Last fall saw the exit of one of the longest tenured head football coaches in Southwest Louisiana history when St. Louis Catholic’s Mike Johns retired.

It was a loss that the program won’t soon forget, but it is also one they cannot dwell on if they hope to be more competitive in 2014.

The past three years have seen the Saints hit a slump, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, but new head coach Charlie Cryer was brought in to change that. Cryer, a former state champion head coach while at Vermilion Catholic, is no stranger to success and is excited to take over at St. Louis.

“This is a great program that has had some success in the past,” Cryer said. “I know they have been a little down lately, but things change. I am blessed to come into a program with some pretty good ball players.”

The first change that Cryer instilled upon taking the reins at St. Louis was to install a new offensive game plan, deviating from the double-slot, run-heavy formation. This year they will spread things out.

“We are going to be a little more wide open with the spread and use our athletes, but we are still going to run the ball,” Cryer said. “The spread is kind of the way of the world now, but we have some different packages to go along with it.”

Calling the shots in the huddle for Cryer is a familiar face at quarterback in senior Dylan Greenman. The three-sport athlete is one of six returning offensive starters.

“Dylan Greenman is as first-class as you can get,” Cryer said. “He has had a good summer and to have that blend of leadership and experience out there is great.”

Greenman is joined in the backfield by two more returning starters in juniors Colby Rodriguez and Joe Manuel who last year split time with Jared Smith, now playing at Hendrix College.

Junior Michael Caillouet and senior Connor Trent return as starters at left tackle and left guard, respectively. Joining them as new starters along the offensive line are junior center David Bercier, junior Jacob Stewart at right guard and sophomore Gabe McGill at right tackle.

Juniors Tyler Washington and Austin Crawford will join a receiving unit that features returning star DeKeinen Francois. Francois led the Saints in receiving his junior year and has received multiple college offers. Cryer figures the senior to play a major role in this year’s offense.

“DeKeinen has had a great summer,” Cryer said. “He went to several camps, including Tulane, who is very interested in him. He has been doing a wonderful job so far.”

Defensively the Saints will look similar with Cryer running the same system as Johns did and six starters returning.

“We are going to do a lot of the same things defensively. I have always been a 4-2-5 guy,” Cryer said. “We like our speed and our toughness on that side of the ball, we are undersized, but I’ve been undersized everywhere I have been before.”

Leading the way for the defense are returning starters at linebacker ­— junior Jaymon Levy and senior Mac Thompson.

Seniors Chad Davis and Zach Schwartzenburg return to anchor the defensive line where they will be joined by sophomores Sam Bruchhaus and Wyatt Mallett.

In the secondary the Saints will be junior cornerback Michael Mack and junior free safety Jacob Percle, both returning starters. They will be joined by junior cornerback Connor Cutrera and the strong safety duo of junior Kyle Duhon and sophomore Mark Johnston.

The young Saints will have all odds against them when they enter district play, facing a brutal District 4-3A schedule that includes South Beauregard, Iowa, Westlake and defending champion Jennings.

“I won a state championship 10 years ago in Class 1A in a district with some great teams at the time,” Cryer said. “I like the opportunity to compete with the best every single week, it keeps you prepared and I like that.”

“It’s going to be hard for St. Louis this year, but we are excited for the challenge.”

Cryer’s players share the sentiment.

“We just have to take each play one at a time,” Francois said. “If our offense can control the game, we will be alright.”

“We just have to work together and do our thing,” Greenman added.

St. Louis Saints

Sept. 5 — at Sam Houston 7 p.m.

Sept. 11 — vs. Abbeville 7 p.m.

Sept. 19 — vs. West Feliciana 7 p.m.

Sept. 26 — at Notre Dame 7 p.m.

Oct. 3 — at Marksville 7 p.m.

*Oct. 10 — vs. Jennings 7 p.m.

*Oct. 17 — vs. Iowa 7 p.m.

*Oct. 24 — at South Beauregard 7 p.m.

*Oct. 31 — vs. Westlake 7 p.m.

*Nov. 7 — at Iota 7 p.m.

District game(Rick Hickman/American Press)

Rick Hickman