A drive up I-49 to Shreveport will kick off the 2021 high school football season for Natchitoches Central, as the Chiefs play in north Louisiana’s biggest stadium hoping for a non-district Class 5A victory.
MATCHUP: Natchitoches Central High School Chiefs vs. Woodlawn High School Knights
WHERE/WHEN: Tonight, 7 p.m., Independence Stadium, Shreveport
RADIO BROADCAST: 95.9 Kix Classic Country
LISTEN ONLINE: 959 KIX COUNTRY
RECORDS: NCHS Chiefs (0-0), Woodlawn Knights (0-0)
LAST GAME: Season opener for both teams
NOTES: Chiefs will be led by quarterback BJ Young and running back Caylin Demars …. the NCHS defensive pacesetters are linebacker Logan Saucier and defensive back Justin Aaron … Woodlawn’s defense is a 3-3 stack led by Anthony Bryan … offensively, the Knights run the spread, triggered by quarterback Isaiah Kennedy …the Chiefs sat out last Friday’s jamborees due to COVID quarantine issues and are not close to being back to full strength … they posted a solid 20-7 scrimmage win at Pineville on Aug. 20, with the only touchdown by the Rebels coming against the NCHS junior varsity late in the scrimmage … the Chiefs have made significant offseason progress with their strength and conditioning program, which has bolstered their ability to match up physically, especially up front on both sides of the ball.
NCHS second-year head coach James Wilkerson spent most of his career as an assistant coach in Shreveport at C.E. Byrd High, a historical rival of Woodlawn … Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and Fox Sports NFL host Terry Bradshaw is a Woodlawn graduate, along with Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Ferguson … the modern-day Knights made the Class 5A playoffs last year but had to forfeit their first-round game due to COVID issues …NCHS’s Demars and Dylan Foster of Woodlawn are on the Shreveport Times’ list of top 40 preseason player of the year ballot.
NCHS COACH JAMES WILKERSON SAYS: “We are playing a very athletic team with lots of speed. They have a quarterback who can hurt you with his feet. We will need to play disciplined football in all areas of the game. We have lot of guys playing out of position this week to help the team in areas where we have lost players. It will take a team effort to start this season successfully.”
NEXT UP: The Chiefs host Peabody next Thursday night at Turpin Stadium.
