By DAVE WOODALL
Slidell sports writer
SLIDELL — After a disappointing 3-7 season, the Northshore Panther community is looking for big things in the 2015 football season.
With health issues a thing of the past and a poor showing the last two years, Panther head Coach Mike Bourg, who is entering his 10th year as coach, is excited about the prospects in the upcoming campaign.
“Our practices are going well. I look at this group we have and I think we have a bunch of hard working kids,” said Bourg. “But then we have some that need to get tougher both mentally and physically in order to be a productive member of this team.”
“Our district (6-5A) is extremely tough, but we have to just go out and battle. We didn’t battle last year. Two years ago we took Covington (5A semifinalist) into overtime. We went to overtime against St. Paul’s who are always at the top of the heap. Those kids deserved to win more than three games. Last year, we deserved to win three games. We weren’t in a lot of games last year. We got smoked quite a few times.”
Northshore looks to improve on both sides of the ball this season.
With a ton of experience and size up front, Northshore hopes to compete physically against some tough opposition this season with the help of a talented staff that consists of Jeff Mills (Defensive Coordinator); Joey Sylve (Defensive Line); Glenn Rivero (Defensive Backs); Chad Fortenberry (Linebackers); Scott Gaines (Offensive Line); Mark Hughey (Wide Receivers); Heath Panks (Offensive Line/Defensive Line); Steven Gaines (Quarterbacks); Tom Gainey (Freshmen coach); Pay McGowan (Asst. Freshmen coach); Scott Wadleigh (Asst. Freshmen coach).
On offense, the Panthers will rely on sophomore quarterback Walter Harris to run the show. Harris will be relying on a 1-2 punch of Matt Harvey and Darrion Smith at the running back positions. Smith was impressive in the spring game against Pearl River and Springfield and is someone to keep an eye on.
“I’ll being calling the offensive plays again this year,” said Bourg. “And I think our strength is going to be our offensive line. Harris will be fine with most of his throws will coming off of play-action. We’re going to run the football with Harvey and Smith.”
As one of the premiere runners in the district, Harvey will be welcomed back into the fold after missing most all of last season with a knee injury.
“My emphasis this year for my players will be to lead by example. I’m not going to put up with people that don’t follow the rules and don’t give it everything they have.”
Bourg thinks his team has a shot at making some waves in the district if he can make them believe in themselves.
“Defensively we are still young, but we’ll be better. We’ve got to be better. After all, we gave up 41 points per game last year. We have guys who are playing as sophomores this year who played a lot as freshmen last year. I think we’re going to be more athletic, and we’ll be better. We’ve got four or five guys in our sophomore class who could possibly play at the next level.”
Players to watch on defense are Prince DeAranolobo, Jacob Shamah, Vince Cuccia, Khalil Fleming and Tahj Clements.
Looking ahead on the schedule Bourg was quick to point out what he saw.
“I think the first three games of our schedule are crucial before we go into district. We travel to Biloxi, then take on Salmen and Lakeshore. If we can compete in these games it will gives us the incentive to succeed in a very tough league.”