By LORI LYONS, Journal Sports
It’s a big Friday night of football for Natchitoches Parish’s small school teams St. Mary’s and Lakeview, as both are looking for their first victory of the season in the midst of a host of fun distractions.
St. Mary’s will try to get its first win at Holy Savior Menard in the annual tilt known as the “Bishop Bowl” to be played in Alexandria. Begun in 2022, the two Catholic “sister” schools have battled for the Bishop’s Trophy, with each team taking it home twice.
Right now the Tigers have it and they want to keep it. St. Mary’s won last year’s contest 17-12.
“I don’t care how they do it, we just can’t lose that trophy,” coach Kedrin Seastrunk said.
Menard defeated Northwood Lena 42-0 in Week One and lost to Jena 56-3 last week.
The Tigers are still licking their wounds over last week’s 20-14 loss to Red River. St. Mary’s was ahead 14-12 late in the fourth quarter before giving up a 50-yard touchdown with 6:32 remaining. The Tigers had one more possession but were forced to punt.
“The defense did great,” Seastrunk said. “We had two goal line, fourth down stands. Those were some highlights, some true gut checks. That was real big. And we moved the ball. We just ran out of bullets. We did what we could with what we have.”
With 26 players, Seastrunk said it’s hard to make adjustments when just about everybody is playing both ways.
“I’m trying to throw something together on the sidelines and we’ve only got 25 seconds to do it,” he said. “That’s the hardest thing about coaching with low numbers, is trying to adjust on the fly. Once again, Menard has their numbers. We’re looking for a hard matchup.”
Lakeview, meanwhile, faces a double challenge. The Gators are not only looking for their first win, it’s homecoming week. So coach Lawrence Seawood will be trying to get his team ready to play Class 4A Woodlawn of Shreveport as well as get them through all of the extracurricular activities during the week.
“There will be a lot of activities going on,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about the school spirit, getting our kids into it. At least you don’t have to hype the kids up for the homecoming game.”
Despite the 0-2 start, Seawood said he is seeing some improvement in his team. The Gators got their first points when first year starting quarterback Gavin Spears, a freshman, threw a 23-yard touchdown to sophomore Joey Miller.
But Lakeview has been outscored 110-6.
Contact Lori at sportslyons@gmail.com