A year ago, Iowa won a 29-21 battle over St. Louis Catholic for the District 3-3A football championship.

The same teams will do it all over again tonight.

Iowa (6-2, 5-0) will host No. 8 St. Louis (7-1, 4-0) at Jesse E. Cady Memorial Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets won one of their first three games but rebounded to win five in a row.

“I am just glad that we are able to put ourselves in a position to do that, especially starting off 1-2 at the beginning of the year and growing to this point,” Iowa head coach Tommy Johns said. “I am very proud of the kids for putting themselves in this position.

“I feel like we have definitely grown a lot since Week 2 or 3. A lot of the guys that were new faces early on have really grown up and stepped up. I really think, even more than that, that the guys that we had returning have really elevated their game to help those guys come along.”

St. Louis is also hot at the right time with a six-game win streak, including a 21-14 win over Class 4A South Lafourche last week. A win would give the Yellow Jackets the title outright, while the Saints would need a win this week and a win next week over Jennings (6-2, 3-1), which sits a game back of the district leaders, to win the district title outright.

“Of course, we looked at last year’s game, and our kids remember it,” St. Louis head coach Brock Matherne said. “We stressed that every year is a new team, a new year, a new program.

“We don’t play the same style of football that we played last year. We have developed into playing a physical brand of football. The players change, the players grow up, the players leave. It is a new challenge, and it is a challenge that we are excited for. We have to be able to beat teams like Iowa if we want to get to our ultimate goal of winning a state championship.”

The game will feature two of the best multi-position players in the area in Iowa’s Cole Corbello and St. Louis’ Graham Montet.

Corbello is the Yellow Jackets’ multi-faceted offensive weapon, lining up at quarterback, running back and receiver. He has run for 374 yards and seven touchdowns, caught 13 passes for 232 yards and a pair of scores and threw his first touchdown pass for the season last week against Lake Charles College Prep. Iowa is averaging 36.2 points a game in district play.

“Of course, (quarterback) Josiah Bushnell stands out, but I am really a big fan of Corbello,” Matherne said. “He is a big key to what they do.

“He is a guy that we are going to have to look out for. I am a big fan of the kid and love the way he plays football, so we are excited about that challenge.”

Graham (72 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss), a linebacker, leads the Saints’ staunch defense that is limiting opponents to 10.3 points a game. He also is key to the Saints’ offensive success with 11 rushing touchdowns and two passing.

“Everything kind of runs through No. 32, Graham Montet,” Johns said. “He does a great job for them, plays linebacker and turns around and plays running back and quarterback, whatever they need him to do.

“Defensively, I think they have nine returning starters over there, and that is the heart and soul of the team. They are going to be very difficult to move the ball on. We are going to have to take advantage of any opportunity we get to score. It is going to have to be earned.”

Elsewhere

Other area district titles are coming down to the wire.

In District 3-4A, Leesville (5-3, 3-0) looks to make up for last year’s 38-33 loss to Eunice (6-2, 3-0) that forced it to share the district title with the Bobcats. Wampus Cat running back Xavier Ford ranks fifth in the state in rushing yards with 1,509 plus 18 touchdowns.

Leesville needs a win this week and another next week at Rayne to win the district championship outright.

In District 4-2A, Holy Savior Menard (5-3, 3-0) is in the lead, but three teams are not far back at 1-1, including this week’s opponent, Oakdale (6-2, 1-1). A Warriors win would give them a chance to win a share of the title next week against Rosepine (3-5, 1-1), which faces Avoyelles (1-7, 1-1) tonight.

Oberlin (6-2, 4-1) has won five of its last six games and can win a share of the District 5-1A title today with a win over winless Gueydan (0-8, 0-4). Basile (4-4, 3-1), which played Merryville (2-6, 0-4) Thursday night, and East Beauregard (5-3, 3-1) sit a half-game behind the Tigers. The Trojans travel to Cougar Stadium tonight to place surging Hamilton Christian (3-5, 2-2).