KINDER — In the game of football, you have to trust the man next to you to do his job if you want to be successful.

In Kinder there has been no shortage of success recently, and that has come thanks in large part to the bond that the players have built with one another. And no group of players on the team is more close-knit than the linebackers.

Seniors Bryce Baker, Don Charles Arceneaux and Zach Rider comprise a group that has pushed the Yellow Jackets to be, arguably, the top defense in Class 2A. All three were starters on the state championship they won as juniors and have helped pave the way for the state’s longest active winning streak, which sits at 24 games.

They look to extend that streak this week in the semifinals when they host No. 3 Sterlington with a shot at returning to the Superdome for the second consecutive year on the line.

“That would just be a really big accomplishment and something you can be proud to tell your kids one day,” Rider said.

They also were three of the top players on Kinder’s state championship baseball team as juniors, each earning all-state honors with Rider being named the state MVP.

But the trio didn’t begin their bond on the football field when they got to high school. It began more than a decade ago.

“The three of us are best friends and we have been since we were 6 or 7 years old,” Arceneaux said. “I actually remember riding to a peewee baseball game one time with Bryce and Zach in the backseat and us telling my mom that we were going to win state championships in football and baseball when we were in high school. We always had those goals for ourselves.”

“We have been together forever; since elementary school we have grown up together,” Rider said.

“It is easy to trust someone next to you when you are so close to them,” Baker added.

It is with that close bond that the threesome have come to lead the Kinder defense to be feared throughout the state in 2A schools.

“It is a privilege to lead one of the best defenses in the state,” Arceneaux said. “I like to think of myself as a leader, but there is no way this would be possible without the rest of these guys.”

“Our defense is pretty solid all the way through,” Rider said. “I’ve got to give all the credit to our linemen, though, because they make it possible for us to do what we do.”

Head coach Bret Fuselier knows that he has a truly special group leading his defense.

“These guys are true students of the game; they all know this game and love this game,” Fuselier said. “I call them the Three Stooges because they are always clowning around, but when they hit the football field it is an entirely different story. When those lights turn on they flip a switch and become great players.”

Fuselier explained that Baker, an all-state selection and the American Press All-Southwest Louisiana small schools defensive MVP in 2013, is in charge of the defense.

“Bryce is the leader of our defense, he makes all of the play calls. He is kind of like our defensive quarterback,” Fuselier said. “He is a true football player; he is very tough and extremely physical, but he also understands what we as coaches are looking for so it is almost like having a coach on the field.”

Arceneaux, who has exceptional size for a 2A linebacker at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, fills the hole as the playmaker by causing havoc in opposing backfields.

“DC is a very athletic guy. It seems like wherever the ball is on the field he is right there,” Fuselier said. “When you have a guy with his size that is so athletic and so fast it makes a huge difference.”

Rider is listed as a strong safety on the depth chart, but playing the buck safety role in the 4-2-5 defense is similar to playing as the third linebacker in a standard 4-3 defense.

“Zach does a lot of the dirty work for us like take on blocks,” Fuselier said. “In last year’s state championship he had to take on a big 300-pound tackle all game. He only had two tackles in that game, but he opened everything up for everyone else to make the plays. That exemplifies what he is willing to do for us to succeed as a defense.”

The 300-pound tackle Fuselier referred to is Many’s Garrett Thomas, who is widely considered the state’s top offensive tackle regardless of class and is committed to the University of Texas.(Rick Hickman/American Press)