A year after coming up one point short, Iowa head football coach Tommy Johns is the winner of the American Press Southwest La. Coach of the Year award after guiding the Yellow Jackets to an 11-2 season and the first semifinal appearance in program history.

There was no drama this season, with Johns winning in a landslide over runner-up Robert Causey of Leesville and third-place finisher Kevin Bertrand of Basile. Johns finished as runner-up to Brad Ducote of Rosepine last season, when the Jackets had a 10-2 season and reached the regional round of the playoffs.

This year, Johns earned 24 of 29 first-place votes and finished with 75 points, 48 ahead of Causey.

“Receiving this award from your peers is very special, because they recognize all the hard work and effort that goes into building a successful team,” Johns said.

“I am truly blessed to be surrounded by all the great coaches and players that we have in our program. This is indeed a team award. We are very grateful and honored.”

An inexperienced Yellow Jackets team followed its only regular season loss with seven straight wins to capture the District 3-3A championship and earn the top seed in the Non-Select Division II playoffs.

Causey received two first-place votes and finished with 27 points after getting 8 second-place votes and 5 third-place votes.

The Wampus Cats were the only team to beat Iowa in the regular season with a 30-14 win in Week 3 of the regular season. The Cats finished the season with a 10-3 record and reached the Non-Select Division II quarterfinals, before losing a rematch with Iowa.

Bertrand finished third with 18 points, earning six second-place votes and six third-place votes. Basile reached the quarterfinal round of the playoffs for the fifth time in the past six seasons after going 10-2, including a perfect 6-0 mark in District 5-1A play.

HOW THEY VOTED

Coach, School 1 2 3 Total

Tommy Johns, Iowa 24 1 1 — 75

Robbie Causey, Leesville 2 8 5 — 27

Kevin Bertrand, Basile 1 6 5 — 20

Brad Ducote, Rosepine 0 6 6 — 18

Cody Gueringer, Welsh 0 4 3 — 11

Blake Matherne, St. Louis 1 2 4 — 11

Lark Hebert, Vinton 1 0 0 — 3

Jeff Wainwright, Grand Lake 0 1 1 — 3

Rusty Phelps, Jennings 0 1 0 — 2

Durell Peloquin, Oberlin 0 1 0 — 2

John Richardson, Westlake 0 0 1 — 1

Matt Dufresne, DeQuincy 0 0 1 — 1