Running With Purpose: Midwest City (Oklahoma) 2024 tailback Lasiera Laviolette playing while remembering younger brother
MIDWEST CITY, OKLAHOMA - It has been a tough year for Lasiera Laviolette.
The Midwest City tailback suffered a loss right as his senior season started and he has been dealing with that pain ever since.
However, when Laviolette gets on the football field, he isn’t playing just for himself anymore.
“My season, it's been going good. It was slow a little bit,” Laviolette said. “I had a loss at the beginning of the season.
"I lost my brother (Cordea Carter) with that Choctaw (Del City) game and stuff. So, I set out for a little bit. But other than that, man, I have just been playing for my brother, man. That's what I do.”
Carter, a 16-year-old student at Midwest City, passed away from a gunshot wound when shots were fired during the Del City at Choctaw football game on Aug. 25. It happened during the second half of the game, which was called off at that point as players, coaches and fans quickly ran off for safety.
Yet, before Laviolette could make it back on the field, he did have doubts about whether he would play again.
Oklahoma high school football computer rankings (10/17/2023)
“It was a little bit of that when everything first happened,” Laviolette said. “I thought everything was safe, but my brother came to talk to me in my head and said, ‘Go play for me.’ He said, go do that.”
So that is what Laviolette has been doing.
The 5-foot-8, 160-pound speedster sees action on both sides of the ball. He plays in the Bombers' defensive secondary and in the backfield.
Friday night against Lawton MacArthur, Laviolette made his presence felt on both sides, but it was on offense where he made the biggest impact. He racked up almost 200 total yards and two touchdowns as the Bombers took down the previously undefeated Highlanders, 42-7, in a District 5A-1 game.
Laviolette combined with his backfield running mates, Jahhim Mahmoud and Jaylan Woody, to ground down the Highlanders' defense.
This is what Midwest City coach Darrell Hall has come to expect from his backfield, who has taken on the nickname, "The Bank Roll."
”Laviolette brings it every day. He runs angry is what we say,” Hall said. “Both he and Woody have had 100-yard games every game. Laviolette makes explosive plays. He runs, like I said, angry.
Midwest City senior tailback Lasiera Laviolette (with ball) helped the Bombers to a 42-7 win against previously undefeated Lawton MacArthur on Oct. 13, 2023.
"And in Jahhim, he's a bigger back than the rest of them. And he finally picked up his knees and ran for the goal, so we've been talking about that. So, it's good to have all three.”
Along with quarterback Kenneth Colston and a solid offensive line, the running attack will spearhead the Bombers' offense for the rest of the season as they aim to bounce back from a slow start.
The win over the previously unbeaten Highlanders could be the match that ignites what Hall hopes is a run at a district title.
“We hadn't played four quarters all year. And I challenged them to say, not two quarters, not three quarters. Let's go play four quarters,” Hall said. “And we did. And we surprised ourselves by how well we can play, and we talked about believing in each other. I believe in you. Do believe in yourself, and they do.
"They're a great group of men. And we just got to keep getting better. And we gave them the challenge. So now we're tied with these guys. We got the nod. So they're 3-1 in district. We're 3-1 in district. We hold our own destiny in our hands.”
Laviolette is looking to continue to help Midwest City - which returns to action with a game Thursday night at Ardmore - win games and then hopefully go to college where he will continue his football career. While he hasn’t picked up any offers yet, if says if he continues to perform on the field, he knows they will come.
But even more importantly, he will be making his brother proud.
“It made me feel good and I know I'm making them proud,” Laviolette said. “I know he's smiling at me. I know he's saying, there you go, Bubba.”
-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK
