Offseason prep: Time spent at QB camps helping Erath’s Romero prepare for senior season, college

ERATH — Starting quarterback Lynkon Romero looks forward to an even better senior season with the Erath High Bobcats after an offseason spent at numerous camps and working with star receiver Christian Pillette.
Romero passed for 1,653 yards and 16 touchdowns and ran for 477 yards and 12 TDs as a junior. He said that his work at off-season camps the past two years in an effort to improve and get him exposure to college coaches.
“I see improvements from last year to this year, especially with all the camps I’ve been to,” Romero said. “Working with college coaches has helped me.”
Romero was named the high school MVP for the QB Impact Academy Reload Camp Series in late January, held at Lamar High School in Arlington, Texas. He also was a Top 3 QB at the SPE Elite National Camp in late January at Westlake High School, near Lake Charles, and this past month was chosen for the Senior Chief Sidney Smith Excellence Award at the QB Impact Academy in Melissa, Texas.
“(Seeing) the college workouts and how they go about their drills helps me get ready for college, to know what to expect,” he said.
Romero also has gained about 25 pounds since last season and hasn’t lost any speed, he said.
“I think this weight will help push me over that edge by helping me to rush better and be stronger in general,” he said.
Romero said the Bobcats are looking to get past the second round of the playoffs this year. In 2022, Erath reached the second round for the first time since 2016 before falling to unbeaten West Feliciana.
“It’s an expectation,” he said. “We expect to make a run deep in the playoffs. It’s a goal, but it’s an expectation too. We’re going to work for it.”
He said that having a senior group that’s played together for years will help the Bobcats achieve that goal.
“We’ve been working for it for years,” Romero said. “We’ve been playing together since pee-wee football, so we all know each other and we know what we can do.”
He’s developed a stronger relationship with star receiver Christian Pillette, also. Pillette led Vermilion Parish with 843 yards and eight touchdowns on 44 catches in 2022.
“Our relationship is great,” Romero said. “We’re always hanging out, talking. We throw a lot during the week. We have that connection on the field but also off the field with our friendship.
“I have full, hundred percent trust in him, and I know he has 100 percent trust in me too.”
“We’ve been working out. We hang out whenever we can,” Pillette said. “We went to a couple of camps together. I got to know him way closer than I ever have.”
Their coach noticed the work the two have put in, also. Romero and Pillette are both team captains this year.
“They worked their butts off this offseason,” coach Eric LeBlanc said. “Mentally, they’re ahead of where they were last year. I’m expecting them to continue to grow.
“They bonded more with the senior and junior classes because they feel this year could be special if they have some good days out there on Friday night.”
The two are team captains, he said, and he’s looking forward to them getting better.
LeBlanc said that though the Bobcats reached the second round of the playoffs, it left the team feeling they hadn’t reached their expectations.
“Once you get to the playoffs, it’s one game at a time, so it’s a little bit different than in-season,” he said. “In-season, you’ve got that next game to look forward to and learn from. It’s win or go home when you get to those five in the playoffs.”
After the season, LeBlanc said that the coaches felt they’d screwed some things up that would’ve helped their playoff path be a little easier with a better power ranking.
“I think those guys felt the same way, so that’s why this offseason’s been nice, because they know where the mistakes were last year, and we know as a team, and we’ve been working every day to correct those mistakes,” the coach said.