Rivals will meet tonight in Franklinton, as the Demons are at home facing Bogalusa in a battle for the Pine Burr Trophy.
“It’s a big rival game. It’s been the big game in Washington Parish forever. They’ve been down the last few years and we’ve kind of dominated the series,” Franklinton coach Stephen Burris said. “You don’t want to be the team that costs you the winning streak. Bogalusa is a little down this year, but they still have great athletes and they can score on any play.
“Bogalusa probably has the best athlete in the parish (Diante Lenoir). It’s a rivalry game and generally they’re going to play one of their best games of the year against us.”
The Demons have won the last 16 meetings between the two teams, including last year’s 18-6 win. Both teams come in with a 1-1 record and the games for Franklinton and Bogalusa have been mostly lopsided.
Franklinton lost to Covington, 69-32, to open the season before defeating Fontainebleau, 26-8, last week. Bogalusa began 2017 with a 30-0 victory over Northlake Christian School and lost to Chalmette, 51-20, a week ago.
LaMount Harris had a big game for Franklinton last week. Harris led the team in tackles with 12 — nine of them were solo with 4.5 for loss. Harris also posted 2.5 sacks, a hurry and forced a fumble.
“He runs like a wild man out there. He’s gives you maximum effort on every play. He’s a good player and he plays with the type of effort you would like every kid you’ve ever coached to play with,” Burris said.
Burris also said that James Bickham, who made nine tackles and caused a fumble, played well. Bickham tops the team with 17 tackles.
Burris credited the entire unit and noted that the defensive backs did good things last week.
“We played a million times better defensively,” Burris said. “It was night-and-day and we’re getting better. We’re trying to get better each day and each week. If that happens, we have a chance to get to big games and places we want to be.”
Offensively, Tahj Magee is 29-of-48 for 394 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. He’s also run 32 times for 205 yards and three scores.
Rakerian Conerly leads the receivers with nine receptions for 183 yards and three scores. Shayland Allen has six catches for 93 yards and Lagarian Bell enters with eight receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Like Franklinton, Bogalusa is attempting to get to 2-1.
“It’s a big week. Just been trying to prepare and play better than we did last week,” Bogalusa coach David Roberts said. “Chalmette is a good team. They’re 5A and they have big defensive and offensive linemen. We left two touchdowns out in the second quarter that would’ve made the game a lot closer. We also had a lot of turnovers.
“We’re looking forward to going to Franklinton and improving and each week we’re trying to get better. Franklinton is a good team. We’ll try to get the game into the fourth quarter and see what happens from there.”
Roberts praised Lenoir, who had a big game last week.
“Jay (Baham) got banged up and Diante came in at quarterback and had 114 yards rushing with a passing and rushing touchdown and returned a kickoff for a touchdown,” Roberts said.
Roberts said that Baham is playing this week, but will be limited at quarterback. He said that Lenoir will handle most of the snaps at signal caller. He said that Baham will also play wide receiver and defensive back.
This season, Baham is 15-of-24 for 307 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He has also run for 67 yards.
Lenioir has thrown for 48 yards with a touchdown. He enters with 174 yards rushing and he has caught five catches for 80 yards and four touchdowns.
Chas Smith begins the night with 68 yards rushing and a score to go with three catches for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Tyrese Roussell has six catches for 135 yards and two carries for 43 yards.