The Welsh Greyhounds had a bye in the regional round of the high school football playoffs but it was anything but a week off.

Head coach Ronnie Courville said they readied for one of the most storied programs in the state and worked on refining an offense that has lost several starters over the season to injuries.

They will travel to No. 1 Haynesville today for a Non-select Division IV quarterfinal matchup. The Tornadoes have won 17 state championships, second most in the state, and were runner-up to Oak Grove last year. The Greyhounds’ bye was a result of an on-field fight between Ferriday and Lake Arthur in the bi-district round.

Welsh lost running back Azarius Bennett and wide receiver Owen Broussard early in the season, then the biggest blow came when quarterback Jonavon Begnaud went down with an injury. He has been out since Week 7 and the Greyhounds are 2-3 since.

But the Greyhounds made a leap forward in the bi-district round with a season-high 59 points to beat West St. Mary, while converted wide receiver Dane Iguess threw for a season-high 138 yards and a touchdown and ran for 81 yards and a score.

“With the quarterback change there’s still some timing things and pre-snap things and some little things we were screwing up offensively,” Courville said. “So we’ve been able to kind of hammer those out. Dane Iguess gives us a little bit more of that dual-threat similar to what Jonavon gave us.

“(What) Dane has done in the passing game (is) being efficient. When we have something open, he hits it. We’ll need to continue to do that.”

The offensive line has been a point of stability for the Greyhounds despite just one senior starter in Eli Jolie.

“I think they’ve grown a ton as the years progressed,” Courville said. “We had two sophomores up there. They’ve gained experience along the way and just continue to grow all year long. That’s been the one group we’ve been able to (keep) healthy.”

The challenge this week, he said, will be to find a way through the Golden Tornado defense that has allowed more than 14 points twice this season. The undefeated Tornadoes have held opponents to eight or fewer points eight times, including a 61-0 win over No. 16 Montgomery in the regional round.