Tregle looks to turn around MCHS football program

The Morgan City High School football team went through yet another head coaching change this offseason as the Tiger football program will be led by a new face — the program’s fourth head coach since 2010.
However, this time, the Tigers’ new hire, Scott Tregle, is already rooted in the Tri-City area and has a history with the school.
Tregle is not only a Morgan City alum, but he is the son of legendary prep football coach Al Tregle, who spent time leading the Tigers during his successful coaching career.
Now, the younger Tregle and his coaching staff will look to revive a Morgan City program that finished 0-10 a year ago.
Tregle comes to Morgan City from his most recent stop at Patterson High School, where he spent years on the coaching staff of then-head coach Tommy Minton. Minton moved on to Central Catholic during the offseason after retiring from the public school system in March.
Since he began work at Morgan City in early February, Tregle said he has seen signs of progress in his players in the offseason and summer conditioning, noting strides made from February to May were “phenomenal gains.”
That progress continued through the summer when Tregle said the Tigers had about 60 to 65 athletes at each workout — many of those football players.
He said he lost a few players to attrition since he has taken over, too.
Coming off a winless season a year ago, Tregle didn’t tell his squad they were going to go undefeated this year.
Instead, he said he laid before them what they had, where they want to go and explained to them the challenges along the way.
“I’ve said I don’t know if we’re going to win one game, five games, two games, but we’re playing 10 games and we can play hard for 10 games,” Tregle said.
The first-year coach also had a message for his senior class.
“I’ve told the seniors, ‘you’re only guaranteed 10 more games so you can work hard, make the most of it or you can leave,’ straight up,” he said. “So they’re working hard. They want to be a part of it, and I tell them they can be a part of building this program back up.”
Morgan City will feature a young squad this season, with its core found in its sophomore class.
“We’re going to take a few lumps this year being that we’re so young, but the kids are working extremely hard and (have) come a long way,” Tregle said.
Offensively, the Tigers will run a Wing T this year, while on defense, the squad will be multiple, utilizing both a 4-4 and 3-4 scheme.
The squad’s coaching staff features a strong Patterson flavor as multiple coaches are alumni of the school.
“I got a good coaching staff,” Tregle said. “They’re young. They put a lot of time in this summer.”
The team’s offensive coordinator will be Brandon Harden, while Tarence Calais will coordinate the defense and coach the defensive backs.
Joey Crappell will be Morgan City’s special teams’ coordinator and also coach wide receivers, and James Bennett will coach the defensive line.
John Hartman will coach the linebackers; Jason Viator, the offensive line; and Duriel Singleton, the running backs.
Below is a look at the Tigers’ roster, position by position, as well as Tregle’s thoughts on the team’s schedule.
Quarterback
Sophomore Hector Tolento, who was thrust into action last year in week 4 of the season and saw action under center at times during the remainder of the season, returns this season.
He is battling junior Abram Hartley for the quarterback job, Tregle said.
While Tregle said the Tigers are inexperienced at quarterback, he said improvements were made in 7-on-7 action.
“But they still have a long way to go,” he said.
Because the Tigers’ offense will be based on the ground game, Tregle said his quarterbacks will not be asked to do a lot in the pass game.
Running Back
One strong spot Tregle noted for the Tigers is at running back where senior Kevon Marsh and junior Jacolbi Francois, who was injured early last season, return as well as sophomore Ethan Scioneaux.
In the Tigers’ rushing attack, they will feature two backs and a wingback.
As of mid-August, Scioneaux was expected to fill the wingback position, while Marsh was projected at fullback and Francois at tailback.
“Kevon’s a workhorse,” Tregle said. “Kevon never missed a day this summer, not one day. Never missed a day from the time I got here in February, never missed a day of school, never missed a day in the summer, so he’s the most prepared he can be for playing football.”
Of all the running backs, Tregle said Scioneaux likely has the best vision.
“He just doesn’t have the speed and the strength yet, but he works his tail off,” Tregle said. “He hadn’t missed a day all summer, either.”
Others who could see time in the backfield are juniors Clifton Escort at fullback and Andre Welsh at running back.
Wide Receiver
The Tigers’ wide receivers are another position that Tregle pointed to as an area where the Tigers have some weapons.
Jones, a senior who will be starting on defense, will be seeing action at wide receiver, too.
“He’s probably the fastest one on the team,” Tregle said.
