LHSAA football enters week 8
Published 9:26 am Thursday, October 25, 2018
It is week eight of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association football season and this week features four regular season games.
Bogalusa and Pine are playing their final home games of the regular season and are celebrating Senior Night, while Franklinton and Varnado take to the road.
All games are Friday night at 7 p.m.
Jewel Sumner at Bogalusa
Bogalusa’s Lumberjacks return home this week and will attempt to extend their three-game winning streak with a District 7-3A home game against Jewel Sumner on Friday.
Bogalusa is 27th in the unofficial LHSAA Class 3A power rankings, while Jewel Sumner is 11th.
Bogalusa was on a bye last week and coach Adam Brumfield talked about the off week.
“We worked on some fundamentals during the bye week and tried to get better at some of the little things and show a little more attention to detail,” Brumfield said. “We’re excited about being back at home this week. Sumner’s a good football team with a really good defense. We’ll have to play a mistake-free game and eliminate turnovers and penalties.”
Bogalusa began the year with a 1-3 record, but has won three in a row to reach the 4-3 overall mark. The Lumberjacks are 2-0 in district play.
“I think we’ve got better each week and that’s what you try to do,” Brumfield said. “The teams that are playing best at the beginning aren’t always playing the best at the end. Early in the year with me getting the job in July, we were behind on some things. We also played a tough schedule early on, playing up in class three weeks in a row.”
Jewel Sumner is 5-3 overall and 2-1 in district play.
In the game two weeks ago against Loranger, Josh Taylor threw for 177 yards and ran for 41 yards and a touchdown.
Chas Smith caught nine passes for 93 yards. He also rushed for 13 yards.
Jakyris Mclemore had three receptions for 30 yards. He also ran for a touchdown.
Raheem Roberts had a catch for 19 yards. He also intercepted a pass.
Kobe Robertson made a catch for 20 yards.
Terry Burnette recorded a catch for 15 yards.
Talik Williams ran six times for 20 yards and the game-winning touchdown.
Defensively, Keltron Harry made 14 tackles, recovered a fumble and posted a sack.
Charles Taylor had 11 stops.
Dre’Toris Mark tallied 10 tackles and a sack.
Clydeterrious Thompson recovered two fumbles.
Last week
Bogalusa was on a bye week, but defeated Loranger, 18-12, in overtime two weeks ago. Jewel Sumner defeated Loranger, 6-3.
Last year
Bogalusa defeated Jewel Sumner, 29-13.
Recent history
The teams have met every year since at least 2009 and Bogalusa has won five of the nine matchups. LHSAA’s web site goes back to 2009.
St. Thomas Aquinas at Pine
Pine’s Raiders are home Friday, taking on St. Thomas Aquinas in a District 9-2A contest.
“I think it’s a humongous game for us,” Pine coach Bradley Seal said. “It’s an opportunity for us to get to 6-3.”
Seal said that St. Thomas has a really good passing attack
Both teams enter this week with a 5-3 overall record. Pine is 3-2 in district play while St. Thomas Aquinas is 4-1 in league play.
Pine is 11th in the unofficial Class 2A LHSAA unofficial power rankings while St. Thomas Aquinas is 10th in the Division III unofficial LHSAA power rankings.
Seal said that Jordan Anderson and Markell Cotton didn’t get the ball a lot last week, but said they made the plays to win the game.
Seal also praised Dakota Brooks.
“The last couple of weeks, he’s played really well,” Seal said.
Brooks had a big interception last week that allowed Pine to run out the final 3:29 of the game.
Last week, Jonkez Dillon also recovered a fumble for the Raiders.
Last week
Pine defeated Northlake Christian School, 7-0, while St. Thomas Aquinas was victorious over Springfield, 42-6.
Last year
Pine lost to St. Thomas Aquinas, 27-6
Recent history
The teams have played each other since at least 2009 and St. Thomas Aquinas has won eight of the nine matchups.
