MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / September 1, 1999

RESERVE – Riverside has had quite a line of running backs in recent years.

In 1993, it was Jarrett Entremont rushing for 750 yards and Jimmy Dottolo adding 720 as the Rebels advanced to the Class 2A state championship game. A year later, it was Dottolo’s turn in the spotlight,rushing for over 1,300 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Two years later, it was Travis Bourgeois kept the string alive as the “Bruiser” rushed for over 600 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior.

And now it’s Casey Remondet’s turn. Remondet combined with BrandonDelaneuville and Britt Waguespack to rush for 3,000 yards and 45 touchdowns, helping the Rebels to a 10-0 regular season and their first appearance in the state finals since 1993.

Remondet has been playing organized football since the sixth grade at Riverside but played neighborhood ball before that.

“I enjoyed the sport so I decided to try it out at school,” Remondet said.

Remondet became a starter as a sophomore, rushing for 600 yards and eight touchdowns. But it was last year when he came upon his own, beingnamed to the Class 2A all-state team after gaining 1,788 yards and 26 touchdowns.

In the Rebels’ second-to-last game of the season against L.B. Landry,Remondet gained 149 yards, pushing him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. When Joey Poirrier also went over the 1,000-yard mark in passingin the game, it marked the first time the Rebels had a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard passer in the same season since Dottolo and Lousteau did it in 1994.

“It felt good knowing that you had achieved a goal you had since the beginning of the season,” Remondet said of reaching 1,000 yards.

That Landry game was the seventh time during the 1998 season that Remondet broke the 100-yard mark. He kept it up into the postseason,opening the playoffs with a 157-yard, five-touchdown performance in just three quarters of work against Springfield. A week later against Pope JohnPaul II, he added another 125 yards. Against Newman in the quarterfinals,Remondet had 142 yards and added a touchdown reception.

Remondet then helped the Rebels upset top-ranked Oak Grove in the semifinals, scoring three times. The victory set up a rematch againstWest St. John in the state championship game in the Superdome. Remondetgained 74 yards and scored twice but it was not enough as the Rams held on for a 28-23 victory.

While the season may have ended in disappointment, Remondet said he learned a lot from it.

“The past football season was really good,” Remondet said. “I learnedleadership and how leadership was a big part of the success.”Remondet has already picked up where he left off last year, rushing for 154 yards and a touchdown in the Rebel’s 19-7 River Parishes Jamboree victory over St. James. Remondet’s touchdown came on a 44-yard run inwhich he demonstrated both his speed and strength. He later added a 49-yard run.

“He’s carried over from last year, Riverside coach Mickey Roussel said of Remondet. “He was as consistent a runner as we had last year. He ran realtough and that’s typical Casey Remondet.”Remondet will also look to carry over what he learned about leadership to this season. Remondet, a senior, has been named one of the team’scaptains.

“A lot of people are looking up to you,” Remondet said of what it means to be a team captain. “You have to show leadership. There is a lot ofresponsibility. I want to show people how to do the right thing and keepthem on their feet.”Helping Remondet stay on his feet during the game is the responsibility of an offensive line that has the potential to be one of the school’s best.

“I feel I can trust them,” Remondet said. “I know they will block for me.”Senior offensive lineman Joe Trosclair, another team captain, said blocking for a back like Remondet makes the line’s job easier.

“Casey is a very good running back,” Trosclair said. “He runs very well andhe runs hard. He makes my job a lot easier.”Remondet wants to follow in the footsteps of Dottolo and Bourgeois in another way, getting the opportunity to play at the next level. Dottolo isthe starting running back at Mississippi College while Bourgeois is a walk-on offensive lineman at LSU. Remondet may get that opportunity ashe is already being looked at by a number of colleges, including USL.

Remondet would like to get that chance to play collegiately but he also wants the chance to play for a title one more time. He knows getting backto the point where the Rebels were last year will not be an easy accomplishment.

“We’ve talked a lot about leadership,” Remondet said of what it’s going to take this year. “We have got to work hard every week. “We didn’t have a perfect season last year. You can never have a perfectseason but it’s something you work towards. We want to work together asa team and make it back to the Dome and come back with a victory. Wewant to duplicate what we did last year.”

Return To Sports Stories

Copyright © 1998, Wick Communications, Inc.

Internet services provided by NeoSoft.

Best viewed with 3.0 or higher