Sign me up for four more weeks of what we had Friday night.
A winning field goal as the clock expired at Barbe. A last-minute goal line stand at Washington-Marion. A game-deciding 2-point
conversion attempt at LaGrange.
It was district football at its finest, rivals playing hard-fought, high-stakes games.
We don’t get a lot of that during the
first half of the regular season, when most games against teams from
outside the area
dominate the schedule. We still have a few good regional rivalries
such as Jennings-Eunice, Westlake-Sam Houston, DeRidder-Leesville
and Kinder-Elton, but they can’t match the drama of district
games, when teams are better conditioned and usually playing
at a higher level than they were early in the season.
In district games, there are fewer unknowns. Years of playing the same teams means the game plan of each team will be well
known by the opponent. Yards and points will be harder to come by. Every snap car
Additionally, there is more pride involved. Letterman jackets, trophies and bragging rights are all at stake in district games.
A chance to become a champion. The atmosphere in the stadiums are better. Games become events.
Often, the best players shine brightest as well. That was the case at Barbe Friday night as the Bucs trio of Kennon Fontenot
(417 passing yards, 54 rushing yds., 4 TDs), Desean Smith (9 receptions, 178 yds.) and Tre
Quinn (8 rec., 171 yds., 3 TDs) delivered highlight reel performances
to help the Bucs remain atop the District 3-5A standings.
The Bucs can take control of the
district race, as well as score another big load of power points, with a
win at Carencro
in their next game. It will be a tall order against the Bears, who
were the Class 5A runner-up last season and beat Barbe
in Lake Charles. A win will put the Bucs in good shape to run the
table over the rest of the regular season, possibly giving
them a top-four playoff seed.
At Washington-Marion, two-way star
Melvin Jones scored the only two touchdowns of the game in W-M’s 14-6
win over St. Louis,
then spearheaded a defense that made a goal-line stand in the last
minute to preserve the win. The Charging Indians will also
have a shot to take control of the District 4-4A race this week if
they can win in DeRidder. The Dragons made their own defensive
stand this week, when defensive back Jarrett Floyd deflected a
pass on a 2-point conversion to preserve a key road win over
LaGrange.
The Dragons win snapped a two-game
losing streak and positioned the Dragons to be a factor in a title chase
that figures to
be close. Last year, LaGrange, St. Louis and Washington-Marion
tied for the district crown by beating everyone else and splitting
games against each other. A win over the Charging Indians will
announce the Dragons as a legitimate contender for this year’s
crown.
Iowa pulled out a close one in Crowley
in its first district game to remain unbeaten and set up a huge clash
this week when
it returns to Crowley to face Notre Dame, which shut out Jennings
23-0 in its district opener. In Jennings, the Bulldogs will
try to remain in the race when it hosts Westlake.
Let’s all hope this week’s showdown can match the drama we had this week.
Warren Arceneaux covers high school athletics. Email him at warceneaux@americanpress.com