VC family cooks for players every Thursday night

For the last 13 weeks, a group of Vermilion Catholic football players have eaten at the same house, every Thursday night.
The routine has worked well because the Eagles have won 12 straight games and are one win away from playing in the Super Dome for a Division IV State title.
The Eagles play Cedar Creek in the semifinal round Friday, starting at 7 p.m.
This Thursday, the routine continued.
Around 20 players, who range in weight from 150 pounds to 240 pounds, ate at the Wiggins home in Abbeville. Many drove themselves to their home.
The menu consisted of 16-pounds of pork in a rice and gravy with side dishes of corn, green beans, bread and then a dessert.
What they had to drink is not bad, either.
Rachel Wiggins, the mother of lineman J.J. Cote, made two gallons of homemade root-beer and two gallons of homemade sweet tea. For dessert , it was ice cream.
By the end of the night, there was not much food left because hungry football players ate it.
This routine is the norm every Thursday at the home of Rachel and Timothy Wiggins. They have been doing it since the beginning of the season. The Wiggins, who spend more than $100 each time they cook, have cooked everything from chili to gumbo. The favorite dish amongst the players, based on their requests, is rice and gravy with any kind of meat.
The first week of the playoffs, the week VC drew a bye, Rachel prepared a large meal to keep the routine going. The players came and ate.
Thanksgiving week the players did not have school that week and probably ate well for Thanksgiving dinner. They did not want to mess up the Thursday night routine, so they still came over Thanksgiving night. .
“I did not mind because I did not want to mess anything up,” she said.
The VC players, who attend the meal, have given Rachel the nickname, “Mamma Rachel.”
“I love doing it,” said Rachel. “I love to cook. My son is a senior and I know the suppers are coming to an end. They all said they coming back next year.”
J.J. Cote, her son, said the reason the players come is because they enjoy his mother’s cooking.
“She cooks well,” Cote said. “If I had to pick what we all enjoy eating, it would have to be her rice and gravy.”
Rachel said the players begin showing up at her house right after practice and begin eating.
The Wiggins and Cote have it right at VC from the get-go. The Wiggins moved to Abbeville from Lafayette four years ago. They purchased a home in the city, and Rachel admits the only thing she heard about Abbeville before they moved was that it was a place with good restaurants.
The move to Abbeville has been a success because everyone has welcomed them into their lives despite being an outsider. It also does not hurt that she can cook a mean rice and gravy.