next year’s class.
So the thing we have been expecting to happen, happened. There is your news for the week. Geaux Tigers!
HEY REF
This week’s column is unusually short because the subject matter I’m writing about deserves the undivided attention of all those that love high school football. It’s no secret that amateur sports such as football are under extreme pressure to be discontinued. Many point out the never ending number and severity of injuries suffered by the players. And I couldn’t agree more. As officials we are constantly reminded of the ever present threat of lawsuits by parents who look for any reason to blame someone for Little Johnny’s destroyed knees.
I find it unsettling to think what the ramifications could ultimately bring to my family and those like me that enjoy working high school sports. I’ve always been in the corner of the National Federation of High Schools that write the rules we here in Louisiana play under. Many times in this medium I’ve credited the Federation for their constant work on setting up rules that are intended to do one main thing and that is to PROTECT THE PLAYERS!
That is until this year as I return to the sidelines after sitting out the past three seasons to take care of my parents and try to rebuild my life after the flood of 2016 took our house and everything we owned. We are still “homeless”, living at my parent’s house, even after both of them have passed away. My father died just five days after the flood on Aug. 18,’16 of a massive heart attack and my mom on June 6,’18 after battling lung cancer for nearly five years. So, after putting my life on hold doing what I feel was the right thing to do, I decided to see if I can get one or two more seasons doing something I missed and loved to do.
I want to warn everyone about a rule coming to your local high school football stadium that should have never seen the light of day much less being refined BY FEDERATION rule makers and allowed to be a part of Friday night games. It’s a little something called a “BLIND SIDE BLOCK”! I want to be on record saying I’m 1,000% against this type of block. Let me try to explain what it’s about and what you can expect to happen when the officials see and call it.
This block as explained by our rules guru allows a player to come from the side, above the waist the opportunity to “clean the clock” of an opponent that’s trying to tackle a runner! Nothing and I’ll repeat this NOTHING GOOD CAN COME OF THIS TYPE OF BLOCK! Nowhere on God’s green earth can allowing this type of block in high school games be beneficial to the game. These types of blocks should be outlawed in a game played by kids between 15 to 17 years old.
I can testify from my own experience that dirty players will get their share of illegal hits without giving them a green light and then write a rule allowing this type of behavior. During my playing days in the early 70’s I had a player hit me from the side at knee level that tore and dislocated my knee cap. But just so we knew what to look for we were shown examples of legal blind side blocks and those that would not be allowed. And to tell you the truth just about every example we watched had to be shown in super slow motion to be able to tell if they were legal.
Legal or not by the rule makers doesn’t sit very well with me. In 1997 I worked the state final in the Super Dome between John Curtis and Eunice. I called a foul on a player that if we had these new rules would be a legal hit. But I’m one of those officials that can’t stand dirty play and dirty players. It seemed like I was moving in slow motion as I tried to get over to the fallen player hoping he’d be able to walk again.
And here’s what I experienced in the next couple of minutes; the coach of the injured player “THANKED” me for calling the foul while the coach of the other team screamed at me saying his player was just playing “good, hard football”. So, I let him vent and then when things got back to normal I eased over to him and said “Coach, if it were your son laid out on the carpet like that would you want me to call the foul or just let it go”?
And that’s how I’ll end this week’s unsettling view of a rule that needs to be deleted from the game and rulebook. In my 25 plus seasons of working high school football games I continue to drop a flag on dirty players. And with lawyers and courts full of parents suing schools and referees for injuries that we really have no control of I will continue to flag these types of hits. It makes no difference to me if I get “scratched” from a school or association for flagging dirty hits. Simply stated because I’ll be able to sleep at night knowing the job I do on Friday nights is not just X’s and O’s. Nope our job as refs is also to make sure players get home without visiting the emergency room.
Till next week…
Press Release
School officials and title sponsor Sport-N-Center are pleased to announce the Denham Springs High School Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2018 will be enshrined on September 6 at Forrest Grove Plantation in Denham Springs. Tickets for the popular banquet are on sale at the school office on August 6.
