Bengals celebrate triumphal return to Eunice
By Jamie Anfenson-Comeau
In a triumphal procession that could have filled a conquering Roman general with envy, the LSU at Eunice Bengals, NJCAA Division II 2008 national champions, were welcomed home to Eunice Friday.
Escorted from Baton Rouge by law enforcement officers, the Bengal van traveled swiftly along the last leg of its 500-mile journey from Millington, Tenn.; so swiftly, in fact, that calls were made to slow the procession down, to prevent the team from arriving before their welcome was ready.
Hundreds of fans, young an old, and city officials showed up to greet the team on their return to campus, in an impromptu welcome organized by former Eunice city mayor and Bengal Booster Club President Curtis Joubert.
Surrounded by media and fans looking for signatures, the Bengals were treated as celebrities as they stepped off the bus outside the Bengal Village Apartments with the college’s second national championship trophy in three years.
Using an trailer as a hastily-improvised stage, Joubert said that the team exceeded even the wildest wishes of the school’s founders.
“We used to sit around and discuss the possibility of having an intercollegiate athletic program. Never once did we realize in our fondest dreams that we would be hosting national champions,” Joubert said.
“This is an outstanding way to bring our 40th anniversary to a close,” LSUE Chancellor William ‘Bill’ Nunez said during his opening remarks.
Coach Jeff Willis credited the sophomore leadership of the team with inspiring the underclassmen with the goal of a national championship.
Three of the sophomores were with the team when the Bengals won their first national championship in 2006.
“Throughout the year, every time that we ended practice, our guys broke out, instead of saying 1-2-3-Bengals, it was 1-2-3-National Champions, every single time,” Willis said.
“These guys set out with a goal of winning, and they really believed they were going to do that, and when you believe something, work hard, and have talent, good things are going to happen.”