Such is the case for Hunter Longino from an Oakdale Warrior team that went 3-7 on the regular season in 2018 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Vidalia in the delta.
Because of his 114 tackles, four sacks, one interception, four forced fumbles, and five tackles for loss; Longino was named the Defensive MVP for District 5-2A. He was also named the first ever Allen Parish Football Defensive MVP.
“It feels good,” he said about his defensive honors at the linebacker position. “But, it’s not just all me. It takes the whole defensive line to set me up in the right spot to make the plays that I make. It takes everybody working together.”
Before starting the season, Longino and his Oakdale Warriors had one goal in mind to win the district championship. Personal goals on the year for Longino were to, as he said, “try to improve from the year before by working at practice harder and trying to do better in the new season by making more tackles and trying to stay on top.”
The season started slow out the gate for the Warriors as they lost the first game at home to cross-parish rival Kinder 35-0. Things did not get any easier at Oakdale as the team lost the next three games to Iota, Oberlin, and Opelousas.
Longino’s defense gave up a combined 65 points in the first quarter alone to Iota and Opelousas.
After going 0-4 to start the year, Oakdale won its last non-district game against Ville Platte and its first district game against East Beauregard.
A road loss to Vinton followed, and then Oakdale faced then undefeated Rosepine on homecoming. The loss to the Eagles, though, was the game that stands out the most for Longino.
“We lost by a touchdown, but we weren’t playing for ourselves,” said the Warrior senior linebacker. “We were playing for everybody who has come through Oakdale High School. I wasn’t worried about myself too much. I was just worried about playing for everybody else.”
The only other win for Oakdale came a week later against Pickering on senior night, and the season ended with a playoff loss 20-0 at Vidalia.
Longino said about the Vidalia playoff game, “The last game was one for the memory books because it was so muddy.”
He added, “The last time we played Vidalia was in 1994, and it meant a lot to go back and play them in my senior year. We lost 22-18 that year in 1994, and our school this year made us a big film to encourage us to win it back not just for us but for them on that team.”
Even though he will not wear the purple and gold for Oakdale on the football again, Longino looks to excel in the Spring on the track and on the baseball diamond.
He commented, “I want to try to go good in everything else I do this year. I want to try to stay on top and get better from last year and just stay ahead.”
After graduation in May, Longino wants “to try to go play baseball or football or run track somewhere.” He added, “If one of those offers comes up, I’ll probably take it.”
Until then, Longino is still relishing being named Defensive MVP for the district and the parish. But, he does not take all the credit. “It’s not just me,” he concluded. “It’s pretty much everybody. It takes everybody from the defensive line and everybody else on the team to do what I do. They help me through everything.”
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