Catholic High senior Tyler “T.O.” Olivier may not look like the prototypical shutdown cornerback, but he does more than enough at the position to free up more players for the Panthers defense.

Olivier, who had six tackles and two interceptions last week in Catholic High’s 42-0 first round playoff win over Sterlington, is often given the responsibility to cover the opposing teams best receiver in a one-on-one situation for the majority of the game.

The ability to do this is what really helps CHS defensive coordinator John Louviere in planning for the week’s game.

“T.O.’s done a great job,” said Louviere. “Obviously he’s our best cover guy and we use him in that role every week, either on the best receiver side or sometimes locked on the best receiver of every team we’ve faced. 

“He’s shut down some of the best receivers in the state.”

A perfect example of that was the District 6-2A game against West St. Mary.

With the district championship on the line, Olivier locked down WSM’s Dai Juan Stewart, who finished the regular season as the leading receiver in the state and who’s committed to SMU, and held him to only one catch for 13 yards and pretty much made him a non-factor in the game.

Louviere said that Olivier became a defensive secondary player not only because he’s fast — he runs a 4.6 second 40 yard dash — but also this year he added some bulk to go with that speed, which makes him especially dangerous.

“He put on about 15 pounds over the summer,” said Louviere. “He really got to that next level. We even thought about moving him to safety but he was so valuable as a cover guy that we decided to leave him at cornerback.”

Maybe the best testament to what Olivier can do on defense is his lack of tackles and interceptions. That’s because most teams don’t try to throw in his direction.

“He doesn’t get the numbers because we lock him on one guy so many times,” said Louviere. “We isolate him  and tell him your job is to cover that guy and not let him beat us.

“So he won’t have the tackles but in terms of importance to the team, he’s right up there with the rest of the guys on defense for sure.”

As for Olivier, it doesn’t matter where he plays, just as long as he’s on the field and is contributing to the Panthers’ success.

But his current level of success this year hasn’t been without a great deal of hard work.

“It’s been a good year for us,” said the CHS senior. “The coaches have put me in a position to make plays. With all the hard work that we’ve put in this year, and all the focus that I’ve given to this position, it’s helped me in the ability to make plays.”

One thing Olivier has, as does the rest of the CHS defense, is an attitude to play hard and earn their keep.

“We have a chip on our shoulder, especially the defensive backs and linebackers,” said Olivier, who readily accepted the role that Louviere wanted him to play this year. “We know that teams don’t respect us and that gives us extra motivation to play our best each week.”

Friday night, when the Panthers play host to Welsh in the second round of the playoffs, Olivier will be in the defensive backfield even though his role might be a little different this week.

“They are primarily a running team,” said Olivier. “So the plan is the shut down the run. Make them  do something they don’t want to do. Then we can make plays on the ball.”