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For over 10 years now the Dupo Freshman Football Jamboree has provided Freshman football teams in the area an opportunity to come play their underclassmen giving them experience and much needed playing time. The Jamboree is played each year on the morning after the Varsity season opener. This years participants were Althoff Catholic High School, Mater Dei Catholic High School, Wesclin Senior High School and host team Dupo High School. Dupo Athletic Director Tim Stanberry said, “Nobodys overmatched and nobodys oversized. The parochial schools have the option of recruiting unlike the public schools but you’ve got to understand that most of these kids won’t get to play much. This is their first chance to get to hit somebody in a different colored jersey, on a different kid other than who they’ve been playing against in practice. So there’s a little nervousness here but that’s why the rules are different to help reduce the injury factor, eliminate some of the big plays and focus on football fundamentals.”
The playing format for the Jamboree is different than playing a standard football game. Each team will play two 12 minute quarters against two different teams. There are no kickoffs or punting. When the ball changes possession the team starts their drive at their own 40 yard line. So you always start your offensive drive at midfield which allows the focus to be on your basic offensive and defensive sets. “I love the format. It’s a great way to do this.” said Wesclin coach Chris Christopher. “I love the mix of public and parochial schools. Our school is getting a number of kids who haven’t played much football so this is a chance to get them some game experience in a sort of controlled environment. We look forward to this event every year and we’ll probably stick with it as long as they’ll have us. Dupo is a great host. We have a healthy rivalry with them at the Varsity level and it’s great to be able to do something like this for our kids.”
This year Dupo faced Wesclin and Mater Dei. Wesclin faced Dupo and Althoff. Althoff faced Wesclin and Mater Dei. Mater Dei faced Dupo and Althoff. A mix of public and parochial schools that works for this event. While the score is kept in each contest it seems to matter little to the coaches involved. What is more important to them is the chance to coach and educate their players in the game environment. Sort of like pre-season football. Althoff Coach Sean Parini said, “We love the format here. It gives us the opportunity to get our Freshmen out here and just start hitting. Half of our team has never played football so for a first time to play against someone else this is a good experience.”
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