Best Chance to Win: Position Change for Brusly’s Ricky Critney All About Team’s Success
by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
For the first time in three years Brusly’s headed to the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs and the cellphone of senior noseguard Ricky Critney has been dinging with delight.
There have been heartfelt messages from several of his former teammates urging him to enjoy the moment because the next game could be Critney’s last.
“Older guys I’ve played with are texting me, saying not to take anything for granted, give everything you’ve got at every chance,” Critney said. “You never know what play might be the play that decides the game. You’ve got to give everything you’ve got.”
For the last four years, that’s what Critney has attempted to do, stepping on campus and getting immediate playing time as a freshman which is rare for a first-year player at a Class 4A school. He’s grown into one of the team’s trusted members, starting at offensive tackle when there was a void, but his true value has been on defense and in the locker room and weight room where he’s been a shining light.
Critney’s career has been better defined by honor rather than honors, although he’s distinguished himself with his play. Traits such as character and unselfishness have better distinguished the 6-foot-1, 250-pounder who will help lead No. 13 Brusly (9-2) into its Division II non-select state regional at No. 4 Franklin Parish (9-1) at 7 p.m. Friday in Winnsboro.
“He’s not a rah-rah guy,” Brusly football coach Hoff Schooler said. “What he is, is a guy that’s done the right thing for four years in the weight room or in the classroom and community. He’s done the right thing, and no teammate can question that. He has the respect of his teammates, not just because of that, but he backs it up with his play.”
When Brusly moved to a 3-4 look on defense this season, the defensive coaches needed Critney to move from his customary position at defensive end for the past three years to noseguard. The Panthers had a talented group of linebackers that could make the scheme work in concert with a capable noseguard fending off blockers for them to make plays.
Noseguard and glorious are mutually exclusive enough for a senior to have reservations about transitioning to a new position in his final season.
Critney, a four-year letterman and three-year starter, jumped at the opportunity. He realized that 10 other players on defense were counting on him to uphold his responsibility and to help make the unit work in harmony. He had to embrace the prospect of dealing with larger centers and guards routinely double-teaming him, and reducing his tackle numbers to free up linebackers to roam and make tackles.
Critney grabbed ahold of the opportunity, much like he does opposing quarterbacks and ball carriers.
“I think about other people than myself,” he said. “Just keep my linebackers in mind, keep everybody else in mind. I can’t take off plays even if I get double-teamed. The one play you take off might be a play too late and be a play they need you to make. You just have to think about the people outside of you.”
Schooler said he didn’t need a sale pitch with Critney on the position change. He simply appealed to his heart, something he’s shown throughout his time in the program.
“He’s a team guy so it didn’t require a sit-down or selling him,” he said. “It was more or less we need to look at this package at practice to see what it looks like. Can we play this thing with basically three defensive ends? Within the first 10 minutes of practice, we knew he could handle being in there.
“It wasn’t something we had to hide him or move him,” he said. “He could get in there and could play any technique we wanted him to play. He’s that kind of guy. He knows he’s going to do what it takes for this football team to be good. He was aware of the guys we needed on the field to give us the best chance to win.”
Ready early to make a mark
Critney had shown plenty of promise in middle school and by the end of his eighth-grade season, came to Brusly High to work out in the morning with the team.
He encountered senior players such as linebacker Denarius Robinson and offensive line Austin Jackson who reached out with encouragement. For a timid 14-year-old, such words struck a chord and provided a jolt of confidence that proved invaluable.
“They told me to stay focused in the weight room,” Critney said. “Once we started spring practice, they were like mentors, and they told me I would be a big part of the team, to keep working. It felt so good getting love from the older guys. I was scared at first. That really built me up to go out and compete.”
Critney was bright and talented, having already established himself in the classroom in part because of the foundation provided by his grandmother Virginia Critney. The owner of a local daycare, she took the time to work with a young Ricky on his math skills, and with a pro-education background at home, he’s always flourished in school where he is currently an honor student with a 3.8 grade point average.
Schooler, who previously coached at Ruston High as an assistant, understands the difficult transition to Class 5A of 4A football underclassmen are often tasked with.
There’s the tangible size and strength difference creating a gaping hole between a 17-18-year-old senior and a 14-15-year-old freshman. The speed of a varsity contest is undeniable along with the mental and physical demands involved with each week’s game.
And once the game kicks off, there are the in-game adjustments and the ability to deal with the highs and lows within a 48-minute contest.
“Even if size-wise you fit the mold, strength-wise, and experience-wise, you’re behind the 8-ball,” Schooler said. “It’s rare to have a guy come in, particularly at the position, and be able to handle it. He didn’t start as a freshman but played a lot of meaningful snaps. Now as a senior, he’s played in almost 50 ballgames. It shows up on film with things like hand placement, the things that come with time and experience.
