Ex-longtime colleagues David, Minton to meet as CCHS hosts Opelousas Catholic Thursday

Ex-longtime coaching colleagues and good friends Tommy Minton and Thomas David will match wits on the football field Thursday when Minton’s Central Catholic Eagles host David’s Opelousas Catholic Vikings in a 7 p.m. contest in Morgan City.
David worked with Minton for a total of 13 years, first as his defensive coordinator at Plaquemine High and also for many years at Patterson High.
David, a Central Catholic alum who most recently coached at St. Edmund, now will meet his former boss with his new team.
“You got two guys that have worked together before,” Minton said. “They’re real good friends in this profession that are competing against each other. It’s a lot like a situation when you’re kind of like brothers: you compete against each other, you want to beat the heck out of each other, but when you compete against anybody else, you’re rooting like crazy for each other.”
Both coaches bring teams to the field Thursday who pitched week 1 shutouts. While Central Catholic defeated St. John of Plaquemine, 30-0, in Morgan City, Opelousas Catholic knocked off St. Landry Parish rival Port Barre, 34-0, at Port Barre last week.
Against Port Barre, Opelousas Catholic used special teams to put it in prime position for three scores.
Special teams highlights for the Vikings in week one included a blocked punt, solid field position after a low snap on another Port Barre punt and prime field position after a return on a third punt attempt.
Defensively, Opelousas Catholic also returned an interception for a touchdown.
Opelousas Catholic held Port Barre to 94 yards total offense.
He said they are doing the same things as a year ago on defense.
“They’re a four-man front team,” Minton said. “Coach (Tommy) Tate is the defensive coordinator, and he’s been there quite a while, so they didn’t change anything on defense.”
On offense, Minton said Opelousas Catholic is different from a year ago as they have adopted David’s philosophy of a spread offense.
“They’ll spread the field out,” Minton said. “They’ll try to get the ball to the receivers in space, and the quarterback tries to find creases and run the football.”
Minton described Opelousas Catholic’s quarterback Sam Jarrell as “a real good athlete.”
He said Jarrell is a dual threat in that he can run and pass the ball.
Last week, Jarrell led the offense. He completed 9 of 15 passes for 101 yards and an interception, while he also rushed 18 carries for 44 yards and three touchdowns.
Nick Mouret added 10 carries for 46 yards in the win.
The Central Catholic coach said that the Vikings have good size on their offensive line, too.
Another player of note is Adam Purser, a 6-foot, 4-inch, 230-pound H-back, who had two receptions for 60 yards in last week’s victory.
“He really stands out on field,” Minton said of Purser.
Additional reporting by www.thedailyworld.com.