Lan Viltz

JEANERETTE — Asked if he prefers playing offense or defense, Jeanerette senior Lan Viltz is quick to set the record straight about his preference.

“When you sack the quarterback or get a tackle for loss, it hypes up the crowd and the other players on the team,” he said. “I love playing defense.”

The key to his size and weight, he said, was staying in the weight room and working out.

“It keep my body trim and I rely of speed and strength when I’m playing,” he said. “I put on 30 pounds of muscle. That’s how we work hard and get ready for the season here at Jeanerette.”

There are only two things that Viltz is looking forward to this coming football season.

“I want to whip butt and win games,” he said.

As for personal goals for the 2021 campaign, Viltz added that he doesn’t have any, it’s all about the team.

“I don’t like personal goals,” he said. “To me it takes away from the team. When the team wins, we all win. It’s not about how one person does or doesn’t do in a game.

“I’m a team person, I don’t like individual goals.”

To that end, Viltz said that the spring and summer workouts have all been about getting bigger, faster and stronger.

“People have been working out, getting faster, getting in shape for the season,” he said. “We’ve all been putting in extra work so we can be ready to come out and win from the start.”

Viltz said that football is his sport. He loves it, lives it, breathes it.

That passion showed when he was describing his favorite play from past year.

“It was the first game of the season (against Gueydan),” he said. “I bulldozed the guard for Gueydan, picked up the running back and slammed him into the ground.”

Spoken like a true football player.

School: Jeanerette High School

Position: Defensive End/Offensive Tackle

Height: 6 feet, 4 inches

Weight: 261 pounds

40-yard dash: 5.0 seconds