Jacob Carruth focusing on culture and pace during 7v7 competition

written by Marshall Loeffler

New St. Mary’s head football coach Jacob Carruth has been pleased with the early results as his Tigers have worked through the 7v7 summer period. In his first season leading the program, Carruth said he’s seen consistent week-to-week improvement from the group as they install both his uptempo offensive scheme and the culture he wants to build.

“You have heard a lot of coaches say this out here, and they’re right: the goal for our 7v7 time is not to win every single 7v7 game,” Carruth said. “Our goal is to win games in the fall. So based on our preparation for that, we’ve been able to do well this summer, which, for us, means improve and get better for Friday nights in September.”

Carruth, a Captain Shreve grad, was the previous head coach at Catholic-Pointe Coupee and North Central before heading back up Interstate 49 and landing in Natchitoches. So far, he has been impressed with the roster he inherited at the 1A Catholic school, which has made its mark recently on the gridiron by relying on two-way players, multi-sport athletes, and strong upperclassmen leadership and production with a smaller roster size.

“We’ve got a good group here right now,” he said. “It is a big senior class this year, so we should be able to come in and have a good bit of success right away. They were hungry to get to work as soon as I got here; very coachable kids, and we’ve been getting better every day.”

During the CENLA 7v7 summer league at LCU, he highlighted several seniors who have stood out during the summer work:

• Preston Tilley (QB) — Stepped back into the QB role and has led the way during summer
• Denison Morgan (TE) — Leading receiver most weeks in 7v7, excellent at finding space and becoming a reliable target.
• Carter Hogue (Slot WR) — Stepping into new role and performing well.
• Michael French & Brady Childress (Outside WR) — Doing a strong job learning their roles.
• JP Thibodeaux (RB) — Key returner that will factor into the run game again

The Tigers head man is confident that his offense will score points, but emphasized that the system is kept simple, especially for the summer install. He said he wants a playbook set up so his players can play fast and confident while learning the nuances. While he brought a system with him that he knows will work, he’s also made adjustments to fit the personnel at St. Mary’s. “I think we’re a lot further along than I anticipated us being at this point,” he said. “They’ve done a really good job of being coachable and listening and learning, and fortunately, we have a lot of personnel that fits with this offense.”

St. Mary’s made first round headlines last year with a road playoff upset at St. John’s, and Carruth sees that same hunger in the group that returned from that 2025 team. When looking at his past 5 seasons in a head coaching role, his teams typically go on strong runs in the latter half of the regular season.

“There’s a lot of competitiveness in these kids. They want to win, they want to be the best,” Carruth said. “They’ve shown a great willingness to put in the work that it’s going to take to get back to that level that St. Mary’s was used to — winning 8, 9, 10 games a year and making deep runs in the playoffs.”

While Carruth is encouraged by the summer progress, he’s not rushing the process.

“There’s still a ways for us to go, but I expect us to have a really good year,” he added.

The Tigers will look to translate their 7v7 growth into success once the season opens at home against Vidalia on September 4th.