East St. John Wildcats

By Lee Brecheen

Head Coach: Brandon Brown (6th year)

2022 Record: 10-3

Class & District: Class 5A (District 7)

2022 Playoffs: Defeated Walker 29-28 in 1st Round, Defeated Haughton 35-21 in 2nd Round, Lost to Destrehan 21-20 in Quarterfinals of Division I (Non-Select) Playoffs

East St. John WR D'Khai Joseph

“We go into the fall with two great young quarterbacks and not one has separated from the other, which I think is a good problem to have right now,” East St. John head coach Brandon Brown said. “Both players can help us win. We return four out of five offensive lineman from last season which will help those quarterbacks and our offense.We have a strong WR group back and also we return the front 4 on the Defensive front which is key for us too.We lost some talented players but return talented players in there spots so we feel good overall as a team.”

The Wildcat tradition of having speed and great athletes on the offensive side of the ball will continue in 2023. We can talk for days and years about all the great talent to come from this program on the offensive side of the ball.

This year the offense will have a new quarterback. The only thing is they have two talented gunslingers to choose from in senior Lorenzo Zeno (6-2, 190) with a good arm and John Curtis Christian transfer senior Kairan Smith (5-11, 160) who also has a really good arm. The skill talent around these young players will help a lot returning two senior wide receivers with over 1,000 yards each in 2022: D’Khai Joseph (5-11, 160, 4.4 speed) and Koyal Gray (5-10, 160, 4.5) speed. The wide receiver spot also has more talent with speed in WR Kendal Walker (4.5 forty), WR Jermaine Mangle (6-0, 170, 4.5 speed) and a few young players battling to get on the field.

The run game lost some experience and leadership to graduation but return equal talent in senior RB Elijah Frank (5-10, 220) who moves over from linebacker and has a mix of both power and speed. Frank is a sleeper in the state of Louisiana. The Wildcats also have two new starters in RB Jorell Martin (4.5 speed) and senior RB Brandon Tyler (5-10, 170, 4.5 speed).

East St.John WR Koyal Gray

The offensive line will make this group even better with four starters back. The O-Line will be led by senior OL Denario Scott (6-2, 285, squats 600 pounds), senior OG/OT Develle Crouch (6-3, 280) and OG Gary O’Neal (6-1, 285). You also have TE Aaron Sanders (6-6, 230) blocking and catching passes.

The defense will again have size up front and speed in the back end to give this team a chance to go a long way in the playoffs in 2023. The heart and soul of the defense is back in three-year starter senior CB/SS Dwayne Brown (5-10, 180). East. St. John also returns third-year starter DE/DT Jamarion Zeno (6-3, 270) who is a big-time player and an even better leader, SS Jahyi Jones (5-11, 170, 4.5 speed), LB Myklen Manuel who is another big-time player, senior DE Kyban Fobb (6-2, 255), DT Christopher Cage, new starter CB Brian Warren (6-0, 175) and senior CB Charles Rayfield (6-3, 180, 4.5 speed).

East. St. John CB/SS Dwayne Brown

East St. John’s special teams returns starting senior kicker/punter Elian Green (5-8, 155), who has a D1 leg as a three-year starter. Green will also play some corner for the team and he can run with 4.6 speed.

Several players from the Class of 2023 signed: TE Devin Davis (Alabama State), RB George Martin (Arizona), ATH Kaden Henderson (walk-on at Nicholls State), LB Freddie Jones (Papago Junior -Arizona), DB Hansen Johnson (Eureka -Illinois) and RB Cortez Fisher (Independence Community -Kansas).

Coach Brown started his coaching at Columbus High School in Mississippi. Before he became the head coach at East St. John, Brown was the head coach of St. Helena and Career Academy for five years and led the Hawks to the 2017 2A State Championship game where they ended up losing to Welsh 36-28. Coach Brown is a graduate of East St. John HS(Class 2001) and played football collegiately at Alcorn State.

Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, The Sports Scouting Report with Lee Brecheen, and click on the bell to be notified whenever we release a new episode. If you want to listen on the go, follow us wherever you get your podcasts! We have a show three times a week where we interview coaches and recruits statewide in both football and baseball. If you click/press on the logo below, it will take you directly to our YouTube channel!