Tigers to open season with White Castle

The Morgan City Tigers will kick off the Scott Tregle era Friday when they host White Castle in at Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers enter the contest following a 27-12 loss to Patterson in last week’s Taco Bell/KFC St. Mary Parish Football Jamboree.
Morgan City head coach Scott Tregle said from watching the tape, his team needs to be more physical.
“Patterson upfront was just beating us … Some guys were getting double-teamed 10 yards into our defensive backfield, five yards getting in the linebacker, so there (was) a lot of running room,” Tregle said. “That’s not the style of football I want to play. I want to play like if you get double teamed, you either find a way to beat it or you get down and dig dirt. They just need to learn how to play tougher football. We’re just real, real real soft right now. I think we’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go as far as toughness and just finding a way to get it done.”
The Morgan City coach also said his team needs to be more receptive to coaching instead of taking a negative attitude.
“We got to get this pouting and this babyfied mentality out of here because that’s not helping this team at all,” Tregle said.
On Thursday, Tregle officially named a starter at quarterback in sophomore Hector Tolento, who saw action last year and Tregle said played well in the jamboree. Tolento finished 1-of-4 passing for 8 yards and a touchdown.
While Abram Hartley is the team’s backup, Tregle said Hartley must stay prepared to be called upon at a moment’s notice.
“He’s one play away from being on the field,” Tregle said. “There might be games in the future where Hector’s just stinking it up, and we make the switch.”
During the jamboree, Morgan City gave up a touchdown on Patterson’s opening drive when Sirbatian Charles scored on a one-yard run and later scored a touchdown on Charles’ 15-yard touchdown pass to Mykel Jones.
Morgan City responded at the end of the first quarter when Jaylen Jones scored on a 1-yard run for a 12-6 advantage.
The Tigers gave up two touchdowns in the second half via Charles’ 10-yard run and Mykel Jones’ 88-yard touchdown reception for a 27-6 lead with 6:16 remaining.
Morgan City added a late score with four seconds remaining on Tolento’s 8-yard pass to Jaylen Jones.
In addition to White Castle’s double-wing offense, Tregle said his squad has been working on finishing blocks and tackling.
As for White Castle, they enter this week after falling to Plaquemine 14-0 in Plaquemine’s jamboree.
Tregle said White Castle, which has plenty of size and speed, almost scored on Plaquemine.
While Tregle expects to win Friday in a game that he said is “big” for his program, he said it won’t be easy.
“We’re going to have to work for it,” Tregle said. “Those guys ain’t going to give us nothing. They’re going to have some big plays on us. Hopefully we have some big plays on them. We’re just going to try to beat’em in different areas, maybe some special teams. Hopefully we’ll make some big plays on special teams and drive the ball (and) we’ll run the clock and give us a chance in the fourth quarter.”
On offense, White Castle essentially runs a double-wing with no fullback and features a quarterback veer, among other things. Tregle said White Castle uses motion on each play and has “sprint-out” passes.
“It’s a hard offense to stop,” he said.
The team’s quarterback, senior Jacory Jones, is who White Castle wants to get the ball to, Tregle said, while the Bulldogs also will utilize freshmen Jeremy Richard, who also is a wide receiver.
Junior Daniel Edwards, a running back also stands out, Tregle said.
Tregle said his team is prepared for White Castle, but just has to execute.
On defense, the Bulldogs employ three-, four- or five-man fronts depending on what the offense presents.
“I think against us they’re going to show us a five-man front because that’s what Patterson did against us and (it) worked well,” Tregle said.
On defense, Edwards and Richard are one’s who standout.
Friday’s game will begin at 7 p.m.