Headlining the event as keynote speaker will be LSU head basketball coach Will Wade, an entertaining and colorful spokesman entering his second season at the helm of the Tigers. Given the smaller size of this year’s class, planners seized this occasion to introduce a high profile speaker into the format for the first time.
Two All State athletes and one selectee in the joint category of Athlete/Supporter, plus one member from the Class of 2017, will be inducted this year. All four enjoyed their time as celebrated Yellow Jackets in the 1960s.
Maurice Cockerham Durbin and Jimmy Tullos were outstanding All State athletes during their glory days at DSHS. Durbin was a tenacious competitor and defensive star in an era when girls’ basketball teams played on a divided court, with three offensive forwards at one end and three defensive guards at the other. She complemented her high scoring teammate Celeste Gully, a fellow All Stater, making the Lady Jackets regular playoff contenders.
Tullos was a versatile three-sport athlete who occupies a prominent place in local football lore with 16 career interceptions from his defensive safety position. His senior campaign was shortened by injury, limiting him to 17 games in two seasons, but he still produced a remarkable average of nearly one interception per game.
Selected in the dual role of Athlete/Supporter, Jim Spring was a hard-hitting center and linebacker in football who was a two-time All District and All Parish pick for the Yellow Jackets. He was also an All Regional selection at a time when this all star category existed between All District and All State. Spring was the first in school history to earn a four-year football scholarship to an SEC university.
Sharing the spotlight with this year’s class will be Tom Kelly, a carry-over member from the Class of 2017 who was unable to be inducted last year. Kelly was a four-sport letterman and All District quarterback who led the first great DSHS football team of the modern era. He was also the first Jacket to play football at LSU during a walk-on season with the Baby Bengals freshman team in 1960.
Below are the highlights of the athletic, scholastic, and civic achievements of these honored sports figures:
Maurice Cockerham Durbin (Athlete)
Class of 2016
A four-year letterman in softball and basketball at DSHS, Maurice Cockerham was a Class A All State basketball star in 1960. She was the defensive counterpart to offensive phenom Celeste Gully, also an All State choice.
With Cockerham’s hustling, shut-down style of defense and Gully’s prolific scoring, the Lady Jackets were perennial District Champions. Cockerham was selected to a number of all star teams including the prestigious Livingston Parish Tournament which showcased several of the state’s best teams.
As a spirited first baseman, she helped the Lady Jacket softball team to a state runner-up finish in 1960. A well-rounded campus leader, Cockerham was named DSHS Best Defensive Player in basketball and was a two-time Class Favorite and Most Beautiful choice by her classmates. After her high school sports career, she later played in an independent women’s basketball league for the local team sponsored by Varnado Plumbing.
Following her graduation from LSU, she taught elementary school for two years, earning Bachelor of science, Masters of education, and Specialist in education degrees. She then founded Maurice Durbin & Associates and launched a successful 25-year career as a political lobbyist at the parish, state, and federal levels.
During this time, Durbin was the first Livingston Parish resident appointed to serve a six-year term on the Louisiana Board of Regents, the supervisory body that oversees Louisiana state colleges and trade schools. She was also elected to serve on the Democratic state central committee and then on the Democratic state executive committee for eight years. She was a past board member of the Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce as well.
Durbin has been a devoted community leader for nearly three decades, having founded Pet Aid, Inc., a non-profit that spays and neuters dogs and cats within Livingston Parish. In 2000, she began a vital and ongoing role in city beautification through the founding of Denham Springs Green. Perhaps her most passionate contribution has been as a volunteer leader at the Denham Springs Animal Shelter, a relationship that has spanned 30 years. In 2003, it became the first no-kill municipal animal shelter in the state. Durbin was also instrumental in securing the property for the construction of an animal shelter in the town of Livingston.
Married to former three-term Denham Springs mayor, Jimmy Durbin, she served as the city’s First Lady for 12 years, helping transform the quiet town into a vibrant small city. Throughout these years Durbin worked to improve the city’s landscape and image, while championing programs at the local animal shelter.
