When Central lined up for its first offensive play in last Friday’s nondistrict game with reigning Division I nonselect state champion Ouachita, the Wildcats had a familiar face in the backfield.
A week after missing a road game with West Monroe, senior wide receiver Brody Diel was the only running back in the shotgun, taking a pitch from quarterback Max Gassiott, cutting up field and bowling over an incoming defensive back for a 12-yard gain and first down.
“That is when I knew…He’s BACK,” Central football coach David Simoneaux Jr. said of Diel.
Two weeks before, Diel had violently crashed into the artificial turf at Central’s Wildcat field, the result of making a highlight-reel reception and his face mask being driven downward. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Rice commitment returned from a concussion to help the Wildcats successfully prepare for the start of District 4-5A play.
The numbers were impressive – 9 catches, 142 yards, 2 TDs – but Simoneaux said there’s no way to truly measure Diel’s presence in Central’s 42-21 victory.
“What he means to our team, it’s the kind of competitor he is,” he said. “He’s a throw-back ball player. He’s so dynamic and consistent, and disciplined. He’s big, strong and physical. I could see this guy continuing to elevate in college.”
Back for first play
Diel’s first offensive play since leaving the same field two weeks earlier was a signal to not only Simoneaux, but to his teammates, that he was back and prepared to give it his usual 100% effort and provide the leadership needed to avoid a rare two-game losing streak.
The Wildcats (3-2) will now open district play at home Friday against Zachary (3-2) where Diel, this week’s LouisianaSports.net’s Player of the Week, will be ready to lead forward.
“It’s the balls he catches over the over the middle of the field because he does it with such vigor,” Simoneaux said. “He’s exploding through the middle and there’s no fear. He had two first downs on our first (touchdown) drive. We had third-and-11 and third-and-six, and nobody else extends those drives for us like he does. Three plays later we punch it on Max’s touchdown run.”
Different role
Diel was forced from action near the end of the first quarter against John Ehret and spent time in concussion protocol with the hope of playing two weeks ago against West Monroe.
Simoneaux said Diel passed every neurological test and expected to be cleared to play when the coach, who has children of his own, decided not to play him.
“He has such a bright future, and he’s a kid that you have to protect from himself,” Simoneaux said. “He’ll do whatever it takes to be on a football field. He sat that game and obviously it killed him. I just couldn’t do it.”
Diel watched his teammates push West Monroe to double overtime before falling, 42-36.
Fellow Marcus Watson did his best to absorb the loss of Diel in the game with 12 catches for 140 yards and three TDs.
“The beauty of having Diel back it’s truly pick your poison,” Simoneaux said. “If you’re rolling coverage to Marcus (a Houston commitment), Brody’s left in a one-on-one situation and vice versa.”
Diel continued in concussion protocol last week, making strides daily, and had a solid week of preparation for Ouachita.
“You knew that dude was going to add a lot of courage to our offense when he was out there ripping and running like he’s capable of,” Simoneaux said.
Impacting the game
The visiting Lions took a 14-7 lead before the Wildcats went on a 21-0 run for a 28-14 lead at halftime.
Diel took in a 52-yard pass for a touchdown on a wheel route that broke a 14-14 tie in the second quarter. He added another score on a 20-yard reception from Gassiott on a corner route in the third quarter.
“The thing that sticks out is his ability to make these contact catches in space,” Simoneaux said. “It’s not like he’s getting hit by people. He plays so hard. His injuries occur because of the way he plays with reckless abandon.”
Diel also gave Central a boost in the secondary, trying to help limit Ouachita’s top target – 6-foot-3 Seneca Battle.
“He’s probably the most underrecruited player in the state. He’s a stud,” Simoneaux said of Battle, who had six catches for 89 yards. “Brody was following him around in such clutch down and distance situations and did a great job.”
Diel, who has 29 catches for 459 yards and 4 TDs, is now in second season with Central. He played his first two years at Silliman Institute in nearby Clinton and transferred in the spring semester of his sophomore year.
Diel, who also had a pick-6 vs. Zachary in 2025, was part of one of the top passing games in 2025 with 60 catches for 961 yards and 10 TDs, but it was his display of resilience six months earlier that gave Simoneaux a clear indication into the receiver’s mental fortitude.
A ruptured appendix resulted in Diel dropping 16 pounds in February, but even after surgery to resection part of his colon, he was back in the weight room setting an example for his teammates with a 305-pound power clean.
“He’s just a war daddy,” Simoneaux said. “He took a football to the appendix. We don’t know if that exacerbated an already bad appendix, but it certainly didn’t help. He came back in August weighing 190 pounds.
“Immediately, he’s one of those guys that just added toughness and courage to your weight room,” Simoneaux said. “He added a competitive fight, a get-after-it type of mentality in anything he did.”
