500 and Counting: Riverside turns milestone victory into unifying moment
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
The game ball was passed from the current state of Riverside Academy football to its glorious past.
With the Rebels enjoying their 47-7 victory last Friday over Central Catholic of Morgan City, the game ball wound up in the hands of jubilant fourth-year head coach Lee Roussel.
Riverside had just won its seventh consecutive game of the season when balloons were released, and fireworks burst into the distance, commemorating the 500th victory in the 55-year history of the school.
Lee Roussel took the opportunity to make sure the game ball found its home in the capable hands of the program’s winningest coach, Mickey Roussel, whose name adorns the field at Riverside Academy.
“Coach Roussel spoke to the team Friday,” Lee Roussel said. “He told the kids you will always be remembered to be a part of it. You can be part of the team that got to that milestone. It was a special night.”
Mickey Roussel spent 22 years of his career coaching Riverside to 196 victories between 1989 and 2007 and 2009-2011 before retiring. A 1974 graduate and former player at the school, he was also an assistant coach before successfully guiding the program for more than two decades, reaching the state playoffs 19 times with seven state semifinals and three state runners-up finishes.
His impact on Riverside’s football program has been immeasurable for a school that had previously won eight state football championships during its stay in the Louisiana Independent Schools Association prior to joining the LHSAA in 1986.
It was Mickey Roussel, who has become a fundraiser and leader of the school’s Quarterback Club, who chronicled the school’s history last season and discovered the Rebels were knocking on the door of 500 wins following a 10-3 season and state quarterfinal trip under Lee Roussel in 2024.
Riverside, which lost its opener to Class 5A Terrebonne 24-13, attained the magical plateau last week, opening a 21-7 halftime lead behind a pair of rushing touchdowns from Jayddon Obiekwe. He added his third touchdown in the third quarter, and quarterback Brock Bourgeois also added a touchdown run.
The Rebels put the finishing touches on the special occasion when eighth-grade running back Caleb William scored, and freshman Cole Jacob picked up Ethan Bourgeois’ blocked punt and scored a touchdown.
“It’s humbling to be a small part of it,” Lee Roussel said. “When you look back at some of the players and legendary coaches that have been here, there are three (LHSAA) Hall of Fame coaches (Mickey Roussel, Larry Dauterive, and Frank Monica) that have coached here.
“Just to be a part of that is an honor and kind of continue in that tradition of winning,” Lee Roussel said. “I love to get the (congratulatory) calls, but I’m just a small part of this. It goes to the players and the people that came before us, and now it’s just trying to continue the tradition that started when the school opened.”
Because of the additional time on his hands, Mickey Roussel began looking through the school’s history in football. He researched the annual records of each team and their coach; he found the Rebels were closing in on such an achievement last season.
“I added up the records about the middle of last year and saw we had 490-something wins,” he said. “I thought we were going to finish six or seven wins away from 500.”
As a graduate of Lutcher High, Lee Roussel, who is not related to Mickey Roussel, had done his best to educate himself on the school’s success in football. He guided the Rebels to the Division IV select state championship game in his second season in 2023, bridging a gap of seven years since the program last played in the Superdome.
He’s regularly invited guest speakers, typically former players or coaches from Riverside, to address the team during fall camp in an attempt to close the gap between the school’s past and present.
“Those guys could shed some light on the school,” said Lee Roussel, 36-8 in his fourth season. “If a former player comes by practice, I’ll call them up in the huddle to introduce him and let them talk about who they were. I brought back a pregame tradition from the 80s and 90s when we run out of the tunnel and create a square.
“I try to talk about the old rivalries when we play West St. John when that game comes up,” Lee Roussel said. “I talk about the 90s and how that game went back and forth. They played in the regular season and again in the playoffs. The rivalry with Newman and Peyton Manning, and Arch Manning. They may not have been born then or had a parent that went here. It’s important that you know what happened here before us.”
Riverside bounced back from its 11-point setback to Terrebonne, ignited by a 19-13 win over Newman. A 40-23 victory over Class 5A Prairieville looms large with the Hurricanes holding a share of the District 5-5A lead a week ago, and a 42-19 road win over reigning Division I V state champion Vermilion Catholic was another building block.
The Rebels registered impressive wins over St. Martin’s (49-0) and West St. John (51-6) to win a share of the District 10-1A championship going into Friday’s regular season finale at home against Varnado (2-5, 1-2) at 7 p.m. The team’s final game has already been forfeited by Crescent City (0-6).
“You learn a lot from playing teams like Terrebonne and Newman and Vermilion Catholic in pre-district,” Lee Roussel said. “Prairieville has won some games this year, and was a nice win for us. You do that to prepare yourself for later in the year and into the playoffs. We talked after the Terrebonne and asked the kids if they would feel better if we had scheduled someone we knew we could beat by 50.
“They would have won, but do you really find out about your team?”, Lee Roussel said. “Since then, we’ve gotten some guys back from injury. We’re healthier now than we were in Week 1. That plays a role in what we’re doing right now, having the right guys at the right positions.”
Brock Bourgeois, a three-year starter at quarterback, and Obiekwe, who has enjoyed several games rushing for more than 200 yards, have been integral pieces of Riverside’s offense along with sophomore wide receivers Chris Becnel and Kendric Johnson.
Senior defensive back Jace Trosclair, a three-year starter, is a key member of the defense that also has experience in defensive linemen Ahmad Cage and Jacoby King and linebacker Ethan Bourgeois.
“It’s been a really fun group to coach,” Lee Roussel said. “It’s a small (seven) senior class, but it’s a good class. All of them have very significant roles on their side of the ball from a play-making standpoint and leadership standpoint.”
Mickey Roussel’s a big believer in this year’s team having the characteristics to reach the state championship game.
Riverside’s won one LHSAA state title under Bill Stubbs in 2015, with the other eight titles all coming under the LISA umbrella between 1972 to 1986.
“Up and down, it’s probably the best division out of all of them,” he said of Division IV. “It has a lot of good football and baseball teams. Our offense is scoring points in bunches, and our defense has gotten better from Day 1. We don’t have any kids going both ways. We had some major injuries early when we lost a couple of kids for the year, and we’re always getting a few back. I see us having as good a chance as anybody else.”
Lee Roussel, a former coach at Nicholls State, agreed.
“I do like this team, I’m enjoying coaching them,” he said. “It’s a tough group. I think we’ll have a shot. We have to stay healthy, and you have to play your best football at the right time.”
Mickey Roussel developed a state championship-caliber program during his 22 seasons, leading the Rebels to the Superdome three times.
“In 1993, we were a Cinderella team, starting 1-4 and then winning nine in a row,” he said. “We lost to the University of Haynesville (48-17), and it didn’t work out for us. We went 14-0 in 1998 and had to play West St. John for a second time. We had beaten them in district, and they had a ton of injuries, and all of those kids were back, and they beat us by five (28-23), and we lost to Ouachita Christian (28-14) in 2000.
“We had nothing to be ashamed of, we had a nice run,” he said. “I had a great coaching staff. A lot of them were former players that played for me. That’s fun to look back at the yearbooks; they were the guys that came back to coach. In my 22 years, I wouldn’t give it up for anything. We were successful. It would have been nice to win one or two, but it didn’t happen. They’ve got a lot of good coaches that never got there. It’s still a feat in itself.”
Mickey Roussel’s first coach at Riverside was Rodney Fuhrmann, who had 44 wins between 1970-1973, and later joined his staff as the defensive coordinator.
Such familiar River Parish names as Monica and Dauterive each spent one season at Riverside, while Tommy Fernandez won 80 games over nine seasons that covered two stints at the school between 1978-1982 and 1984-87.
Stubbs, a state championship coach at Salmen, directed Riverside to the Class 2A title with a 47-20 win over St. Charles in ’16. Most Outstanding Player, quarterback Jordan Loving, passed for 205 yards and two touchdowns in the game, and Trey Catoire added an 87-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
The Rebels were state runners-up to Notre Dame (13-3) the previous season.
Mickey Roussel said there was a great deal of work behind the scenes in preparation for the school’s 500th win.
“We made this a big deal going into the season,” he said. “It’s a great milestone.”
Five-plus decades after the football program began, Riverside’s developed its share of its historical moments that first began with its dominance in LISA play. The Rebels won their first state title in 1972, the first of three straight, and reeled off five more in a seven-year span between 1980-86.
“It’s something they see when we’re outside,” said Lee Roussel in reference to the state titles that are on the school’s press box.
Mickey Roussel said it’s part of the school’s mission to educate its students on the subject of history, a responsibility this year’s players have grasped about the Rebels’ own success during their time in LISA and nearly 30 years in the LHSAA.
The week leading up to the game with Central Catholic served as an invitation for supporters and former players to unite in support of this year’s team and their bid to achieve a share of history.
Mickey Roussel spoke to the Quarterback Club, T-shirts with 500 wins were printed, and the number 500 was painted at midfield.
“It was good to go back and reminisce about the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and early 2000s, which culminated last Friday,” Mickey Roussel said. “It’s one big family from the 70s to now. Lee’s in his fourth year, a River Parishes guy who knows some of the background of our school.
“This was a learning experience for everybody,” Mickey Roussel said. “We’re trying to teach the kids about the history of the football program. Their names and this team will be etched forever. That we got a big win put the icing on the cake.”
Mickey Roussel said it was touching to see the 55-member squad, several of whom are second-generation players, earn their place in the school’s history book.
“When this team goes to their 10 and 20-year class reunion: hopefully there’s two topics they’ll talk about,” he said. “They were part of the 500th win and the second one, they won a state championship, because I think we’ve got a chance this year.
“It’s easy to do in the River Parishes,” he said. “At a young age, they’re brought up in a football culture. I don’t think every region in the state is like that. It’s part of the culture of the people who live in the River Parishes. They support their teams a thousand percent.”
With fireworks going off and celebrations taking place, Riverside’s P.A. announcer rattled off the school’s 10 head coaches who had played a part in last Friday’s moment. The school’s principal acknowledged the achievement, followed by Mickey Roussel’s voice that commanded a captive audience.
“We’ll sign some game balls, and we’re going to put one in the trophy case,” Mickey Roussel said. “When people walk into the front hall of the school, that’s going to stay there forever.”