The Tigers also will feature senior Keyshawn Marshall, who didn’t play football last year, but Tregle said has “come a long way this summer.”
Another option for the Tigers is sophomore Makye Richard.
“He’s a real nice athlete,” Tregle said. “He’s just young, but he’s probably the next best athlete on the team besides those two that can go up and get the ball.”
Lost to graduation a year ago was second-team all-district wide receiver Buddy Humphrey.
Offensive line
On the offensive line, the Tigers return junior Hunter Vining from a year ago. Vining will be the Tigers’ center, while first-year starter and senior Cameron Marcantel and senior Anthony Rink will play at the guard positions and sophomores Fred Ferguson and James Bennett, who both saw some backup duty a year ago, will man the left and right tackle spots, respectively.
Because Rink also plays linebacker on the Tigers’ defense, sophomore Frank Rangel also will see some time in Rink’s spot.
Marcantel also is expected to play on defense this year.
Tregle noted that Bennett is “one of the hardest working kids on the team.” He said the sophomore has improved his 40-yard dash time and added about 100 pounds to his bench press since Tregle arrived in February.
Senior Brandon Robinson is another Tiger who could see action on the Tigers’ offensive line.
Lost to graduation a year ago was second-team all-district offensive guard Ben Vining.
Defensive Line
The Tigers’ defensive line rotation will feature junior Darien Verdun, Escort, junior Dezin Young, senior Tyrice Oliney, junior Dustin Harris, sophomore Calvin Bergeron and freshman Gage Gros.
Tregle said Young and Escort were a “two-man wrecking crew in the spring.” However, Tregle said that Young is expected to miss a little more than half the first part of the season with an injury.
In his place, Tregle said Gros likely would start.
“He’s solid as a rock,” Tregle said. “We just have to teach him technique and teach him where to line up.”
Among the losses from last year’s defensive line was Darryl Johnson, a Louisiana Sports Writers Association honorable mention Class 4A All-State pick a year ago who had signed with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in February.
Linebacker
The Tigers will feature Rink, while others expected to see time at another linebacking position are junior Zach Hillen and sophomore Fabien Cavalier.
Rink is a returning first-team all-district selection from a season ago.
The Tigers’ outside linebacking positions will be filled by senior Trey Robin and Welsh.
Secondary
Marshall and senior Tierell Jones are expected to fill the Tigers’ cornerback positions, while Jaylen Jones will be the team’s free safety.
Jaylen Jones was a second-team all-district defensive back a season ago.
Special Teams
Junior Mario Sanchez, senior Irving Delgado and Gabe Wilson all are fighting for the team’s kicking spot to replace the powerful leg of graduate Sergize Flores, a second-team all-district selection in 2013.
Jaylen Jones will replace Flores as the team’s punter, who also has the ability to turn a busted play into a first down.
“We’re not going to have a guy that just punts,” Tregle said.
Senior Colby Comeaux will be the team’s deep snapper.
In the return game, the Tigers will feature Jaylen Jones, Tierell Jones, Marshall and Marsh on kickoffs and punts.
Schedule
Of Morgan City’s schedule this season, eight of 10 teams qualified for the postseason a year ago, including Class 3A runner-up Livonia, Class 5A quarterfinalist Central-Baton Rouge and Class 1A quarterfinalist White Castle.
The Tigers also will face West St. Mary, Rayne and Franklin in nondistrict action.
“Every game, we’re just going to go in and battle,” Tregle said. “I know there’s some teams on the schedule that we think maybe we could beat, some teams we think we’re not going to be able to beat, but as a coaching staff, we talked and we’re going into every game and we’re going to try to win. But with our lack of older kids’ depth and in shape, we’re just going to slow the game down and give us a chance to win in the fourth quarter, and many things can happen like that.”
Morgan City will compete in District 7-4A with Vandebilt Catholic, Assumption, Ellender and South Terrebonne.
It’s a district Tregle said the Tigers should be able to compete in because no one team will dominate.
“We ought to be able to compete with every team in the district. … I’m confident we can line up with Vandebilt, Assumption, Ellender, South Terrebonne and play with them, give ourselves a chance to win,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking at.”
Morgan City, who fell to Patterson 27-12 in the Taco Bell/KFC St. Mary Parish Jamboree, will open its season at home Sept. 5 against White Castle.