Live Oak High Football

Although Live Oak may have come up with nothing on the scoreboard, the Eagles did take plenty away from their 24-0 loss to St. Amant. "We skipped and sputtered on offense and shot ourselves in the foot at times," said LOHS first-year head coach David Dykes. "Defensively, we fell down on some assignments, but everything we did tonight is correctable." After sputtering on its first three offensive possessions with a combined 19 yards and one blocked punt, Live Oak found a groove with just under four minutes to play in the first half, as the Eagles drove from their own 16 down to the St. Amant 9. The 16-play, 75-yard drive came to an end when a 9-yard pass attempt from quarterback Tyler McGrew to Ryan Wood was dropped at the goal line at the horn to end the first 15-minute half. St. Amant scored on its first possession of the game following a 12-yard punt by the Eagles' Mickey Lott. The Gators needed just one play to travel the 34 yards, as St. Amant running back Daniel St. Pierre raced around the right side for the touchdown. Justin Manto's point after kick made it 7-0 with 12:35 to play in the first half.

After Live Oak's second possession last just more plays more than their first three-and-out, Eagle punter Mikey Lott had his punt blocked, with Gator Taylor Cannon picking it up and carrying it down to the Live Oak 14. After an two-yard loss on first down, quarterback Jaylin Leblanc turned a keeper into a 10-yard run to the 6. Live Oak's Austin Bilsiki then dropped Leblanc for a 4-yard loss back to the 10 on third, which left St. Amant settling for a 27-yard field goal from Manto to widen the Gators' lead to 10-0 with 7:52 to play in the first half. Both teams traded a short-lived possession, with St. Amant's ending on a fumble deep in Eagles' territory recovered by Live Oak's Jeff Fabre at the 16. Live Oak's near full-length of the field drive was highlighted by a 12-yard completion from Tyler McGrew to Ryan Wood, four carries for 25 yards from running back Dean Higginbotham and quarterback keepers by McGrew for 30 yards. After back-to-back runs of 6 and 8 yards by Higginbotham down to the St. Amant 9 yard line, McGrew's first-down pass with just three seconds remaining was dropped by Wood just inside the goal line.

St. Amant took the second-half kickoff and drove 78 yards in just eight plays, ignited early by pair of big-yardage (29 & 17 yards) quarterback keepers by Leblanc, followed by an 11-yard pitch-and-run by Britton Day. Three plays later, Leblanc looked up Dalton Alexander for a 25-yard gain to the 6 and then two plays after that, Daniel St. Pierre was back in the end zone on a 5-yard run. Live Oak responded with another lengthy drive, this time 14 plays, but after moving down as close as the St. Amant 24, an Eagle completion down to the Gator 2 was nullified as receiver Stephen Prescott was called for offensive pass interference for pushing off prior to making the catch. St. Amant ended the contest with a 7-play, 61-yard drive, capped off by St. Pierre's third TD of the night on a 1-yard run. The score was set up by a 15-yard pass from Leblanc to Shaft Graves down to the 2. St. Amant amassed 263 yards of total offense, 215 on the ground.

Live Oak rushed for 101 yards, split almost equally by Higginbotham with 14 carries for 52 yards, while McGrew had 14 keepers for 49 yards. McGrew was 6-for-15 passing for 345 yards with no interceptions. Wesley Howard had two catches for 21 yards. "We looked good on the last drive of the first half and our first drive of the second half," said Dykes. "But again, we shot ourselves in the foot. "Defensively at times, we played well, flying to the ball, but at other times, we had some breakdowns," said Dykes. "The good thing is that your record is still zero and zero after this one. The slate is wiped clean going from the jamboree to week one. It's a whole new season."
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WATSON - It wasn't your average opening week of spring football for Live Oak. After all looked well and normal Monday as the Eagles began their 15-day spring camp, head coach Robbie Mahfouz made a surprise decision on Tuesday and resigned due to personal reasons. By Thursday, the Eagles were under new leadership, as former Central assistant coach David Dykes was named the third new Live Oak head coach in three years and the fifth in the past decade.

