Time to lock up district championships
In this edition of the Three Point Stance, staff writers Rodrick Anderson and Warren Arceneaux preview Week 9 of the high school football season.
What is the best game of the week?
RA: Leesville at Tioga. This one will be for the District 3-4A championship. Leesville comes in ranked No. 5 in the power ratings while Tioga is No. 16. The key to stopping Tioga will be to prevent sophomore quarterback Blake Mcgehee from having enough time in the pocket to find one of his many receivers, including Kenneth Ravare and Ethan Christman. Leesville also has a sophomore under center in Jacob Mount who has thrown for almost 1,200 yards and 18 touchdowns.
WA: Lake Charles College Prep at Washington-Marion. Prep can clinch the District 4-3A title outright with a win while W-M needs to win to keep its playoff hopes alive. Both teams have playmakers all over the field. W-M has lost a string of close games and will need to rectify its fourth-quarter blues to stay alive for a postseason berth.
What is the best in-game matchup?
RA: South Beauregard’s run game vs. Jennings’ defense. South Beauregard has won two straight and has a chance to get a home playoff game if it wins out. To do that the Golden Knights will need to keep getting lots of yards from running backs Colby Hollier (881 yds., 8 TDs) and Jayden Derouen (637 yds., 4 TDs). Jennings has struggled to stop the run, including games against Welsh, Church Point and Eunice and will need defensive lineman Kenan Landry and linebacker Jacob Young to lead the way this week to help the Bulldogs break a rare three-game slump.
WA: Westlake’s J.J. Ross vs St. Louis defense. Ross is one of the area’s top backs and has surpassed the 1,000 yard mark. He has two games with more than 200 yards over the past three weeks. The Saints defense shut Jennings down last week in a 24-14 win.
Name a player to watch.
RA: Lake Charles College Prep WR Glynn Johnson. The sophomore is almost as good as gold when he touches the ball with nine touchdowns on 21 receptions. He has caught at least one TD in six of eight games. If the Trailblazers’ game against W-M turns into a shootout, Johnson will likely be the go-to guy to make the big plays at 23.1 yards per catch.
WA: Sam Houston QB Kyle Bartley. In the past two games, both losses, the Broncos have passed for fewer than 100 yards. Bartley had thrown for more than 150 yards in each of the first six games, all wins. The return of RB Gerron Duhon to full-time duty last week gave the Broncos offense a boost and should help Bartley get back to posting big numbers.