She is the mother of a son and daughter.
Jimmy Tullos (Athlete)
Class of 2016
Jimmy Tullos was a talented athlete who was a stalwart of the gridiron, earning Class AA All State honors as a defensive safety his senior year (1968) and honorable mention All State as a junior. He was twice named to the All District and All Parish teams as a safety (1967, 1968).
Tullos was a rare, instinctive defensive back who was a magnet for the pigskin, having stolen nine interceptions as a junior and seven as a senior, a stunning performance believed to be the school record. During his senior campaign, abbreviated by injury, he intercepted seven passes in seven games, including three in one game. Not only was he a tenacious ball hawk, Tullos was a hard-nose tackler that punished Yellow Jacket opponents for two seasons.
He played for Hall of Fame football coach Louis Carlisle, advancing to the Class AA state semi-finals as a junior and defeating Covington in the Jaycee Bowl as a senior. He earned the DSHS Best Defensive Back award twice.
Tullos was also a three-year letterman for Hall of Fame basketball coach Alton Leggette, reaching the Class AA state semi-finals his junior year.
Upon graduation from high school, he served seven years in the U. S. Army as a medical corpsman, including a tour of duty in Berlin, West Germany, where he and nine other soldiers set a world record for Marathon Basketball. Playing five-on-five, full court, with no substitutes, the teams competed for 48 non-stop hours, breaking the old record by six hours.
As a civilian, Tullos worked 17 years for Peavey Electronics in Mississippi, performing computerized tests on circuit boards, before returning to Louisiana where he served as a Deputy Sheriff in Caldwell Parish. Beginning as a road deputy, he would eventually retire as a lieutenant at the Caldwell Parish Correctional Center, having received a host of awards for superior performance.
In 2014, Jimmy Tullos, the former Yellow Jacket football star, married Patricia Morrison, his homecoming queen and DSHS Most Beautiful honoree. They now live in Denham Springs.
He is the father of a son and daughter.
Jim Spring (Athlete/Supporter)
Class of 2016
The last of three brothers who were rugged athletes at DSHS, Jim Spring was a two-time All District and All Parish football center and linebacker (1961, 1962), and a 1962 All Regional pick. He was the first player in school history and in Livingston Parish to receive a four-year athletic scholarship to play football at an SEC university.
A student of the game who called defensive signals for the Jackets, Spring was named DSHS Best Lineman, Team Captain, and Most Valuable Player, and also received recognition for Most Minutes Played in 1961 and 1962—all but one minute in two seasons. He was a two-year track letterman in the discus as well. Spring was an Eagle Scout, Vice President of his senior class, and represented the school at the State Literary Rally.
At the college level, he was a three-year letterman at Tulane University and, as a sophomore, was the smallest starting center in the SEC at 190 pounds. In 1966 against LSU at old Tulane Stadium, he played before the largest crowd (82,567) to witness a night college football game in NCAA history at the time.
Spring spent 30 years as an active duty Army officer (1969-1999), retiring as a full colonel with 10 years of overseas assignments in southeast Asia, the middle east, and Europe. Among his duties at the colonel level were Post Commander of Oakland Army Base, CA; senior U. S. officer in the UN peacekeeping force in Iraq; and senior Military Advisor to the Ambassador at the American Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, during the period when the Islamic nation became a nuclear power.
At the lieutenant colonel level as a battalion commander, his battalion was selected Unit of the Year for its type in a geographic region west of the Mississippi River to the Indian Ocean. As the commander of Oakland Army Base, his command was awarded $40,000 in the Army’s Most Improved Installation competition.
A devoted Yellow Jacket fan and supporter, in 2011 Spring proposed the creation of a DSHS Athletic Hall of Fame and arranged the initial meeting between DSHS and the Denham Springs Athletic Association. Butch Wax and he were tasked to plan and organize the many guidelines and protocols that have culminated in what today has become a community treasure, now in its eighth year.
He also prepared the proposal and negotiated with Sport-N-Center to become the title sponsor which underwrites many of the expenses associated with the Hall of Fame. To build community support and promote the Hall of Fame and DSHS athletics, Spring has written over 75 press releases for area newspapers.
