Bogalusa takes to the road tonight to begin the Class 3A state playoffs, as the Lumberjacks travel to Jennings with kickoff set at 7 p.m.
No. 23 Bogalusa tallied a 4-5 record in the regular season. The Lumberjacks are coming off of a 30-27 overtime loss to Archbishop Hannan last week. Bogalusa has a 4-1 record on the road this year.
The winner of tonight’s game will face either No. 7 Church Point (8-1) or 26th-seeded Carroll (4-6).
“With it being the playoffs, it’s the second season,” Bogalusa coach David Roberts said. “Jennings is a good team. They’ve got a lot of good players. They have a big offensive line. We’re on the road, so we need to go out and get a win on the road.”
This season, Dianté Lenoir has run for 1,051 yards on 143 carries and has 15 touchdowns.
Jay Baham has thrown for 851 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions. Baham has also run for 458 yards on 35 carries and two touchdowns.
Tyrese Rousell enters the week with 18 catches for 438 yards.
Defensively, Bogalusa is looking to clean up some missed tackles from last week.
No. 10 Jennings comes into this matchup with a 7-2 record and has won four straight games, including a 34-13 win over Lake Charles College Prep last week.
“We played Bogalusa I think five years ago and it came down to the wire (Jennings defeated Bogalusa, 21-14, in the opening round of the 2012 postseason). Looking at them on film, they’re really athletic. You look at 3 (Lenoir) and 6 (Baham) and they are really good players,” Jennings coach Russell Phelps said. “14 (Keltron Harry) is always around the ball. I can’t tell off film, but they look big and physical. Scheme makes a difference. Anytime you get those guys in space, it makes it tough on you. You have a dual-threat quarterback like (Baham) is and if the pocket breaks down, he can make a play on you.”
Kole Meyers has thrown for more than 1,000 yards and has 19 touchdowns combined between passing and rushing.
Darrien Achane and Tyrik Sonnier are the running backs.
Both players started last year and have been playing for three years. Both came back from injuries two weeks ago. Sonnier is a senior and Achane is a junior.
Jennings has had injuries this season. Phelps said that last week was the first time the team played with the original lineup they had to begin the season.
The main two receivers are Davian Madden and Bryce Anthony.
Both players are also defensive backs.
Madden has nine interceptions and he has returned three for touchdowns. He also has two punt returns and two kickoff returns for scores.
“Those are some guys that have played a lot of football around here,” Phelps said. “They’ve both started for four years. Davian has played the most over the four years. Bryce Anthony has started for three years.”