Queens an ace
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Livonia, which reached the Class 3A finals last year, is loaded with as many legit athletes as any program in the state, regardless of size, and the future continues to look bright with prospects such as 2017 athlete Patrick Queen. His first offer hasn't arrived yet, but Ole Miss is showing heavy interest, according to Queen and his father.
"He's high on Ole Miss," said his father, "and they're showing interest. He's also crazy about Alabama. He likes LSU, too, and mom and I would be happy if he decides to stay home and play for (the Tigers). He caught the attention of the Ole Miss coaches when they learned about his performance at a combine. We got an invite to visit campus and it was great. We probably had 15 kids with us but the coaches really seemed focused on Patrick, even though he's so young. The coaches hoped we'd be able to spend the night and come back the next day."
Patrick and his family were invited to Ole Miss recently to watch the Rebels host Louisiana-Lafayette, but they were unable to attend to due a work conflict, according to Patrick's father.
"We actually haven't talked to any coaches in Louisiana yet," dad added. "We did camp with LSU. He can play offense and defense. He plays free safety and running back. Last year, he got a lot of time on special teams; this year he's at running back with Barrick Slaughter and Malcolm Dedrick. He just turned 15 and is 6-0, 205 pounds. Our preseason scrimmage against Opelousas went really great and then later we went up against Breaux Bridge, which has a good team every year.
"We didn't show hardly anything against Breaux Bridge: maybe four different plays on offense. He drove whoever he blocked two or three feet off the line of scrimmage. We have a lot of great players like Brice Jones and Barrick and Willie Baker, the big defensive end. Patrick has also played left field for varsity baseball since the eighth grade."
Patrick says he would like to explore the option of lining up as a jumbo cornerback on the next level.
Livonia is off to a 2-0 start under first-year head coach Guy Mistretta, who fielded some legendary Redemptorist teams that featured running backs Jeremy Hill, Jay Lucas, Brent Grimes and Shelton Sampson, among others.
The Wildcats have scored at least 35 points in all three games and are big favorites this week at Morgan City. Livonia recorded a 14-1 mark en route to a runner-up finish in 3A to Union Parish last December.