LA Tech holds first football practice after Hurricane Laura

RUSTON – Louisiana Tech football held its first practice since Hurricane Laura hit and significantly impacted most of the state, including Ruston.

“You have to hit the curve ball if you want to be successful, and that’s what these guys have done,” head coach Skip Holtz said. “They’ve dug their feet in and said, ‘We want to play. We want to compete. We want to get better.’ They roll their sleeves up and they compete.”

Saturday’s practice consisted of live play that allowed the Bulldogs to get in some team reps.

“It is giving us an opportunity to create a lot of depth,” Holtz said. “Maybe some guys that are threes are rolling with twos and guys that are twos are stepping up and playing with the ones. We’re getting some great pictures of what this is going to look like.”

Many Ruston residents lost power due to the hurricane, including members of the LA Tech football team.

“We’ve got many players that still don’t have power, so when they leave here, they’re going home to a hot house with no lights,” Holtz said. “The curve balls have been incredible, but yet they show up here at 7:30 in the morning and they go out there and they work.”

Two such players who are currently without power are redshirt senior wide receiver Cee Jay Powell and redshirt senior linebacker Trey Baldwin. Baldwin had been significantly impacted by the April 2019 tornado when three trees landed on his house. Baldwin said he lost everything then and had to start over when it came to furniture, clothes, shoes, etc.

“Growing up, you go through things like this and some unfortunate situations, but it molds you and helps you,” Baldwin said. “You learn to appreciate things because some people don’t have a home. It can be storming outside and you have no place to sleep.”

Holtz said the team has always talked about leaving their troubles at the gate.

“When you walk into the gate, this is about ball for two hours. When we leave here, we’ll address some of the issues,” Holtz said. “But, their attitude has been outstanding for everything that we’ve been going through right now and for everything that they’ve had to deal with.”

Powell said he has always left things at the gate.

“Every time I walk onto the field, everything is gone. The only thing that matters is between the lines, what I have going on with my teammates, how my teammates are relying on me and how I’m relying on them,” Powell said. “It’s like at a game, I try not to worry about the outside noise. If you’re worrying about what’s going on on the outside, you’ll never get right on the inside.”

Baldwin said football is a way to escape everyday problems while also being able to express it on the field.

“I’m a defensive player, so I’m trying to get to the ball. In all reality, you can’t just run straight to the ball and make a play. You’re going to have blockers in your way,” Baldwin said. “There’s obstacles in every path in life, so you have to move and get through every phase just one day at a time and one step at a time. You just play it one by one and appreciate what you have and what you can do.”

Powell said he feels safe when he is out on the field.

“It’s just always been like my sanctuary,” Powell said. “It’s always been a place I go and nothing else matters but the game.”

Holtz said he considers the two hours of practice to be the best two hours of the day and the challenges are helping to make the team better.

“Players have an expression: We just have to get one percent better every day. If we do that, we’re moving in the right direction,” Holtz said. “When this camp’s over, we’re going to look back and go, ‘You know what? There were a lot of hurdles in the way and the path was not exactly paved and clear for us. It was rocky. It was a challenge. We had to adjust quite a bit and make a lot of things work, but we got through this thing together and we’re going to be better football team because of it.”

Season tickets are on sale through the Tech Ticket Office by calling (318) 257-3631. The University has announced a ticket assurance plan for football season ticket holders in preparation for the 2020 season at Joe Aillet Stadium.

In the event that any of the home football games are canceled as a result of the public health threat of COVID-19, season ticket holders will have the following options:
• Credit toward the 2021 home season (features six games, including a non-conference contest against SMU)
• Apply season ticket purchase to the Louisiana Tech Athletic Club (LTAC) as a donation for this year (100 percent tax deduction)
• Full refund on games that are impacted

At this time, LA Tech officials have not made a decision on any limited seating (i.e 50% capacity in Joe Aillet Stadium) but will look to make those determinations in the coming weeks as more information becomes available.

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