When it comes to high school football in the state of Louisiana, there are plenty of programs that you would refer to as a dynasty. John Curtis (28 state titles), Haynesville (17), Evangel (14), Neville (12), and West Monroe (8) are just some of the powerhouse programs of the Bayou State.
If you go just a bit further down the list, you’ll find the Wreckin’ Rams of Acadiana High School, winners of six state titles, all coming after the millennium. Matt McCullough’s team will go for lucky number seven inside the Caesars Superdome Friday night when they battle with future Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns quarterback Daniel Beale and the Catholic High-Baton Rouge Bears.
For McCullough, this would be the third state championship he has won for the Rams since taking over after the 2017 season. However, he isn’t concerned with what this game does for his legacy among other Acadiana legends Ted Davidson and Bill Dotson.
“It’s not one of the things that I really think about,” McCullough said. “The biggest deal when I took over for Coach Davidson was to keep the standard of having the ability to have a chance to win state championships. We’ve been fortunate enough to win two and now we’re fortunate enough and in the last five years to play for three state championships. That’s always the goal.”
“When I leave and when I retire from here, other people talk about legacies. My biggest deal is to give these kids a chance to play to the standard of what we’ve always done here, especially over the last 20 years and you don’t want to let guys down that have helped build this thing, such as coach Dotson, Coach Hanks and coach Davidson and my dad. But I know one thing, it would be a big thing for these kids because these kids that are seniors, we haven’t won it since they were freshmen. So I know they’re really excited to play for it and they’re hungry to win another state championship.”
After a second-round exit in 2022, the Rams knew this season had to be better. After finishing 8-2 in the regular season with their losses coming from John Curtis and Lafayette Christian, the Rams rolled into the playoffs after defeating arch-rival Carencro to win the District 3-5A title. After getting a first-round bye in the playoffs, the Rams and Bears met up once again in the second round for the second straight year. This time, McCullough’s group came out on top. Then, the Rams went on the road to top-seeded Holy Cross and defeated them, making it the first time an Acadiana team defeated the top seed in the playoffs. For the semifinals, Acadiana traveled to Edna Karr, one of the toughest environments in Louisiana high school football, and got a critical 30-24 win to put them back in the state championship for the first time since winning it all in 2020.
McCullough understands the importance of veteran experience on the field, especially in players like Russell Babineaux and Caden Dibetta.
“Caden has done a tremendous job,” McCullough said of his junior quarterback. “He started last year as a sophomore, which is always tough and he’s grown so much since then, now he has probably 20-something or 25 starts under his belt, and he’s played extremely well down the stretch and really all season long. On defense with Dom (Dominick McKinley), Shamarius Harris our middle linebackers three-year starter Amir Hill, a three-year starter on defense. That’s really our only three seniors but they’ve done a really good job with their leadership. Then Russell (Babineaux) from the standpoint of playing both ways. He’s been explosive in special teams, he’s been explosive on offense and he’s played really well since we moved in the corner we think that helped our defense so much since we’re able to move into well over the safety and keep Russ at corner and I think that’s helped us a bunch defensively to just give it a little more speed and a little more athleticism in the secondary.”
The opponents for the Rams, the Bears of Catholic High-Baton Rouge, finished 8-2 in the regular season with losses to St. Thomas More and University Lab before running through the playoffs by taking down John Ehret, John Curtis, and Archbishop Rummel to get back to the state championship.
“The quarterback (Beale) is a four-year starter,” McCullough said. “We played him as a freshman and that was the one game that we lost in 2020. He came in actually after the guy got injured. And they beat us 27-21. He made some plays. He’s a guy that throws the ball well. They’ve got some backs and receivers. Defensively, they’re sound and they play extremely hard. They’re a well-coached football team. We’ve played them about three or four times over the last 10 years. And they’re always a well-coached football team, always doing things the right way. I think the quarterback is their key. He’s a really good football player.”
Acadiana will battle Catholic-Baton Rouge Friday night inside the Caesars Superdome. Kickoff for that matchup is set for 7:00 p.m. and can be heard on 97.7 MeTV FM and 1330 AM.