The third week of the high school football season looks closer to normal so far.

After back-to-back weeks that had a total of eight unusual Saturday games because of weather-related issues, there are no weekend games expected this week.

But a few teams are still a bit off from normal.

After playing Saturday, Westlake and Washington-Marion were limited to four days to prepare for today’s nondistrict game at Westlake’s Max Caldarera Memorial Stadium.

Head coach John Richardson longs for a normal week for the Rams, who celebrate homecoming next week.

“Maybe next week, but then next week is homecoming and that is never normal,” Richardson said.

The brief turnaround has left the Charging Indians with little time to rest and recover from injuries.

“I feel like one of the NFL teams that has to play on a Sunday and turn around and play on a Thursday,” W-M head coach Dio Bernard said. “We have a lot of guys that were banged up, even from Week 1, that we are trying to get to recover. It makes it hard to recover when you have such a short week. 

“There will probably be a couple of guys that I hold out so we can be healthy for St. Louis and Peabody before going into district.”

The Rams are 2-0 for a second consecutive season with an offense cruising along at 53 points a game, tops in Southwest Louisiana. Brody Anderson has thrown for 360 yards and six touchdowns. Kevin Rideau, a Nicholls State commitment, has six receptions for 155 yards and four touchdowns, and the running game has been strong as well at 250 yards a game. Ryan Allen has 292 total rushing and receiving yards and three touchdowns. 

“I think that we are a little more balanced than we were a year ago,” Richardson said. “We have 10 starters back from a year ago, so they all have another year of experience, strength and size under their belt. Right now we are playing pretty well up there.”

W-M has given up one passing touchdown in two games, and defensive back Dre Bernard has played a big role in that with 12 tackles and four passes broken up, including a pick-six in Week 1.

“We always have a plan to contain and try to limit the big plays,” Bernard said. “That is our defensive philosophy. We want to defend every blade of grass.”

W-M is coming off a 38-14 loss to South Beauregard but did exhibit big-play abilities. Quarterback Monte Farmer scored on a 28-yard run and threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Ashton Savoie. Farmer hit Craig Tillman for an 82-yard touchdown in Week 1.

“I really think Washington-Marion has a lot of firepower on offense between the quarterback and the receivers that they have over there,” Richardson said. “It will be a big challenge.”

Bernard said the Charging Indians need to work more on sustaining drives.

“I want to see us improve on playing disciplined, sound football,” Bernard said. “We have to take care of the football.

“I think that we are doing real well executing on the offensive and defensive game plan. I think we just need to be more disciplined playing in the confines of the game and playing within the rules. I tell them in every sport you have rules.

“Even in basketball, if you travel a lot you are giving the ball to the other team, so we are just trying to stay ahead of the chains and on defense keep them behind the chains. We will have a good drive going and that one false start or that one holding penalty kind of puts you behind the chains.”

Elsewhere

Other games tonight include Grand Lake (2-0) at Oakdale (0-2) and Kinder (1-1) at Rosepine (0-1).

Grand led is averaging 250 rushing yards a game, led by quarterback Bryce Guillory (133 yards, 5 TDs) and running back Charles McFarland (189 yards, 2 TDs).

Kinder is averaging 370 total yards a game with a more balanced game plan. Running back Logan Leboeuf is averaging 102 yards a game, while quarterback Isaiah Thomas has thrown for 302 yards and two scores and run for two others.