Improved point differential leads DHS to playoffs

Published 7:30 am Friday, November 27, 2020

DELCAMBRE — Prior to the state of the season, Artie Liuzza felt confident about his team’s chances to make the playoffs.

The second-year Delcambre football coach knew that the Panthers’ schedule had winnable games on the front and back end. The middle portion, meanwhile, featured a slew of tough District 7-2A opponents such as Ascension Episcopal, Loreauville and Catholic High. With eight seniors, Liuzza thought his Panthers could weather the difficult meat of the schedule to earn a playoff berth.

Then COVID-19 reshuffled the schedule and all of the sudden those “winnable” games disappeared and the schedule became a little more daunting. The Panthers, though, still managed to earn their first playoff berth since 2016.

“Those four in the middle were going to be tough for us,” Liuzza said. “We thought we could win the first three games and then we lost two of those games. Then we lost one of the last three that was canceled due to COVID. I am really proud of those guys because they continued to play hard and compete all season long.”

No. 27 Delcambre (2-5) plays at No. 6 Kinder (5-2) today in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs.

“It feels good,” Liuzza said. “One of the things that we talk to our kids about is that the last time we made the playoffs there were only 36 teams in Class 2A. This year there were 46 non-select schools in Class 2A. It was a strange year because of COVID but these kids really did earn that spot. None of the kids on this roster have made the playoffs before. This is a new experience.”

Delcambre is back in the postseason due to drastically reducing its point differential from 14 points in 2019 to only 9 points this season. The defense, led by senior defensive linemen Hayden Frederick and Cameron Broussard and a sophomore-heavy secondary, is giving up more than a touchdown less per game than last season.

“That is a major step in the right direction for our program,” said Liuzza, who was the Panthers’ offensive coordinator the last time they made the playoffs. “We have been very competitive on the defensive side of the ball. We were able to get the kids to know a few rules and let them play fast. This season when we faced teams that were physically superior to us, they really rallied to the ball.”

Delcambre’s offense, led by Kaleb Moneaux and running backs Noah Broussard and Jamian Guy, has had its growing pains, but Liuzza feels the switch to running the Wing-T out of the shotgun has allowed the Panthers to execute more efficiently.

The playoff-berth drought has ended but the much-longer playoff win drought remains. The Panthers have lost six consecutive first-round playoff games, including losing to the eventual state runner-up three times. The last time Delcambre won a first-round playoff game was back in 2008 when the team defeated LaSalle 35-22 in the Class A playoffs.

So, what has Liuzza’s message been to his inexperienced playoff team?

“The scoreboard takes care of itself,” Liuzza said. “We just have to play our best football. That’s our focus. If that leads to us our first playoff win this week then that’s great. If it doesn’t then we know eventually that it will lead us to our first playoff win. Hopefully that is this year.”