In 2008 Spring formed the first Board of the area Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), serving as President for three years. He organized the annual FCA Variety Show for five years, raising $25,000 for the spiritual welfare of students, athletes, and coaches at DSHS and throughout Livingston Parish.
In 2012 he proposed that “Yellow Jacket Sports” be showcased during a four-month public exhibit at Old City Hall sponsored by Denham Springs Main Street. He borrowed historic DSHS trophies, plaques, photographs, and sports memorabilia; publicized the event in the press; and organized an opening ceremony for the community.
In 2015 he proposed to the City of Denham Springs that the Yellow Jacket logo be prominently displayed on the water tower closest to the interstate. He prepared the formal documents, presented the proposal at a public meeting with the Mayor and City Council, and coordinated with Forte & Tablada Engineering until project completion.
During the Great Flood of 2016, the Hall of Fame display case in Hornsby Gym was destroyed, and funding for its replacement was a low priority for the school district. While the plaques were saved, it was unlikely they could be displayed there again in the near future. Spring proposed the Hall of Fame be relocated to Big Mike’s Sports Bar & Grill. He prepared and coordinated the Memorandum of Agreement between DSHS and Big Mike’s and organized the recent grand opening.
Spring is a graduate of Tulane (English) with a master’s degree from Ball State University (psychology). He is married to the former Kathy Brummett and is the father of a son and daughter.
Tom Kelly (Athlete)
Class of 2017
As a three-year starter at quarterback (1957-1959), Tom Kelly ran for 865 yards and scored 73 points while passing for 1,350 yards and 16 touchdowns in a backfield that boasted two-time All State running back Randy Rushing. Kelly was such a fierce tackler that head coach Charles Borde elected to also play him at linebacker on defense, a rare decision to expose the team’s quarterback to injury at such a rugged position.
A spirited athlete and natural leader, he was selected the team Most Valuable Player not because of his size or his statistics, but because he led by example and had a gift for inspiring his teammates. Kelly was also a star second baseman on Yellow Jacket softball teams that won State Championships in 1958, 1959, and 1960.
He embodied the student-athlete ideal as President of his sophomore and junior classes and Vice President of his senior class. Voted Most Energetic Student three times, he also served as FFA president and Key Club president. Kelly would eventually earn an athletic scholarship to play football at USL (ULL) after a walk-on season with the LSU freshman team. He is believed to be the first DSHS athlete to play football at LSU and to have played four years of collegiate football.
The leadership ability Kelly developed on the playing fields of his Denham Springs youth would later distinguish him as a leader on the football field at USL and the battlefields of Viet Nam. Having played quarterback in his formative years, and during his freshman season at LSU, he was at heart still a hitter who was called upon by legendary USL coach Russ Faulkinbery to play linebacker once again.
Though small in stature for the position, he nonetheless became a three-year letterman, a two-year starter, and defensive captain as a senior. In 1963 he would receive the USL Most Valuable Back award and recognition as an honorable mention NAIA Little All-America linebacker.
Kelly continued to be a campus leader off the football field, cited as a member of the 1964 Who’s Who in American Colleges & Universities, serving as a member of the USL student council and Blue Key Honor Society, and receiving an award as the USL student contributing the most to the College of Commerce.
Upon graduation he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the USMC as an armor officer, serving as a tank platoon leader in Viet Nam at age 24, an assignment for which he received the Bronze Star medal with “V” device signifying valor, a rare award for a second lieutenant to receive. He would later return to Viet Nam at the rank of captain as a tank company commander at age 27.
Between those tours he had the unenviable assignment as the Marine Recruitment Officer in the San Francisco Bay area during two volatile years of unrest on college campuses.
After 26 years of active duty service, Kelly retired as a full colonel before spending another 18 years with General Dynamics working as a contractor on military programs. His overseas tours were in Viet Nam, Okinawa, and Panama. He is a graduate of USL (business) and is married to Meredith Kelly.
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