The Opelousas Tigers championship celebration was cut short due to allegations of a player who was on the team and lived outside of the school zone.
The claims started immediately after OHS hoisted their first-ever title.
To begin the new year, head coach Jimmy Zachery heard more negatives than positives about his football team.
“For the last five months, I had slander on my name,” said Zachery. “The kids were mistreated too during this process because they earned everything on the field that they tried to take away.”
The LHSAA agreed to the Tigers keeping the title but Zachery has an uphill battle of being on probation for the following year. He is allowed to coach, but any violation can lead to suspension, but that isn’t going to stop him from being the coach that he is.
“I'm not walking on eggshells,” said Zachery. “I'm going to coach the way I coach, and I'm still going to be this energetic guy.”
The final hearing brought out a ton of emotions like reliving the championship. For Zachery, the biggest score was the support through it all.
“This trial made me shed dead weight,” said Zachery. “You see who was rooting for you and seen others that didn’t, and that’s fine with me. I learned a lot about myself during this entire process.”