By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
Finding candidates to give the inaugural Rapides Parish Journal All-Parish Football Team’s individual awards to was the easy task.
Picking the actual winners, well, that was a little bit tougher.
A jack-of-all-trades offensive playmaker who scored 30 touchdowns and a defensive stalwart who led his team to its first district title in 13 years earned the top two individual player awards, while the coaching award went to a veteran who turned his team around from an 0-2 start and led it on the deepest playoff run in the parish.
Peabody senior athlete Dartavin Depass and Menard senior linebacker Cooper Scott were selected as the RPJ’s inaugural Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, while Alexandria Senior High coach Thomas Bachman earned Coach of the Year.
Depass, the 6-foot-2, 175-pound running back and receiver, was a uniquely gifted player for the Warhorses who lined up all over the field, compiling over 1,600 yards of offense and scoring 30 touchdowns.
In his second season at Peabody, Depass rushed for 786 yards and 22 touchdowns while catching 43 passes for 820 yards and eight more scores while earning the District 2-4A Offensive MVP award despite playing on a Warhorses squad that finished fourth in district play.
Depass, the nephew of Peabody football coach Harry Coleman, was a starter at Class 2A West St. Mary where Coleman was an assistant when he took the Peabody job two years ago.
“He said, ‘Unc, I want to come,’” Coleman said. “‘I don’t want to be coached by anybody but you.’”
So Coleman gave his sister the option of letting Depass come live in Alexandria with him. Instead, she chose to relocate the entire family to give them more opportunity in Alexandria than Baldwin.
“He came in and he put his head down and he went to work,” Coleman said of his nephew. “Whatever the coaches asked him to do, he did it with tremendous effort.”
Depass lined up at running back, receiver, cornerback, safety and even a couple of series at defensive end when the Warhorses were low on bodies because of injury.
“The only position he probably didn’t play was O-line,” Coleman said. “When you get a kid like that you just try to get out of the way.”
Opponents also tried to get out of the way of Menard’s middle linebacker, but they didn’t have much success.
Scott was a tackling machine for an Eagles squad that went undefeated in District 4-2A and won its first playoff game in four years. He made 112 tackles, eight tackles for loss, six sacks, two fumble recoveries, one interception and scored two defensive TDs.
The four-year starter made crucial plays at crucial times for the Eagles, including a 62-yard strip-and-score in the fourth quarter to seal a win over Pineville in Week 2 and back-to-back sacks to end a seven-point win over Avoyelles in Week 7.
Scott also doubled as a part-time running back with 403 rushing yards and six TDs, including the game-winner in the fourth quarter of a comeback 13-12 victory over Oakdale to clinch the district championship.
“Obviously, he was our guy,” Menard coach David Perkins said. “Defensively first, starting off, but offensively towards the end of the year. He would come up with plays at just the right time when we needed them.”
Perkins described Scott as the total package. He was big and powerful, but also fast and savvy. Scott used his size and his experience to put himself in the right position to make plays, particularly in clutch situations.
“He’s such a great competitor and he wants to win – and he is a winner,” Perkins said.
Scott was at his best late in games where the Eagles led. He would blitz his way into the backfield to make big play after big play. Menard’s scheme allowed the defensive linemen to take up blockers so Scott could flow downhill for tackles.
“He just kind of took over the defense and would get guys in the right positions where it would make his job easier to do and he could be more effective,” Perkins said.
Bachman salvaged what looked like a possible sinking ship for the Trojans by moving two of his best offensive weapons to cornerback to shore up his team’s biggest weakness.
After giving up 46 and 49 points in back-to-back losses to Carencro and St. Thomas More to start the season, Bachman knew his defensive secondary needed assistance. His answer: Take the team’s best receiver from 2022, senior Amyrion Mingo, and move him to cornerback.
It paid immediate dividends, as the Trojans won their final three non-district games and didn’t give up more than 14 points in doing so.
They started District 2-5A play with a road loss to eventual state champion Ruston, and they let a home game against West Monroe slip away, as well, as they dropped to 4-4.
So Bachman made another move, moving the team’s second-leading receiver from 2022, Jaylin Johnson, to cornerback as well. Johnson had started at corner as a sophomore in 2021 and only strengthened the team’s secondary.
“Thomas swears that’s the thing that got them triggered. That started it,” said Buckeye coach Ben McLaughlin, who worked as Bachman’s offensive coordinator for two seasons and communicates with him regularly during the football season. “That was the domino that kind of got them going.”
With the team at full strength defensively, ASH rolled past West Ouachita to end the regular season and over Bonnabel in the first round of the playoffs before going on the road and pitching a shutout over defending state runner-up Brother Martin.
That victory played out like a Hollywood script that proved Bachman’s moves worked perfectly for the Trojans.
“They were obviously a very good offensive team, but he felt like that brought more balance to them,” McLaughlin said. “That’s just such a dynamic decision. No doubt about it, he read the room exactly like the room needed to be read.”
The All-Parish individual awards were selected by RPJ contributor Bret H. McCormick and CenlaPreps.com’s LaMar Gafford along with consultation with the parish’s coaches.
Depass was selected as the Offensive Player of the Year ahead of the ASH duo of senior quarterback Ty Feaster and junior running back JT Lindsey and the Buckeye duo of junior quarterback Adam Brodnax and junior running back Jim Burlew.
Scott earned the Defensive Player of the Year honor in a nail-biter ahead of Tioga senior free safety Ja’Corian Norris.
Bachman, meanwhile, edged ahead of Perkins and Tioga’s Kevin Cook to earn the Coach of the Year award.
WEDNESDAY: The All-Parish offense and specialists
YESTERDAY: The All-Parish defense
TODAY: Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year