Leps Ready for Some Football

High school football teams around the state held their first official preseason practices of the new season Monday.

In La Grange, second-year Leps head coach Kyle Cooper said about 100 high school kids (that’s including freshmen through seniors) showed up for the first practice, and he expects that number to grow to about 110 or so.

“It was a good day,” Cooper said. “You lose a little of that first day excitement that used to exist because now we have them all summer. There’s only one or two guys that we didn’t see this summer. As much as we are able to do in the summer (from voluntary workouts to 7-on-7 competitions, etc.) there’s not that pop of the first day as there used to be.”

Cooper and company return six offensive and six defensive starters from last year’s team which went 3-8. The Leps will compete in a reconfigured District 11-4A that will be a lot tougher because of the additions of defending state runner-up Bellville, Madisonville (which went 9-3) and always-tough Sealy (which went 5-6 last year). There will be some new faces coaching the Leps in football this year.

2024 LHS Varsity Coaching Staff:

(*denotes new to the football staff) Kyle Cooper, head coach Chance Willard, OC Brodney Pool, DC Special Teams Coordinator/ DL: Zach Mueller OLB: Robert Young Safeties: Randall Goode* CBs: James Zaruba* DLs: Frankie Saucedo* WRs: Cameron Hammontree RBs: Nick Parker* OLs: Caleb Carlile*