The New Iberia Senior High School football team will be looking to continue to build upon the foundations first laid by head coach Josh Lierman in late 2021.

Since then, the Yellow Jackets have struggled to find consistent success, going 3-7 in 2022 with wins against Sam Houston (35-14), Comeaux (48-12) and Lafayette (35-31) – plus a close loss to Sulphur (17-14) – and 2-8 in 2023 with wins against Comeaux (28-21) and Lafayette (33-22).

This season, Lierman will hope to continue the growth that his players have exhibited both on and off the field by getting the season off to a good start in three consecutive non-district games.

“I think the goal (this season) is just to compete the best that we can,” Lierman said. “Our first three games are against teams that are where we are at. They’re trying to build something also, so it should be three very competitive games.”

The season begins on Thursday, Aug. 29 with a three-game series against Westgate in the Iberia Parish Jamboree before starting the regular season on a road against Pineville on Sept.6.

For Lierman, moving the annual NISH-Westgate game to the jamboree made sense as it allowed all three games to be played on the same day.

“Coach Antoine and I didn’t want to lose the rivalry and now we get to play all three games in one night, so it will help people in the community see the freshmen, JV and varsity all in one day.”

The Yellow Jackets will host Central Lafourche in the home opener on Sept. 13 before hitting the road again to face off against former District 3-5A rival Comeaux on Sept. 20.

For Lierman, carefully scheduling his non-district games is a crucial part in setting the team up for on-field success given the amount of district opponents they face each year.

“From when I first got here I’ve been saying that we’re headed in the right direction. We can’t control a lot of our schedule, there’s nothing that we can do about it, so we just want to compete the best we can and give ourselves chances to be successful,” he explained. “They’ve done that all summer. We’ve got great kids who have done a great job all summer and they’re going to continue doing a great job. I’m proud of them.”

Leading the team on the sidelines this season will be three new coaches. Dwight Fage, a NISH alumnus and former head football coach at West St. Mary, is joining the team alongside Chris Landry and Greg Green. On the field, the team leadership will be mostly the same from last season.

“We still have Shanga Charles who is a two-time All-District running back, so he’s a good leader for us,” Lierman said. “Our entire offensive line is back, and it’s not often that you get an entire group coming back, so they’re going to do a good job for us too. We have a lot of guys who have some excellent leadership qualities that are going to do great for us like Dakota Alexander and Dameon Polite. We have good kids and they’re doing the best they can and that’s all we can ask for.”

Charles, one of the top running backs in the state, racked up an impressive 1,000+ yards and 8 touchdowns from 120 carries last season. Lierman said that Charles will be a crucial part of the NISH offense next season and will provide the underclassmen with a fantastic teacher.

“Shanga is not a real vocal person, but nobody works harder than him,” Lierman said. “Sometimes just watching somebody in front of you is better than them speaking with you, and those other running backs are all watching him and they follow along with what he does. He’s a great role model for those kids.”

Another on-field leader for the Yellow Jackets is senior Dameon Polite, who will be joined on both sides of the ball by junior Synjaya Hamilton, who also had a standout season in 2023.

“Damien Polite and Synjaya Hamilton will probably play both ways for us this year, playing both receiver and in the secondary,” Lierman said of the duo. “They both had a great year last season, so those two guys are going to be pivotal for our season because they’re going to give us something on both sides of the ball.”

One question still left unanswered for the Yellow Jackets is who will be lining up under center when the season begins. Following the departure of QB Allen Hamilton, NISH will have several options to lead the offense.

Senior Kaiden Mcglasson, who played alongside Hamilton last season, will be one of the players competing for the starting job. Westgate transfer Peyton Landry will also be vying for a spot on the field, as will several underclassmen. According to Lierman, the decision will be made later based on who offers the most to the team.

“We’re going to have some competition there, and that’s a good thing. You always want to have somebody pushing you to be as good as you can possibly be,” he said. “We don’t know yet what is going to happen there. Coach Chad (Pourciau, offensive coordinator) will figure that out. The guy that we think is going to give us the best chance to compete is going to be that guy.”

In addition to several key starters returning to the team this season, NISH also boasts a large number of underclassmen, especially freshmen, who have already gotten the season underway with summer workouts.

“When middle school kids come out there freshman year, they jump right in with us on the field and in the weight room, so they’re learning how we do things and doing a good job at it,” said Lierman. “We have had a few kids move in, just normal summer stuff that seems to happen every season, whether that be from in-state or out of state.”

The team also got a big win with the return of coach Chad Pourciau. Following his resignation from the position of head basketball coach at NISH, rumors swirled that he would be moving on to another head football coaching position instead of remaining with the Yellow Jackets. To everyone’s delight, the rumors proved to be false, and Pourciau will once again be roaming the sidelines at NISH in 2024.

“Chad is a really good coach, you know,” Lierman said. “Chad and I have been coaching together for a really long time, so people probably associate us with each other. He has head coaching experience, so it allows me to delegate between the offense and the defense. I don’t micromanage my coaches, if they feel that it’s right then I trust them. Chad staying helped a lot to have somebody call the offense and also provides somebody for the younger coaches to look at and learn from.”

As for how the team feels about the upcoming season, Lierman summed it up in one word.

“I think they’re confident,” he said. “They’ve gone through a good summer program, they believe in us and we believe in them. I tell them all the time that we can only control what we can control, so I think they’re ready to go out and compete and have fun doing it.”

Yellow Jackets Football 2024 Schedule

Jamboree – Westgate (Varsity, JV, Freshmen), 8/29/24

Week 1 – Pineville 9/6/24

Week 2 – Central Lafourche, 9/13/24

Week 3 – Comeaux, 9/20/24

Week 4 – Acadiana*, 9/26/24

Week 5 – Carencro*, 10/4/24

Week 6 – Sulphur*, 10/11/24

Week 7 – Barbe*, 10/18/24

Week 8 – Sam Houston*, 10/25/24

Week 9 – Lafayette*, 10/31/24

Week 10 – Southside*, 11/8/24

*- District 3-5A Opponent

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