OPELOUSAS – When it came to being bitten by the injury bug, it appeared as if no one was immune to it for the Opelousas Catholic Vikings’ football team.
And that included Maurice Marcel, who was hurt in the jamboree while attempting to make a tackle and suffered a broken ring finger on his right hand.
“It was nasty,” Vikings head coach Cullen Matherne said.
And while he did play through Week 8 last year, Marcel, who had to have the finger surgically repaired, admits his performance was hindered by the injury.
“I definitely feel like my season could have been a lot better than it was if I wasn’t hurt,” said Marcel, whose surgery entailed having a bone removed from his hand/wrist and placed in the finger and held in place with screws. “Because of the adrenaline during the game, it didn’t really hurt until after the game. But I was thinking about it too much during the games last year.”
Unpleased with his athletic season last year, the three-sport athlete worked hard during the offseason to make his senior season the best of his high school career.
“As a receiver, the last thing you want is to have something happen to your hand,” said Matherne, whose Vikings will travel to face Sacred Heart of Ville Platte at 7 p.m. Friday. “He was hesitant toward the finger, and we had to remind him that it was healed. We told him he couldn’t let it hinder him anymore. Put it out of your mind and go to work. That’s what he did. All summer he put in the work.”
After a great summer that included a solid performance in the scrimmage, Marcel appeared ready to enjoy the breakout season the Vikings’ coaching staff envisioned for him.
However, in the Vikings’ 14-7 win over Iota in the regular season opener, Marcel struggled to catch the football.
“It was very frustrating,” Marcel said. “In that game, I was thinking about that finger at times. I needed to get out of my head.”
Those drops resulted in a meeting with Matherne, who felt it was imperative to remind Marcel about how much the Vikings needed him to excel opposite of USC commit Roderick Tezeno.
“Oh, we had a big conversation with him,” Matherne said emphatically. “He had two drops in that game, so the conversation was just reminding him that teams are going to game plan to take Roderick away. I told him ‘If you don’t step up, we’re in trouble.’”
Determined to rectify the drops, Marcel began staying after practice, putting in extra work and focusing on seeing the football “all the way through.”
“We know Maurice can catch the football,” Matherne said. “We just had to go back to the basics of looking the football in. He was just trying to make a play before securing the ball.”
The extra attention to detail has more than paid off for Marcel, who has been unstoppable in the Vikings’ wins over East Beauregard and Port Barre. In the past two weeks, Marcel has caught for 248 yards and six touchdowns.
“Hard work pays off,” said Marcel, who is fifth in the Acadiana area in receiving with 11 receptions for 264 yards and six touchdowns. “I did some individual drills with my quarterback (Kross Gillen) and just focused on catching the football.
“I’m not surprised by my performance (the past two weeks),” Marcel continued. “I know what I’m capable of. It was fun to catch, score and just provide for my team.”
Matherne credited Marcel’s success not only to his hard work, but to the 6-4, 185-pounder understanding “who he is.”
“He’s a big possession receiver,” Matherne said. “He has his route tree, and he does it well. Maurice does a good job of understanding the soft spots. He’s a big target and he uses his frame well to box out defenders. He has crazy athleticism and while he is not a burner, he knows how to slow play his routes. He runs with good pace and burst when he needs to.”
Marcel, who is a member of the Vikings’ basketball and baseball programs, is starting to generate interest from college coaches.
And Matherne believes that is just the beginning.
“When you walk-in and see him, he passes every eye test,” Matherne said. “He has unlimited potential and he’s starting to figure that out. The sky is the limit for him. He can be special. It’s his turn to step up and be that guy. We have Maurice on one side and Roderick on the other. Teams have to pick their poison.”