"I realize they may have heard this before, but Live Oak is not a steppingstone for David Dykes," said the 33-year-old Dykes. "I've been waiting for the right opportunity and this is the right opportunity. "For the Live Oak football program to ever be a factor, it's going to take a guy to put his mark on the program," said Dykes. "And I'm that guy."

A native of Donaldsonville and a resident of Central, Dykes has spent the past six years as the offensive line coach of the Wildcats and had just been named the new offensive coordinator. Former Central head coach Sid Edwards recently resigned to take over the Central School District's Athletic Director's position, while defensive coordinator Doug Dotson was elevated to the Wildcats' new head coach. Dykes had applied once before for the head coaching job at LOHS, which was given to Mike Schmitt in 2006. Schmitt left after two seasons and Paul Beebe took the reins in 2008, with Mahfouz coming over from Walker as an assistant. Beebe stepped down after one season and Mahfouz, who had been a head coach at both Central and Walker, was given the job.

"When I came over (to LOHS), I came over to be an assistant coach and teach special education," said Mahfouz, whose daughter is a special ed student at LOHS. "I just have too much non-football stuff to take care of right now. I decided I just couldn't go the job justice this coming year. "I'm grateful that (LOHS principal) Tracy McCrae had the confidence in me to give me the job last year, when they were in a pinch," said Mahfouz. "I feel I did the best I could." Live Oak finished 4-6 overall last fall and 2-4 in District 5-5A. Ironically however, their season came to an end with a 56-0 loss to Dykes and his Central Wildcats. "This would be the first time since I was eight years old that I haven't been involved in football," said the 50-year-old Mahfouz. "If the situation arises, I may still be interested in being an assistant coach or help out in any way possible." Mahfouz will return to LOHS next school year and teach special education.

Although Dykes may be just 33 years old, he's been around football ever since he's been in diapers. Dykes' father is legendary coach Jimmy Dykes, who coached for more 30 years, including 17 years as head coach at Donaldsonville High School. "David Dykes played football for his father, and back then, Donaldsonville opened every season against archrival Assumption. Ironically, Dykes' first game as head coach will take him and the Eagles to Assumption. After graduating high school in 1994, Dykes went on to Nicholls State University, where he was head equipment manager for all sports. After graduation from Nicholls in 1999, Dykes spent two years at Central Lafourche as offensive line coach and then the next two at Terrebonne High School as O-line coach before heading to Central.

"When I got the call (from LOHS), I jumped on it," said Dykes. "I'm pretty exited." Dykes will officially take to the field on Monday, but isn't concerned that he'll have only 10 days left in spring camp. "I'm glad the rest of the coaching staff took the initiative to get it started, especially for the kids' sake," said Dykes. "With 10 days left, we may be a little behind, but well still have time to get some quality work in. "Spring is all about fundamentals," said Dykes. "Just set the table for the summer. Get some schemes in now and then you can sharpen them in the summer." Although the Eagles' spring game with St. Thomas Aquinas has been canceled, Dykes said they may still put together an intra-squad scrimmage to end spring. He is already looking forward to the summer's ‘7-on-7' pass league. "We're probably not going to change much on defense, but there will be a bit of a change on offense," said Dykes, who would like to see the Eagles throw the football like Central had done in recent years. "We're going to what's simply called "the system.,' said Dykes, referring to former University of Kentucky offensive coordinator Tony Franklin passing system under former head coach Hal Mumme. "It an air raid cult," said Dykes. "Spread offense. The kids at Central really loved it." While Dykes would love nothing more than for Live Oak to put points on the board and victories in the win column, he points off-the-field activities as a major focal point in building a program.

"When the kids leave, we want them to have learned how to be men," said Dykes. "It's not all about 10 Friday nights. Sometime us coaches put too much emphasis on Friday nights. We don't want them to be judged by Friday nights, but rather if they'll be men when they leave." Dykes however, is looking forward to those Friday nights, beginning with that trip to Assumption, but his connections does stop there, and will continue on into District 5-5A, where Live Oak remains in the seven-team league with Denham Springs, Walker, Zachary, Scotlandville, Catholic and of course, Central.

Live Oak High Football