Lakeshore, Indest ready to build on solid season

It came as no surprise.

First, Lakeshore has been a solid program, thanks to the work of Craig Jones, now at Mandeville. Second, Brent Indest is a superb coach with a state championship in his resume.

Jones led the Titans to a state championship game appearance in 2017. That same season, Indest won a state championship at Catholic of New Iberia. Indest previously took Carencro to a state championship game and guided Abbeville to a state semifinal appearance. He is a three-time Louisiana Sportswriters Association Coach of the Year, including while at Crowley, Kaplan and Catholic.

Now, Indest has already established himself with the Titans.

In his first season, Indest guided Lakeshore to a district championship and a pair of playoff wins on the way to the Non-Select Divisoin II quarterfinals, falling to eventual state champion Lutcher.

Now firmly established in the job, Indest is ready to continue that success with an experienced squad in 2023.

“We struggled at the beginning but it was a testament to the seniors learning a new system on both sides of the ball,” Indest said. “ We kept sawing wood and beat an Opelousas team we had no business beating. We finished well and feel good about where we are.”

The Titans return 14 starters, including eight on offense.

While there are a host of starters back, the entire backfield is new.

The new quarterback of the Wing-T offense is junior Beau Bernard (5-9, 165).

The new starters at running back are sophomore tailback Dylan Cusachs (5-8, 155) and sophomore fullback Oudry Gros (5-9 170).

“We return a good bit of starters, especially on offense, but when you put the yardage together of Sam Willie and Colby Ziegler, that was probably three-quarters of our offensive production gone. The new guys are young. Bernard is learning. Gros and Cusachs saw quality time last year. We’re expecting them to step up and mature quickly.”

The new starter at tight end is junior Spencer Rogers (6-0, 265), giving the Titans more size and power in the run game.

All others are returning starters.

They include junior wing back Tyson Wall (6-1, 200) and senior split end Jaden Wells (6-1 185).

“Wall is more of a tight end and we are more of a two-tight end style offense,” Indest said. “Wells is a special guy. We have to become inventive in ways to get him the ball and move him around, not allowing defenses to figure out where he is and what he will do.”

The strength is clearly up front, where all five starters return with size and strength.

The center is senior Austin Roberts (6-3, 275), the guards are senior Landen Bertucci (6-2, 225) and Reece Jones (6-2, 220) and the tackles are junior Beayxdy Willie (6-0, 305) and junior Michael Papis (6-0, 250).

“A lot of the experience up front comes from necessity because we had a ton of injuries last year,” Indest said. “We feel good about those five and we have some backups who can play as well. We have depth We have guys fighting for spots and that is a good thing.”

Defensively, there are six starters back.

Up front, senior Kaiden Broussard (6-3, 240) is the anchor while the new starters are junior end Brodie Welsh (5-10, 185) and senior nose guard Bryce Lajaunie (5-9, 175).

“We’re pretty deep up front so we hope to give some guys a rest and have a healthy rotation,” Indest said.

Senior Jared Roberson (5-9 175) is the lone returning starter linebacker on the weak side and he is joined by strong side linebacker Micah Nebeker (5-10 180 Jr.) and senior Logan Kempff (5-9 180) in the middle.

“We have two outstanding linebackers to replace from last year,” Indest said. “We have a few quality candidates who can step up. Roberson is a really good player. He’s the catalyst of our defense.”

The strength of the defensive unit is the secondary, where four starters return.

That includes senior safeties Gavin Stein (5-9, 175), Nathan Miller (5-9, 175) and Landen Schlink (6-0 180). Senior Andre Ridgley (5-10, 180) is back on one corner while the other corner is junior Royce Ziegler (6-1, 170).

“We have a lot of mature guys in the secondary who played a lot last year,” Indest said. “Schlink was All-District last year. Ridgley was hurt a lot last year. We’re moving Stein to free safety. He’s a former linebacker and he is physical. Miller is experienced.”

Junior Aiden Sheldon (5-10, 165) returns to handle kicking duties.

“Sheldon had a solid year last year,” Indest said. “He’s also working on his punting skills as well.

The schedule opens at home against Mandeville rival Fontainebleau on Sept. 1. The Titans then hit the road to Chalmette and Terrebonne before hosting Washington-Marion.

The District 8-4A opener is at Salmen Oct. 6. Home dates with Loranger and Pearl River follow before a road trip to Archbishop Hannan. The regular season closes at home against Franklinton.

“We’re not at a point to take anyone for granted,” Indest said. “We will face a terrific defense in Slidell in jamboree action. We’re hoping to right the ship against Fontainebleau. Terrebonne may be a breakout team. They are huge and skilled. The coaching in the district has gotten so much better and the league has talent across the board.”

With 10 senior starters back from a 10-win team, another 10-win season could be in the cards for the Titans with a chance to make as deep, if not a deeper run in the playoffs.

“I see our district being better,” Indest said. “The goal is to always win the next one. I feel like every game we play is a game we have an opportunity to win. We lack team speed so we are likely going to be in close games. We live and die by avoiding turnovers and penalties.”

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