Reigning champion University High strong once again

There is no sure thing in life, other than that it will end, at some point.

If you are looking for the closest thing to a sure thing in Louisiana prep football in 2018, you might want to bank on University High repeating as Division II state champion.

The Cubs were fabulous in 2017, romping through a tough schedule 13-0 and winning the state championship game 45-19 over top-seed and fellow unbeaten De La Salle. Chad Mahaffey’s Cubs were the best team that I saw in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome last December.

“It was really an outstanding season, particularly with the difficulty of the schedule,” Mahaffey said. “Many teams on our schedule had great success and won titles. We performed consistently well throughout the season. We will certainly be a target for opponents this year.”

That was bad enough news for opponents. The worse news is that Chad Mahaffey’s Cubs return 19 of 22 starters in 2018.

While Mike Martin, Jack Hamilton, Zach Gremillion and Grant Bonnette graduated, virtually everyone else is back and even better.

There are 10 of 11 starters back on offense.

Offensively, senior quarterback John Gordon McKernan (6-2, 190) returns after a junior season in which he passed for 2,006 yards and 20 touchdowns. He has a host of superb wide receivers back, including seniors Christian Harris (6-1, 230), Doryan Harris (5-8, 165) and Makiya Tongue (6-1, 210). Christian Harris had 661 yards receiving with seven touchdowns a year ago. Senior Thomas Teepel (5-10, 165) is the other starter on the outside.

“I want to say this will be my ninth year and maybe only twice have we had the luxury of a returning starting quarterback,” Mahaffey said. “We’ve had years of having other skill guys back but this year, we have virtually all of those positions back and that starts with our quarterback. John Gordon got hurt early in the year as a sophomore and was set back. Last year was the first chance he went start to finish and the experience helped him grow.”

Senior Mike Hollins (5-10, 205) is back to anchor the running game. Hollins had a huge season in 2017, rushing for 1,571 yards and 34 touchdowns. Senior Alex Popov (6-2, 1995), who has played quarterback previously, is a good athlete who will contribute in many ways.

“Mike has started since his freshman season,” Mahaffey said. “He was healthy from start to finish last year and was outstanding. He is super dependable. He takes a lot of pressure off of me calling plays. You can hand it off to him and you know he will have positive plays. Alex got thrown in when John Gordon was hurt and he really played well as a sophomore. He dealt with a finger issue last year. He has played tight end and slot receiver and can play quarterback for us as well.”

The offensive line returns intact and will be a real force.

That includes senior center Paul Phillips (6-2, 280), senior tackles Dylan Rathcke (6-5, 285) and Mark Coppola (6-1, 230) and junior guards Rashad Green (6-2, 280) and Solomon Miles (6-1, 285).

“We played six guys up front last year and had a few little injuries,” Mahaffey said. “We lost a senior in the fall last year, our anchor, and missed him the entire season. The positive that came out of that is that it forced others in early and they worked through injuries and improved. This is an experienced group that we expect to be better. We simply need to develop depth behind our starting five.”

The defense returns nine starters.

Up front, senior Leland Jones (5-11, 205) is quick at one end spot while junior Jaquelin Roy (6-3, 315) is mammoth on the other side. Senior Donald Berniard (5-11, 280) is a force on the inside.

Both linebackers return, including Clemson commit Bryton Constantin (6-2, 220 Sr.) and senior Jacob Burke (6-1, 195). Burke led the team with 108 tackles a year ago.

“It’s more experience than we’ve ever had coming back on the defensive front,” Mahaffey said. “Roy and Berniard are the best pair of tackles we’ve ever had. Both linebackers are three-year starters and are really good football players.”

The secondary is very impressive as well with senior corners Jordan Clark (5-10, 170) and Christian Harris returning with Harris the only two-way performer. Junior free safety Will Safford (5-9, 160) is back as well and he will be joined by sophomore Jardin Gilbert (6-1, 170) at that spot. At strong safety, senior Gideon Cuellar (6-0, 210 ) returns and he is joined by junior Josh Slaughter (5-9, 165). Clark, Harris and Safford will be third-year starters for the Cubs.

“Our corners have great experience and we are very good at free safety,” Mahaffey said. “We will miss Jack Hamilton and Mike Martin, who were leaders for us. Guys are going to have to take care of those responsibilities.

The kicking game must be addressed as the Cubs graduated kicker Aidan Gale, who was a four-year starter, and punter Grant Bonnette, who was a three-year starter. Mike Martin was a skilled return man as well, returning three punts for scores, including one in the state championship game and he must also be replaced.

“Our kicking game is our biggest concern, having graduated our kicker and punter,” Mahaffey said. “Both were good and multi-year starters.”

The Cubs will again take on a tough pre-district schedule, opening with 5A Mandeville and always talented Southern Lab at home before heading to Olympia Stadium to battle defending Division I state champion Catholic High of Baton Rouge.

“I appreciate the competition we have in pre-district play,” Mahaffey said. “Two of those teams were recent state champions. They, we play Zachary as well and they are a defending state champion as well. It is very challenging.”

District 6-3A play opens at West Feliciana in week before a huge showdown at defending 5A state champion Zachary in week five in a non-district contest.

District play resumes in week six at home against Brusly before a road game at Glen Oaks. After hosting Mentorship Academy in week eight, the Cubs play at Madison Prep and close the regular season at home against Baker.

“West Feliciana is super consistent, a good program,” Mahaffey said. “They lost playmakers but they will have speed. Madison Prep always has a lot of good players. They had a little turmoil with their coach being ill last year but they will be more squared away this year, improved. Brusly will be better as well.”

The Cubs have won state titles in two of the last four seasons. They were the best team in the state in any class last season. There is every reason to believe that with an excellent coaching staff and superb, proven players that they will make it three of five years and two in a row in 2018.

“You worry about complacency,” Mahaffey said. “We have high expectations for ourselves. Repeating doesn’t happen often. You have to be fortunate enough to have a good enough team to do it and you have to fight that human nature of listening to the noise of people saying that you will do it again. I think they have the right mindset of getting back to square one and doing the things that made them successful in the past.”

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