Fans of the four local LHSAA teams will be heading to Pine this evening, where the Raiders are hosting the Washington Parish Jamboree, as the public school teams have one final tune-up before opening the regular season next week.
The event begins at 6 p.m., features a pair of games, and each contest will have two 15-minute quarters.
The first game features Franklinton and Varnado beginning at 6 p.m. That game is followed by Pine and Bogalusa.
All four teams enter the season after playoff runs last season. Three have new coaches, including Bogalusa, Franklinton and Varnado.
“First, we’re excited to host the jamboree,” Pine coach Bradley Seal said. “It’s good to have all of the parish schools playing on one field on one night. As far as Bogalusa goes, we’re going to have to limit their big plays. They have a lot of speed and if we can figure out how to limit their big plays, we’ll be alright.”
Seal’s Raiders are playing in the second game of the night and will be facing Bogalusa.
Pine, which made it to the second round of the Class 2A playoffs, went against Jewel Sumner in a scrimmage last Friday. Pine scored a touchdown and Jewel Sumner tallied two.
Jordan Anderson caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Logan Temples.
Defensively, Drake Westmoreland and Jonkez Dillon recovered a fumble each.
Seal said that Anderson and Logan Leger made most of the plays for the Raiders last week, and noted that Temples threw the ball well.
Bogalusa, which made it to the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs last year, completed against Fontainebleau in a scrimmage eight days ago.
Josh Taylor threw two touchdowns. Raheem Roberts and Tyrese Rousell were the recipients of the touchdown passes.
Defensively, Dejean Zeno recovered a fumble for Bogalusa.
“I think the parish jamboree is exciting for everybody because you get to see all of the teams in the parish in action,” Bogalusa coach Adam Brumfield said. “Our kids are excited for the opportunity to play Pine. Our kids went against them in the spring game and in several 7-on-7s. Coach Seal has done a great job with that program and I know he’ll have his kids ready to play. Hopefully we can use this as a trial run for my staff to get ready for week one, and our players to fine tune some of their assignments.”
Brumfield said Taylor has played well.
“He does a great job of not looking at the rush and keeping his eyes on his receivers,” Brumfield said. “He’s only a sophomore, so he has some maturing to do, but he’s got an opportunity to become a special player for us this year and in the future.”
The first game is between Varnado and Franklinton.
Varnado, which made it to the quarterfinal round of the Class 1A state playoffs, competed in a three-team scrimmage against Livingston Collegiate and North Central last week.
Kim McGowan Jr. had two touchdown passes while Jep Bonnette and Zantonio Peters threw a touchdown pass each.
Kievs Brooks, Peters and Darrius Harry all caught scoring passes.
Brooks, Jaylen Peters, Zantonio Peters and Korterrius Mingo all ran for scores.
The Wildcats defense did not allow any points.
“Franklinton has a lot of tradition,” Varnado coach Anthony Hicks said. “It’s a good size 4A school, so they will have more depth at many positions, unlike us. It’s important that we control the time of possession and eliminate big plays. But once again, this gives us an evaluation to put our kids in the right places for the upcoming season.
“I’m sure Coach (Jonathan) Barber will have his team ready to play. However, my goal is to come away injury-free, and to gain experience that will help us down the line.”
Franklinton, which reached the opening round of the Class 4A state playoffs last season, competed in a three-team scrimmage last week against Live Oak and Slidell.
The scrimmage was in a game-style of format, with each contest being a pair of 12-minute quarters.
Franklinton defeated Live Oak, 20-7, and lost to Slidell, 36-6.
Jasper LaSalle and Duke Bell connected on a pair of touchdown passes and Mike Martin had a rushing touchdown.
LaSalle threw a touchdown pass to Shayland Allen in the second game.
“We have a couple of players banged up from last week,” Barber said. “We want to clean up a few things from last week. We want to make better reads on defense and execute a little better offensively and get out of the week healthy.”
All four teams will get their regular seasons under way next week.
Pine will travel to Central Catholic on Thursday. Bogalusa, Franklinton and Varnado will play on Friday.
The Lumberjacks will be hosting Northlake Christian School, Franklinton will face Covington at home and Varnado will be on the road against Albany.