Lafayette Lions
2021 Record: 5-6
District: 3-5A
Head Coach: Cedric Figaro
Note: Lions made back to back playoff appearances for 1st time since 2006-07
The Lafayette Mighty Lions welcomed head coach Cedric Figaro back home in 2020 and since then the program has elevated.
Bringing a new culture to the team, his alma mater, it wouldn't take long before they would adapt to a new system.
Coming off a 7-2 record in 2020, 5-6 last season was a let down, but still promising for whats to come. The Mighty Lions return 10 starters so youth is on their side but for "Coach Fig", he's preaching "Triple A"; Alignment, Assignment and Adjustment. If all things come together throughout the season, under the lights, they have no choice but to show up.
"We need to show up and we need to give it our all because the second we start going halfway and really walking through what we're really supposed to be doing", says quarterback Grayson Saunier. "We need to go full speed and we can really put each other in the right direction."
"To be forward for the first year, we had a lot of that hadn't played before. Last year, once again we had some guys that didn't play and we had to catch up and this year is the same", says Figaro. "So once again we're getting into that routine. This is the third year for our program. Obviously our freshmen has been with us now and they're juniors now. They're gonna play quite a bit and just getting the younger kids ready."
Leading that promising future is quarterback Grayson Saunier, who's had a busy summer visiting numerous football camps at Lamar, the University of Houston and Northwestern State.
In his junior campaign, Saunier was named first-team all district in 3-5A, throwing for over 2,500 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Now that he's proven himself as THE guy, the bar is even higher in 2022.
"He has to grow and get better than he was last year. Grow exponentially because there's now colleges looking at him. They were looking before but now they really taking a keen look at him so he just needs to get better looking down the field. Obviously his legs are there and just managing the game."
"I just really expect him to improve on himself. That's something we talked about from time to time", says offensive lineman William Perry. "I'm really hoping that he's going to get more comfortable in the pocket get more comfortable with the O-line. Having some returning guys, he'll be a little bit more comfortable not being too excited or too worried or nervous or anything. Just being able to stay cool and keep that ball moving where we needed to be.
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