Turns out the best month for Lake Charles College Prep is November. The Trail Blazers just had to survive October.

For a second consecutive season, the Trail Blazers struggled in October, going 0-4, and limped into the playoffs. But once the page on the calendar turned, everything started to fall into place as the No. 21 Trail Blazers found themselves in the quarterfinals and playing during the Thanksgiving break.

LCCP is 4-1 in November over the last two seasons with the lone loss by one point to Notre Dame in last year’s regional round.

“I think it is just one of those deals that we had to find our way,” LCCP head coach Erick Franklin Sr. said. “We had to find out what this team was good at.”

LCCP (5-6) will travel to Baton Rouge on Friday to take on No. 4 University High (10-1) in the Select Division III quarterfinals.

October wasn’t always a month to forget for the Trail Blazers. From 2018 to 2021, they went 13-3. One of the problems was illness that plagued the team for a few weeks.

“It is two years in a row,” Franklin said. “It is just crazy. I don’t understand why.

“The first playoff game was the first time we were healthy. When I say healthy it is not so much the injuries as far as ankles or knees, but doggone strep throat since the St. Louis game. We have been dealing with kids with strep throat every week. When you have strep throat like that, nobody is practicing, of course.

“We had guys who didn’t practice for three games straight and tried to go the game on Friday to play. We are healthy now. Since the Pope John Paul game, nobody has had strep throat. I don’t know what changed, and no serious injuries during the game. We have been blessed lately.”

The Trail Blazers are the first area team to reach the quarterfinals seeded 20th or lower since Jennings in 2019. The Bulldogs reached the Class 3A final that year.

LCCP’s defense has excelled in the postseason, giving up one touchdown in a 34-7 win over No. 12 Pope John Paul II in the bi-district round. Senior Michael Ned’s strip-and-fumble return in the third quarter last week turned out to be the lone touchdown in a 7-3 upset of No. 5 Catholic-New Iberia.

“They are just playing hard,” Franklin said. “There is a lot of leadership on this team overall, but on the defensive side, I kind of call them my dogs.

“They are real aggressive guys. They played against a tough district all year and ran straight at them. They are starting to play well on that defense now.

“It has been a total package. My D-line is young. Brendan Malveaux and Antonio Toston have been very good, Lamarion Armstead, I could go on and on, Bryce Richard and Cameron Brazzle.

“I think in the secondary we have been able to cover guys like blankets. Guys have not been able to throw the ball. The guy we played last week, I thought, was probably the best quarterback we have played all year efficiency-wise and throwing the ball. We held him down last week. He struggled, and we sacked him three or four times and caused a fumble on him. It was a great job on the defensive side of the ball as a whole defense.”

They will face a Cubs team that averages 47 points a game. Quarterback Emile Picarella, who has offers from Kentucky, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and Oregon. University beat Patrick Taylor 62-6 in the regional round.

“They are physical,” Franklin said of the Cubs. “I think that is one of the teams in the playoffs that match up well with us from an athlete standpoint.

“It is going to be a great matchup with us and U-Lab. I think they have the aggressive nature like we have. They want to run the ball. They want to be physical up front, and they want to make the big plays with the receivers going deep. That is what we do.”

The Trail Blazers have settled into a two-quarterback system on offense with senior Matthew Higginbotham and freshman Dylan Vital with an offensive line led by Jeremiah Freeman, Caron Henderson and Micah Lewis.

“Offense, it is personnel,” Franklin said. “When are we going to put Matt Higginbotham at quarterback, and when will he be a receiver. When Dylan Vital will go at quarterback, and when Elijah Garrick will go at quarterback.

“(We had to find) the personnel packages to fit what we wanted to do offensively. One thing I know for sure, the offensive linemen are playing really well.

“Last week they didn’t score, but we had a lot of opportunities. We ran the ball and sealed the game late in the game. Also, we had some big throws last week that we missed a guy by a yard, so they are not very far away from being a very explosive offense.”