Area down to two unbeatens, Oakdale, Sam Houston unscathed after four weeks
Published 11:00 am Tuesday, September 26, 2023
- St. Louis Catholic's Hank Hebert tackles Kinder's Isaiah Thomas during the first half of a District 3-3A game on Friday at Kinder High School. (Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
The high school football season is nearing its midway point and two teams remain perfect in Southwest Louisiana after two more dropped from the undefeated ranks.
Oakdale is 4-0 for the first time since 2007 while Sam Houston is undefeated through four weeks for the first time since starting the 2018 season 6-0.
Oakdale got into 44-38 shootout with Grand Lake on Friday. The Hornets tied the score at 38-all with 4:54 on a 50-yard from Brycen Guillory to Kaden Taylor. With 1:04 left, Oakdale scored the winner when Deekota Johnson hit Elijah Anderson for a 20-yard score.
Derrick Green scored three times for the Warriors on runs of 25 and 45 yards and a 70-yard kickoff return, and Johnson had two rushing touchdowns in addition to throwing the winning touchdown.
Taylor had a big night for the Hornets. He rushed, passed and caught a touchdown, ran in a 2-point conversion and threw for another. He ran for 40 yards on seven carries and completed 3 of 4 passes for 112 yards. He also made seven tackles. Running back Ian Vigo ran for 141 yards and two scores on 20 carries.
Sam Houston shut out an opponent for the first time since Oct. 5, 2018 (41-0 vs. LaGrange) when it trounced Comeaux 51-0 on the road.
The Broncos held the Spartans to 27 yards of total offense.
Junior wide receiver Cole Flanagan had a second career 100-yard game with five catches for 108 yards with two touchdowns, including a 57-yarder as part of the Broncos’ 28-point first quarter.
Junior quarterback completed 6 of 6 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns, and running back Drew Bailey found the end zone twice while running for 99 yards on 12 carries.
Class 5A
Barbe ended a two-game slide with a 20-14 win over Pineville at home.
Eric Jones ran for a season-high 164 yards on 25 carries and scored on runs of 5 and 14 yards.
Barbe climbed to No. 27 in the nonselect Division I power ratings and have a favorable schedule over the next four week with three-game homes.
Class 4A
DeRidder shut down the high-powered Westlake offense and handed the Rams their first loss.
Westlake freshman quarterback Brody Anderson hadn’t thrown an interception in his first three starts, but DeRidder shut down the Rams’ aerial attack and Kirkland Leblanc and Jatari Harris each recorded an interception. Kenias St. Romain (12) and Dylon Rhodes (10) combined for 22 tackles.
Dragons running back Javaughn Fairley exploded for 235 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 20 carries, and Dylan Vines added 104 yards on 20 carries.
Class 3A
St. Louis Catholic turned an early 7-0 deficit into a dominating performance to hand Kinder its first loss to open District 3-3A play.
The Saints controlled the second half, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 35-13 and recovered three fumbles.
Senior Graham Montet scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and returned a fumble for a third. Fellow senior Nathan Gray recovered a fumble, had eight tackles and two tackles for a loss.
Senior kicker Landon Daughdril hit the longest field goal in Southwest Louisiana this season at 52 yards and averaged 46.8 yards on four punts.
Iowa and Lake Charles College Prep also won their district openers and share the lead in 3-3A with St. Louis.
Iowa scored 28 second-half points to beat Jennings. Quarterback Josiah Bushnell (3) and running back Jonathan Walker, Jr. (2) combined for five rushing touchdowns
LCCP ended a two-game losing streak with a narrow 20-14 win at South Beauregard. Quarterback Dylan Vital threw a pair of touchdowns to Ayden Carter and Dylen Rubin and completed 5 of 7 passes for 139 yards.
Class 2A
Welsh had another big offensive game to earn a 66-0 win over Pickering.
The Greyhounds have outscored their last two opponents 116-6.
Freshman running back Azarias Bennett scored three times and Dane Iguess caught a pair of touchdown passes from Jonavon Begnaud, totaling 99 yards.
Lake Arthur bounced back from a humbling 32-0 loss to Jeanerette in Week 3 to beat Delcambre on the road 27-12.
Quarterback Ray Levi (167 yards, TD) and running back Kenyon Boese (133 yards, 2 TDs) topped 100 yards in the same game for the second time this season.
Rosepine used a pair of 100-yard backs, Lane Willis (137 yards, TD) and Devin Janice (103 yards, 2 TD) to beat Vinton 18-6 after the Lions took an early 6-0 lead on a 16-yard pass from Braylon Beard to Freddie Budwine
Class 1A
Basile, Oberlin and East Beauregard are the early leaders in District 4-1A.
Basile knocked off Elton 27-8 behind 168 yards and three touchdowns by Bryan Hardy to bring his season total to 493 yards and seven touchdowns.
Oberlin won back-to-back games for the first time this season, beating Merryville 41-12, behind a combined 233-yard, four-touchdown performance from Colby McMahon and Tre Rider.
East Beauregard extended its win streak with a 45-0 shutout of Gueydan. The Trojans have allowed 18 points in their last three games since a 20-16 loss to Rosepine in Week 1.
Undefeated: Sam Houston, Oakdale.
Winless: LaGrange, Pickering, DeQuincy.