Catholic High’s football team said goodbye to legendary head coach Brent Indest and two of its all-time great players in Trey Amos and Tray Henry after last season’s trip to the state semifinals.

However, new coach Scott Wattigny doesn’t expect a letdown from CHS’s standard of gridiron success.

“I think we have a great senior class,” Wattigny said. “We have 18 kids who have really bought in and understand how to win.

“It’s a culture that’s already ingrained around here. I think they’re going to compete and go out and fight. That’s what you want. You want guys that will be able to fight and give yourself a chance to win a game that most people don’t think you would be able to win.”

The top prospect on the CHS roster is junior KK Reno, who will take over for Amos at quarterback.

“KK has been great,” Wattigny said. “One thing that I feel that KK has is this innate quality of always being in control. He doesn’t really ride the wave of emotions. He’s not an up-and-down type person.

“He’s never too high. He’s never too low. I don’t want to say he’s ‘even keel,’ because it’s a little bit more than even keel. He’s always ready to go and knows what his expectations are from himself, his coaches and his teammates.”

Wattigny had plenty of positive things to say about the 6-foot, 195-pounder.

“I think when people look into his eyes, they see confidence,” Wattigny said. “They don’t see arrogance. They see a humble, confident kid who is hungry and wants to be really successful.

“And he’s super-infectious in a positive way. He’s very charismatic. It’s a natural charisma. He doesn’t have to try to be that way. It’s just who he is. And I think when you’re playing the quarterback position, that’s a very important quality.”

Reno has all the qualities that a coach looks for in a team leader.

“You can be very talented and very athletic,” Wattigny said. “You can be a lot of things, but when people look into your eyes, they need to see that you can win.

“He brings back a ton of experience, not necessarily at the quarterback position, but he brings a ton of experience from playing in high profile games.”

Reno, who played wingback and defensive back last year, will play behind a powerful offensive line.

“We have a huge prospect who can play D-I football in junior Russell Lewis,” Wattigny said. “He’s every bit of 6-foot-3, 290 pounds, and he moves extremely well. He played at tight end a lot last year. He’s now our right offensive tackle.

“We have center Marcus Jacob, who is 5-8, 200 lbs, and he is as powerful as you can possibly imagine. He is an animal who works his tail off. Then you have left guard Eian Nathan (6-0, 260, Jr), and he is huge.”

The remainder of the line, which includes tight end Stan Allen (5-9, 195, Sr.), is equally impressive.

“Stan moved from guard to tight end,” Wattigny said. “He runs well enough to where he’ll be a threat for us in the passing game.

“Jaden Nicholas (6-0, 235, Jr.) is our left tackle. He’s another big-bodied kid who is working hard in the weight room. We also have right guard Nick Aguillard (5-10, 210, Sr.) a big, physical kid who just does everything right. This group works really well together. We are not small on the front. These guys are large.”

Behind Reno, the Panthers will rotate eight skill players at fullback, wingback and receiver.

“We have some guys who can really play at the skill positions,” Wattigny said. “Nick Boutte is going to have a larger role as a receiver. Willie Regard is the jack of all trades on our offense. He’s the next-best athlete on our team after KK.

“Layne Lipari is moving to the inside receiver position. He can run the football a little bit more than Nick, who is primarily an outside/split end receiver. Then you have Marco Austin, a big solid fullback back there. We added Trace Williams from the basketball team, and we added Rayshaun Segura, who is back for his senior year after living in Texas.”

The defense has a new face that should make an immediate impact in Rob Minvielle.

“We acquired Rob, a baseball player who is a big, thick kid,” Wattigny said. “I’m so glad he decided to play because he makes our defensive line tremendously better.

“He’s a 6-1, 225-pound kid that plays defensive end.”

Ross Molbert (5-9, 220, Sr.), Mason Boutte (5-9, 195, Sr.) and Russell Davis (6-3, 205, Jr.) are returning starters on the defensive front.

“I think Molbert could honestly have an all-state season,” Wattigny said. “Boutte is a state champion powerlifter who will play end and transition into the linebacker position when we go into a 3-3 stack.

“Russell Davis is another big-time prospect.”

The linebacking corps is led by senior Carson Stiles.

“Carson Stiles is a returning starter who is a playmaker,” Wattigny said. “He is a sneaky athlete who finds a way to be around the football. He’s mean and tough.”

The CHS coach also feels good about junior linebackers Ryan Faucheaux (5-11, 175) and Ridge Bayard (6-0, 165).

The secondary, which includes Cambridge Hall, Josh Cooper and Joe Martin, has a special player in junior free safety Shea Lee (6-1, 180).

“Shea is super-gifted with plenty of talent,” Wattigny said. “As far as genetics, he can flat-out go. He has a 10-7 broad jump without even trying. That’s pretty impressive. He can cover as much ground as he wants and run as fast as he wants.

“He’s super intelligent. His English teacher gave him a beautiful review on two essays. All the potential is there for him. Now, it’s honing in on the fine details of becoming excellent at every aspect of his craft.”

Wattigny expects college recruiters to flock to the campus to see Reno. After that, they’ll stick around to evaluate the rest of his bumper crop of prospects.

“We have six or seven juniors who can play D-1,” the CHS coach said. “Marco Austin is going to have a lights out year at fullback. He’s going to be the real deal for us.

“And Russell Lewis will play offensive tackle and defensive tackle. If he puts his hands on you, you know it. He’s super strong. We’re going to have a lot of colleges coming around to check out these kids. I’m really excited for them.”