Zenon seeks perfection for St. Martinville

Published 2:00 pm Saturday, November 12, 2022

ST. MARTINVILLE – St. Martinville Senior High quarterback Kaden Zenon is a harsh critic when it comes to evaluating himself.

Although he completed 7 of 11 passes for 236 yards and two TDs in his team’s 28-7 Division II non-select playoff win over DeRidder on Thursday, Zenon was disappointed that he didn’t complete every pass.

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“My footwork was bad,” he said. “I didn’t get my feet set and rushed some overthrown passes. I need to work on some stuff, and I’ll be good.”

On SMSH’s second play from scrimmage, Zenon hooked up with Karon Jeanlouis for a 72-yard touchdown. On the Tigers’ next possession, he found Cullen Charles over the middle for a 53-yard score.

The big pass plays didn’t end there, either. Harvey Broussard hauled in a 55-yard catch, and Charles tacked on a 26-yarder.

The No. 11 Tigers unveiled a new wrinkle, as well, with Charles taking the direct snap out of the shotgun formation.

Steven Blanco rushed for 126 yards on 12 carries with two scores to bring his season total to 1,998 yards and 28 TDs.

Zenon, who admits that he takes every miscue to heart, received a morale boost from Broussard, Charles and Blanco.

“Harvey, Cullen and Steven help me out when I’m down,” he said. “If I have my head down on the sidelines, they’ll come and pick me up. They boost me. That’s what I like about my brothers.”

SMSH coach Vincent DeRouen was more than satisfied with his quarterback’s outing.

“He goes a good job with the football, DeRouen said. “A few times, we were in the wrong set. He has to correct that, but he has real live arm talent. He does everything equally well.”

“A few times, he let some throws sail. We were on him about his technique. I think he relies on his arm strength so much that he lets his technique slide at times.”

After jumping out to a 21-0 lead at the half, the SMSH offense punted on the first possession of the third quarter. No. 22 DeRidder (6-5) then drove for its only touchdown with fullback Ronnie Crosby scoring on a five-yard dive.

“The first half, we played well and did some stuff we wanted to do,” DeRouen said. “I think we started feeling ourselves a little bit in the second half. We let them get back into it and make a game out of it.”

With Jeanlouis at receiver along with Charles and Broussard, opposing secondaries are spread thin with the linebackers forced to account for Blanco at all times.

“He was a receiver,” DeRouen said of Jeanlouis, who also broke up a pass on defense. “We moved him to defensive back, but he can still do a good job receiver-wise. When you have all those guys, it’s hard to cover everybody.”

Charles had the play of the game on his touchdown catch. Zenon threw the football to the junior 15-yards downfield, and Charles did the rest, stiff-arming and high-stepping his way to the end zone.

“He has it in him,” DeRouen said of Charles.

The Tigers will face No. 6 Lutcher in the next round. Last year, the Tigers downed Lutcher in the Class 3A quarterfinals.

“I’m excited about moving on, but I’m not excited about playing Lutcher,” DeRouen said. “They’re a great team. Their quarterback is a great player. We’ve been seeing him for a couple of years.”