Captain Shreve head coach Jeremy Wilburn talks to his team after defeating Evangel on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, at Lee Hedges Stadium in Shreveport, La. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Jeremy Wilburn may be a first-year head coach for Captain Shreve, but he doesn’t need a history lesson as he leads his team into Shreveport’s biggest high school football rivalry Thursday.
The Captain Shreve-Byrd affair won’t be his first foray, just the first wearing green and gold. The former Byrd quarterback understands emotions tend to run high this week. In fact, he was once a victim of Shreve-Byrd’s intangibles.
“I was overamped my junior year,” Wilburn said. “At halftime I was exhausted, worn out. Luckily, we were up 28-0 so it didn’t matter, but (emotions) can definitely come back to bite you.
” A resurgent Byrd is 7-2, but Wilburn believes the mental challenge may be the toughest for his Gators (5-4). “You get a good football player, a good competitor and they can run too hot too fast and overdo it,” Wilburn said. “Our job is keep the foot on the gas, but have enough brake to get ready for the game – be mentally ready and not exhausted and not be able to get through four quarters.
” Captain Shreve won last year’s contest, 35-28 , en route to a sweep of District 1-5A, but has lost 11 of the past 14 matchups. As bitter as the rivalry has been for decades, Wilburn says the side have a lot more in common than they don’t. “You�.