By Malcolm Butler
A year ago, Cedar Creek entered fall camp with hope.
This year, the Cougars enter with expectations.
After improving from 1-9 in 2024 to a 6-5 record in Jacob Angevine’s first season as head coach, Cedar Creek returns to the practice field looking to build on one of the program’s biggest turnarounds in recent years. The Cougars reached the Select School Division IV playoffs before falling in the opening round, and Angevine believes the foundation has been laid for another step forward this season.
“I think this year there’s obviously some expectation,” Angevine said. “We have a really good group coming back.”
The early signs have been encouraging.
Cedar Creek opened preseason practice this week with 46 players, up from the 37 healthy, eligible players who reported to camp a year ago. Angevine believes it is the largest roster the Cougars have fielded since Matt Middleton’s first season as head coach.
“The first two days have gone about as well as the first two days could have gone,” Angevine said.
While each of the first two practices had a different feel, Angevine said both provided positive signs as the Cougars continue installing their offense and defense.
The offense set the tone on the opening day.
“You know, the kids retained a lot of information from last year,” Angevine said. “We actually got to install a little bit more because our personnel this year has changed a little bit.”
Last season, Cedar Creek relied heavily on two tight end sets thanks to a pair of standouts in Blake Robinson, who is now playing at Grambling State, and Bryce Martin. This year’s roster features more speed and depth at the skill positions, allowing the Cougars to become more versatile offensively.
“We’ve got a really good crop of skill guys that have come up that were freshmen last year and some guys that were eighth-graders that are now playing high school football,” Angevine said. “I feel like we’ll be able to spread it out just a little bit more. We’re still going to rely on our run game because we’ve got some beef up front.”
The defense, meanwhile, needed a little time to knock off the rust.
“It started off a little bit slow,” Angevine said. “You can definitely tell we haven’t put pads on since last November.”
As practice progressed, players became more comfortable with the defensive terminology and assignments being installed by defensive coordinator Coach Mark Ware, who is back in the green and gold after coaching at West Monroe the past few seasons.
By the second day, the defense had taken center stage.
“Defensively, we were real crisp,” Angevine said. “We were on the money with our calls. The communication was great.”
The offense, however, took a slight step backward as younger players filled in for teammates who were absent.
“There were some guys we were shuffling around because we have some guys out right now,” Angevine said. “We have some younger guys trying to step up and learn the plays, making that switch from junior high to high school.”
Even with those growing pains, Angevine left the second practice impressed by the progress of his defense.
“Defensively, man, I would send our defense out after yesterday against anybody,” he said.
With nearly three weeks remaining before the season opener, Angevine said the Cougars’ focus is not on an opponent but on mastering their own system.
“We’re not playing anybody for the next two to three weeks, so it’s just getting good at what we do,” Angevine said. “Making sure offensively we’re really crisp with our rules and techniques, and defensively really nailing down the things we talked about in the spring. It’s mainly just getting really good at what we do best, getting the terminology right and making sure everybody’s on the same page.”
That confidence is fueled by an experienced core.
The Cougars return six seniors — Brett Bell, Hayden Durrett, Trigger Woodard, Gunner Fonteneau, Caden Williams and Dylan Drake — who have all seen significant varsity playing time. Cedar Creek also returns nine juniors, giving the program 15 upperclassmen among its 46-player roster.
Those veterans have experienced both ends of the spectrum. As freshmen, many were forced into major roles during the Cougars’ 1-9 season. Last year, they helped engineer a five-win improvement and a return to the playoffs.
Now, Angevine wants them to raise the bar even higher.
“Those guys have played a lot of football over the last couple years and have been in some really big moments,” Angevine said. “Now they’re seniors and they’re the leaders on the team.”
For Angevine, though, the biggest difference between this August and last August isn’t the practice schedule or even the increased roster numbers.
It’s the expectations.
“We did make the playoffs last year, which is all fine and great, but we don’t want that to be the identity of our football team,” Angevine said. “We don’t want to just be a, ‘Hey, we made it to the playoffs,’ team. We want to be a team that can make a run in the playoffs, maybe compete for a district championship, whatever it may be. Just being able to take that next step.”
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