“He’s the ultimate high school football player,” Schooler said. “He’s a team guy that’s done anything we’ve asked him for four years. His home position is really defensive end, and he’s played a good bit there. We needed him to bump inside, be an inside guy this year and he never batted an eye. He went to work on the technique, did what he needed to do extra to work on those techniques, bulked up to be stronger and handle being in the box.”
Critney’s been a two-sport athlete during his career at Brusly which includes being on the basketball team. He’s been more of a rotational guy who tries to raise the temperature of his team that went 29-2 and reached the Division II non-select state semifinals last season.
“We don’t really have positions,” he said. “I have to able to do a little of everything. I’m an energy guy. To help get everybody up.”
Holding his own in the middle
The size deficiency at his new position – where he sometimes gives up 30 to 50 pounds – has made Critney rely on his other strengths to either win interior battles or create stalemates.
Defensive line coach Deandre Williams has improved Critney’s technique and hand placement. Critney’s willingness as a leader in the weight room, coupled with his athleticism and quickness, has also been noticeable when he sheds blockers to tackles.
“The first game of the season against Port Allen, I was using my speed to beat the center or whenever I got one-on-one opportunities,” Critney said of his team’s 7-0 victory over arch-rival Port Allen. “Being on the inside, it allows the linebackers to roam free when I take on double teams. My coaches help me to stay low enough and free up the linebackers to make plays.
“Just doing what we’ve got to do to win,” Critney said. “I trust my coaches to put me in the best position to play ball. I’m kind of undersized, just knowing I’m going to have to use my speed and take on the bigger guys inside.”
Critney also helped on offense in 2022 at offensive tackle, a position he played full-time in ’23 along with his duty at defensive end and on the Panthers’ punt coverage team.
“Just doing what we’ve got to do to win,” he said of playing offense.
Critney also repeated one of Schooler’s favorite acronyms – ‘EAT’ (Effort, Attitude, Toughness) to explain his inclination to be a team-first player.
“That’s what I think about when we’re playing ball,” he said. “Just give everything you’ve got to win.”
Schooler said Critney’s pursuit of team goals has been evident throughout his career.
“He understood from the get-go this isn’t going to be the glamour spot,” he said. “This wasn’t going to be the spot where he was going to roll out and have 9-10-11 sacks or something like that. He’s a team guy. He’s a Brusly guy. He wants to see us be successful and this is role and he’s happy to play that role.
“Through his four years, we’ve had times where we’ve been short on the offensive line and needed another guy and so he went both ways for us. His junior year, he had to go both ways for us and did the things he needed to be conditioned to do that. He wasn’t just a placeholder over there on the offensive line. He did a really good job for us.”
Doing His Part to Impact the Future
Notoriety has also followed Critney who was selected to the All-District 6-4A team the past two seasons, earning honorable mention and first-team honors, respectively.
He’ll be a candidate to repeat on the first team this season for a Brusly defense that’s allowing 14.9 points, has registered two shutouts, and held another team to a touchdown.
Critney averages just under five tackles a game with 46 tackles. He’s compiled four tackles for loss, five quarterback hurries, one sack, and broken up a pass. His most productive performance took place in a 7-6 win over Istrouma in the regular season finale with seven tackles, two TFLs, and a sack.
“He may be across the line of scrimmage from guys who are bigger than him, but I don’t think he’s going to be across the line from guys that are stronger than him,” Schooler said. “Coach Willams has really coached him up on technique. You don’t have to outsize someone if you’re strong enough to play with your hands, have great technique, and play with great pad level. He’s big enough, he’s just not your old-school 280-300-pound noseguard plugging gaps. He’s an active technician guy.”
Critney took on a bigger role this season as the personal protector on Brusly’s punt team, a unit he’s been a part of the previous two seasons. He’s responsible for calling out the team’s protections and in the event the Panthers call for a fake punt, he’s the player to recognize such an opportunity.
“(Assistant) Coach (Johnathan) Mailhes does a good job of making sure we’re prepared for everything we’ll see,” he said. “There’s different types of protections for different looks we might see.”
Critney would love to extend his career and attend and play college football. He continues to strive to earn a scholarship, but he won’t allow that to deter his enthusiasm for his teammates.
He’s still one of the first players in the weight room and provides a helpful voice to younger players at practice and in the games.
“The respect his teammates have is because of his consistency because he is a team guy,” Schooler said. “He’s done so many different things for us. I think that gets the respect of his teammates. You don’t have to be the guy leading the pep rally. It’s the guy that’s consistent, and his teammates can look at him and know he’ll be in the right spot. He’s going to do his part, and they want to do theirs.”
There’s only one remaining goal driving Critney and this year’s team which makes its first appearance in the regional round since 2020 – the year before Critney arrived on campus.
“We want to change the narrative at Brusly and leave a legacy,” Critney said. “Just lay down a foundation that’s something greater than us. We’re all happy. The players, the coaches. We’re all trying to make it to the dome. We’re all trying to get a ring. We’re just trying to win the next one and be 1-0.”