LEESVILLE, La. (KPLC) - The Leesville Wampus Cats are entering the 2026 football season with a returning quarterback, a group of young receivers stepping into larger roles, and consistent playoff appearances fueling expectations for this year.
Senior quarterback Trel Broom is back for his final season under center for Leesville.
“It feels great. Knowing it’s my last year, I get one more time to go and just do my best to see what I can do for the school. See what I can bring home,” Broom said.
Broom will play without former wide receiver Michael Davis, a key target from previous seasons. He said younger players have stepped up to fill that void.
“It’s been good like seeing all these young guys progress like I have guys that were freshmen last year and they didn’t play JV. Now they’re going to get some varsity reps. It’s just knowing that Mikey showed them what to do while he was here and they just continue what he started as a receiver here,” Broom said.
Head coach Robert Causey said he is confident in this year’s roster.
“A good bunch of kids I got behind me. They get after it, no questions and I think they understand the standard that we have here. Do ordinary things extraordinarily well, and they just trust our core values. They understand that tough people win,” Causey said.
Leesville advanced to the second round of the playoffs in 2025 and reached the semifinals in 2024. Causey emphasized the value of returning players who have already seen postseason action.
“You can’t replace game experience. Kids understand where the heat is, and they understand it’s really not that hot. But because they have the experience under their belt, they’ve seen it. They understand what they’re looking at. They know how they’re being tricked a little bit by the opponents. Having those kids coming back, there is a little bit of an ease to knowing okay how far along are we. There’s not a lot of installation. It’s more just repetition,” Causey said.
Last season, the Wampus Cats started the year 1-5. But junior strong safety and wide receiver Julius Brown said this team knows what it will take to have a faster start.
“We were a young team so I believe we know how to win now. Like the leaders stepped up and I believe that’s going to push us to a great start,” Brown said.
Brown added that the energy around the program is high entering the new season.
“We’re going to turn the city up. Everybody is going to be hype this year,” Brown said.
Senior defensive end Jakori Celestine said the group is focused on finishing strong.
“I mean for this last year, I just think we need to go out with a bang. Make the record the best that we can. You know, go out and fight every play. I think we’re going to have one of the highest scoring offenses of all time this year,” Celestine said.
Broom echoed the team’s mindset heading into the season.
“You can expect a very excited team, a blessed team, a very humble team, and we’re coming to work,” Broom said.