METAIRIE – P.J. Lonergan could have gone somewhere other than Rummel for the 2005-06 school year. When Katrina hit, his family’s home was one of the many destroyed in the flooding aftermath.

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Rummel lineman and LSU signee P.J. Lonergan

The Lonergans moved to Baton Rouge, and then relocated to a relative’s house on the Northshore.

But once Lonergan found out Rummel was opening back up, his decision was a no-brainer.

Despite the long commute. Despite the long day of school. And despite the football practice afterward that tired him out.

“Good thing I wasn’t driving yet,” Lonergan said. “I would have fallen asleep on the Causeway. I was falling asleep every day my dad was driving me over.”

And for that, head coach Jay Roth must have been happy, even if it wasn’t reason enough to take it easy on his standout lineman.

Two years later, that lineman signed a scholarship to play football at LSU, one of 14 in-state signees for the Tigers. It wasn’t exactly a surprise.

“My dad and my uncle played there,” Lonergan said. “Most of my dad’s – he’s one of 9 kids – all of them pretty much graduated from LSU. All of my family has been involved with LSU all my life.”

Lonergan has helped the Red Raiders’ offense pile up yards the past two seasons. In 2006, Rummel boasted two 1,000-yard rushers and a 1,000-yard passer. This season, it had two more 1,000-yard rushers.

It’s safe to say a good bulk of those yards came behind the 6-foot-4, 288-pound guard.

“He always knew what he was doing; he understood what he had to do,” Roth said. “He could really relax in practice and have fun. He really became a leader when we made that playoff run, the last three or four games when he realized it was getting towards the end.”

Lonergan’s “happy-go-lucky” attitude – as Roth called it – has done more than relax his teammates, however. Several years ago, doctor’s diagnosed Lonergan’s younger sister with cancer.

Once an athlete who enjoyed running the bases on a softball field, Molly Lonergan went through treatments and surgeries to overcome the bone cancer.

Through it all, P.J. Lonergan was there, comforting as well as picking on his younger sister.

“The only thing I ever got was from his mother would call me and tell me to talk to P.J. because he was picking on his sister,” Roth said. “I can understand that, PJ can aggravate you.”

Said Lonergan, “To be honest, I was never really worried. I always knew in the back of my head that she’d always be all right. There always was the worry there to make sure things go right, like certain surgeries. But I knew everything was going to be all right. I don’t know why. I can’t tell you why.

“It’s just the way I felt through the whole thing. It worked out fine. She’s cancer-free now.”

So, Lonergan, soon-to-be LSU Tiger, isn’t playing for only himself anymore. Instead, he’s carrying the weight of two people on his broad shoulders.

“She was real good in softball and volleyball,” he said. “When she had surgery … they had to take out her femur all the way up her hip and they did a total knee replacement. She’s not supposed to run. So, she can’t play anything anymore. I know that breaks her heart. That’s what she loved to do.”

And now it’s off to LSU, where Lonergan will attempt to help the Tigers get back to the national title game. Should that happen, a dream would certainly come true.

“If you don’t like LSU growing up in Louisiana, something is wrong,” he said.