Franklinton at Salmen
Franklinton’s Demons will be on the road Friday to face Salmen in a District 8-4A contest.
The Demons enter this week with a 3-5 overall record and 0-1 in district while Salmen is 1-7 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Franklinton is 28th in the unofficial LHSAA Class 4A power rankings while Salmen is 45th.
“This will be our fourth game against them in the last two years, so there’s some familiarity there,” Franklinton coach Jonathan Barber said. “It’s about getting our kids’ confidence back. We’ve some tough games over the last month. Our goal is to finish the regular season 2-0. If we do that, that’ll get us back to .500 and hopefully a decent seed in the playoffs.”
Franklinton has lost three of its last four games, but the Demons have played a gauntlet of a schedule over the last month.
The three losses have been to St. Thomas More (7-1), Neville (5-2) and Lakeshore (8-0). Lakeshore is second in the Class 4A Louisiana Sports Writers Association poll while St. Thomas More is fifth and Neville is ninth. All three teams made deep postseason runs last year. Lakeshore was the Class 4A runner-up and defeated Neville in the quarterfinals while St. Thomas More was a Division II semifinalist.
This season, Jasper LaSalle has thrown for 933 yards and seven touchdowns. He has also run for 100 yards and a touchdown.
Mike Martin is putting up some outstanding numbers, as he closes in on a 1,000 rushing yards. Martin has run for 831 yards and 14 touchdowns. Martin is averaging 5.1 yards per carry.
Kian Conerly has been one of Franklinton’s best overall players this season.
Conerly has 218 yards on the ground with three touchdowns. He enters with 12 catches for 231 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, Conerly leads the team in tackles and interceptions with 42 stops and four picks.
“Kian has kind of set the standard of what we want to be,” Barber said. “He does everything we want him to do on both sides of the ball and on special teams. He rarely comes off the field. I’m just excited to be able to coach him for four years and see how much he’s grown over the years. I’m excited about the man he’s become and I know he’ll do good in the future.
Duke Bell leads the receivers with 24 receptions for 253 yards and he has two scores.
Defensively, Grant Thomas is second in tackles with 41, followed by Jayonne Hart’s 29, Malachi Martin’s 29 and Noah Breland’s 28.
Breland and Jacob Turnage are tied for the team lead with two sacks each.
Breland and Chase Sheridan top the group with two fumble recoveries each.
Lamar Gray and Avant Monnie have six passes defensed each for the team lead.
Last week
Franklinton was defeated by Lakeshore, 52-7, while Salmen lost to Pearl River, 28-10.
Last game
Franklinton defeated Salmen, 43-29, in a non-district game held Oct. 4.
Recent history
The teams have met every year since 2007.
Franklinton is 8-3 in district games, 1-1 in non-district games and 1-0 in the postseason against Salmen.
Varnado at Houma Christian School
Varnado’s Wildcats are on the road Friday, heading to Houma Christian School for a District 8-1A game.
“It’s a big district game and we need the win,” Varnado coach Anthony Hicks said.
Varnado enters this week with a 1-6 overall record and 1-2 in league play, while Houma Christian is 4-2 overall and 1-1 in district.
Varnado is 20th in the unofficial LHSAA Class 1A power rankings while Houma Christian is 12th in the unofficial LHSAA Division IV power rankings.
“We need to get back on track offense, continue to play good defense, win the turnover battle and play good special teams,” Hicks said.
Varnado hung in tough against the defending Class 1A state champion West St. John last week.
The Wildcats led 6-0 at halftime and trailed just 8-6 through three quarters. West St. John eventually won by a 24-6 score.
The touchdown was courtesy of Zantonio Peters. Varnado attempted a field goal that was deflected. No whistle was blown and Peters picked up the loose ball and went in for the score.
Last week
Varnado lost to West St. John, 24-6, while Houma Christian defeated St. Martin’s Episcopal, 51-20.
Last year
Varnado defeated Houma Christian School, 44-39.
Recent history
The teams have met every year since 2015 and Varnado has won all three contests.