In addition to finally having a full week of high school football games to look forward to, Southeast Louisiana fans get the added bonus of a big-time matchup this week when Iowa hosts Kinder.

Iowa (1-0) reached the Class 3A quarterfinals last year while Kinder (1-0) has played in three Class 2A championship games over the past four years, winning twice.

The game is a first of four against opponents from larger classes for Kinder, which will also play Breaux Bridge, West Feliciana and Kaplan in nondistrict games.

“We were looking to toughen up the schedule and this is how it ended up,” said Kinder head coach Bret Fuselier. “This will be a good test for us; it will help us during the playoffs.

“They are well-coached, the defense always lines up correctly, and their offensive scheme is hard to defend. The No. 1 thing is their athleticism. Their offense has nine starters back and eight seniors. They are seasoned and battle-tested. The defense has nine seniors. (Linebacker Aaron Murillo) stands out. The other linebacker (Marcae Boutte), is an athlete; he gets to the ball fast. (Dyami Huntsberry) looks like he can throw the ball a mile. They have two good receivers (Cole Fleming and Marka’il Nixon) back and you can’t overlook Garren Richard. (Tight end Kaden Jones) is a big target, a matchup problem, a hard guy for corners to try to tackle.”

Fuselier said he was pleased with his team’s 48-21 win over Oakdale. Hayden Thomas led Kinder with 141 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

“We were able to start fast,” he said. “I wanted to see that after the crazy week we had. We had some adversity with the weather, but the kids handled it well.”

Iowa head coach Tommy Johns said Kinder’s consistency stands out.

“They do everything well,” he said. “They have developed a recipe for what they want to do and they stick to it. We will have to be efficient, be disciplined in carrying out our assignments on defense.

“Offensively we have to take advantage of our possessions. They like to milk the clock and limit the number of times you get the ball. We will have to be careful with the ball and make good decisions.”

Iowa opened with a 13-12 win over Crowley.

“I thought we did some things well considering the circumstances,” Johns said. “The biggest thing is we were able to find a way to win against a good Crowley team that is going to win a lot of games. We had a lot of guys cramping up, but we had some young guys that stepped up well and helped us.”

Huntsberry threw for 121 yards and a touchdown in the win over Crowley.