TDL: Two-A-Days - Leesville Wampus Cats

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - 2020 was another good season for Leesville as the Wampus Cats went 5-4 and landed a top-five spot in the playoffs for the first time in program history. Head coach Robert Causey is focused on improving from that success.

“We focus on ourselves and what can we do, said Head Coach Robert Causey. “What areas we need to improve on what are the strengths of our kids that we can showcase and we can maximize and we just try to build from there.”

A few starters from last year’s offense return, with none bigger than senior tailback Caleb Gallashaw. He gained 1,239 all-purpose yards and scored 19 touchdowns a year ago and is looking forward to playing his final season under the lights.

“I need to better my catching and running and everything. Just need to keep training for what’s best and my teammates,” Gallashaw said.

“He’s going to be the focal point,” Causey said. “He is a four-year starter he knows what he’s supposed to be doing in the backfield you know what his strengths are we’re going to get him the ball in a multitude of ways, he’ll probably play both sides of the football.”

While the running game is settled, the same can’t be said at quarterback. Parker Max and Jerome Watts are in a QB battle for the right to start. Causey believes both would be a good fit.

“We have two young men that are competing for that and it’s a daily thing we’re looking to see which one that gives us the best look, and so it’s kind of a nice problem to have it’s one of the things we haven’t had here in a very long time and this year I feel like it’s a strength of our team is having depth at quarterback,” Causey said.

The defense will be lead by a veteran group of defensive backs in conjunction with the linebackers. Senior linebacker Nathan Mawae is one standout who believes the chemistry they have on the field will be important.

" It means a lot for us because we all came up together playing football. A lot of us we’ve never seen each other off the field but whenever we come together on the field it’s just like a spark,” said Mawae. “We just know what to do we know each other and it’s like we never left. Play our brand of football. Play Leesville brand of football be as lockdown as possible, do what we’re supposed to do.”

“Well, I think our back seven has the most experience most of the guys that are returning,” Causey said. “We have Davion Grubb at free safety and he missed last year with an injury but he’s a very talented young man he’ll play on both sides. The two corners we’ll go with Stephan James and DJ Beebe. The linebacker position all three of them got to play so we’re returning three guys there, but we got some good kids. Kids that want to be Wampus Cats, kids that come to practice every day they give us the ability that God gave them and so I look forward to coaching them it’s a good little bunch of kids and ready for them to go compete.”

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