Bogalusa hosts Chalmette tonight in the Lumberjacks’ home opener at Lewis V. Murray Jr. Stadium at 7 p.m.
Bogalusa enters this week 1-0 after shutting out Northlake Christian School, 30-0, in last week’s season opener.
“Last week, it was good to get on the right track,” Bogalusa coach David Roberts said. “We still had too many mistakes. I told the guys that we can’t make those mistakes against Chalmette and expect to win. They’re a 5A school. We’re trying to keep it close and trying to pull out the victory. The weather is supposed to be nice.
“They’ve got more players than us and they’re good players. I know (Chalmette coach) Jason Tucker and all of their coaches do a good job over there. We’re just going to put our nose to the grindstone and try to come out with a win.”
Roberts and Tucker are familiar with each other. Roberts coached at Chalmette under Tucker for seven years beginning in the 2007 season. Roberts coached linebackers, and later, wide receivers.
“That was my first job as a public school teacher and they gave me the opportunity to get certified while I was coaching there. I still talk to those guys,” Roberts said. “I came there after the storm (Katrina). After the storm, it was a good to see the school come back. The schools down there are beautiful. They’ve done a good job of rebuilding.”
Last week, Diante Lenoir was involved in four of the Lumberjacks’ touchdowns. He had two rushing scores on runs of 1 and 21 yards. He also caught two from Jay Baham, which went for distances of 13 and 32 yards. Chas Smith also had a rushing touchdown in the victory.
Defensively, Bogalusa was solid, forcing four turnovers — two interceptions and a pair of fumble recoveries.
Roberts said Jay Baham and Tyrese Rousell played especially well. He said that Lenoir was strong on both sides of the ball. He said that Kelton Harry did well defensively, the offensive line did a really good job and that the group is coming along and getting better each week.
Chalmette comes into this week 0-1 after falling to St. Charles Catholic, 29-0, last week.
“Just coming off the loss last week. We’re just trying to improve and fix the things that were incorrect Friday night,” said Tucker, who is in his 11th season as the Owls’ head coach.
Tucker said Bogalusa is a well-coached team.
“I think they’re athletic and they fly around to the ball. Coach Roberts worked here for a bunch of years and he knows what he’s doing,” Tucker said.
Jason Roper is the Owls’ quarterback. He is joined in the backfield by running backs Michaund Blaise and Brendan Hoorman.
The wide receivers are Gabriel Ernest and Hayden Tucker.
Chalmette’s top defenders are linebacker Brendin Montgomery and nose guard Jason Little.