Seedings mean little when second season kicks off
Published 7:00 pm Thursday, November 8, 2018
In this edition of the Three Point Stance, staff writers Rodrick Anderson and Warren Arceneaux preview the bi-district round of the high school football playoffs involving area large schools.
What is the best game?
RA: Landry-Walker at Barbe. Landry-Walker is a dangerous 18-seed. Teams seeded 18th went 4-1 last year in the bi-district round. L-W lost its first three games to the Who’s Who of Louisiana football in John Curtis Christian, Edna Karr and Warren Easton, but has won six of its last seven. L-W was the 2016 Class 5A state champion. Barbe is also on a roll, winning four straight by an average of 23.3 points. Barbe’s defense has allowed three points in its last two games and will need another shut-down performance to stop L-W, which is averaging 36.7 points per game.
WA: Denham Springs at Sam Houston. The Broncos are having their best season since moving up to 5A, and getting a postseason win would be a big step for the program. They might have to win a shootout to get it as Denham Springs averages 34 ppg.
Which area team will make the longest playoff run?
RA: No. 1 Iota is undefeated and played in one of the toughest districts in the state that also produced the Nos. 2, 11, 13 and 14 seeds in Class 3A. The Bulldogs are looking for their first trip to the Superdome since 2002 and seem to have a lot of the right pieces like a pair of strong running backs in Luke Doucet (1,268 yards, 18 TDs) and Kollin Guillory (705 yds., 9 TDs) and a defense that is allowing 12.3 ppg.
WA: Leesville gets the edge over Lake Charles College Prep based on potential quarterfinal matchups. The Trailblazers are looking at a game against Kaplan, which has made two semifinal appearances in three years. The Wampus Cats would play St. Martinville, which is undefeated but does not have the same kind of playoff pedigree in recent years, having not won more than six games in a season since 2006 until this season.
Which area team is most likely to pull an upset this week?
RA: South Beauregard finished the regular season strong, winning three of its last four. The lone loss during that time was a four-point loss to Jennings. The Golden Knights will be on the road but will face a team that was upset in the first round last year at the No. 3 seed by District 4-3A rival Westlake. The Golden Knights have a pair of strong RBs in Colby Hollier (1,317 yds., 13 TDs) and Jayden Derouen (779 yds., 4 TDs) who are hard to stop. The pair is averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
WA: A nine seed beating an eight is technically an upset so I’m going with St. Louis. The Saints finished the regular season strong with three wins in four games and showed a good fighting spirit with a near comeback win against undefeated Class 4A Leesville last week. Stellar special teams play gives the Saints an edge in close games and could be the difference here.