Drama is in short supply going into the final week of the high school football regular season. Outside of the three-team logjam in District 4-1A, most of the area district titles have pretty much been decided, and not too many teams are on the bubble as far as getting into the playoff field.

In the 1-A district, Basile, Grand Lake and Hamilton Christian are all tied for first with one loss. All three are 1-1 against the other two and all are favored to win at home this week, although each has a somewhat tricky matchup with Grand Lake hosting East Beauregard’s prolific ground game, Hamilton Christian hosting Merryville, which has one of the area’s top small school players in Cam’ron Williams and Basile hosting Oberlin, which has been on a good run until losing to Merryville last week.

Elsewhere, the outlook is bleak for the area’s 5A contingent, with Acadiana running away with the District 3-5A title with only Sulphur on pace to make the playoffs. Barbe’s streak of 28 straight playoff appearances will come to an end.

Leesville is off this week after locking up the District 3-4A title with a 34-7 road win over Tioga. The Wampus Cats are rolling, with five straight wins. The 34 points at Tioga was a low-water mark in terms of offensive production during the streak.RB Caleb Gallashaw has run for 1,078 yards and 14 touchdowns during the 5-game streak. His presence, along with an improving defense that has held three of four opponents to 7 points or less, make the Wampus Cats a tough out once the postseason starts.

Leesville lost under tough circumstances in the second round last year, losing to Minden with Gallashaw unable to play due to COVID protocols. The Wampus Cats avenged that loss during this regular season and appear set to make some noise starting next week.

Rayne, despite a narrow non-district loss to Liberty, remains in control of the District 4-4A race and can clinch the title outright with a win at Washington-Marion Friday night. The Charging Indians enter at 4-4 and are 39th in the power ratings. They surely need to win, and likely help beyond that, to have a chance to reach the playoffs. Still, a winning season would be a nice start to the Jules Sullen era after the Charging Indians sat out last season.

In Class 3A, Iowa’s home loss to Prep was deflating, but the Jackets remain in good shape for the postseason. They dropped from second to fifth in the power rankings, but are still in position to host games in the first two rounds of the playoffs if seeding holds. That could get back up to three rounds if the Yellow Jackets finish with a top four seed.

Westlake is holding onto a first round home game as the No. 13 seed. Jennings is up to No. 27 and should be safe even with a loss to Westlake in the regular season finale thanks to a strong strength of schedule. A win could move the Bulldogs up a few spots into a more winnable first round matchup.

St. Louis has a chance to boost its Division II standing. De La Salle, one of the state’s favorites, was forced to forfeit five games and saw its record drop to 1-6. The Saints are now just a tenth of a point behind them in the seedings, and a win over Iowa Thursday would provide a bounty of power points. The Saints could possibly move as high as ninth with a win.

In Class 2A, Rosepine is tied for the eighth spot. Finishing eighth increases the chances the Eagles would get to host a second round playoff game. Welsh, currently 18th is within striking distance of the 16th seed and a first round home game. Lake Arthur is the first team out at the moment with the No. 33 seed and may need help getting in.

Grand Lake holds a narrow lead over nemesis Oak Grove for the second seed in Class 1A. The Hornets will get a bye in the first round. Basile, at No. 10, will get a home game to start and could also get a bye with a top eight finish. Oberlin and East Beauregard, at No. 13 and 14, are hoping to remain above 16th to get a first round home game.

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Warren Arceneaux covers high school athletics. Email him at warren.arceneaux @americanpress.com