District 3-1A season begins for St. Mary’s and Lakeview tonight at home, while Natchitoches Central makes the drive up I-49 to play LSU commitment Pop Houston and the explosive Evangel Eagles in a District 1-5A game.
All games kick off at 7.
ST. MARY’S: It’s St. Mary’s (5-0) against Logansport (4-1) in what is almost always a contest that determines the District 3-1A championship, and it’s homecoming for SMHS.
St. Mary’s has posted its five wins against foes in higher classifications, and is No. 3 in the LHSAA’s Select Division IV power rankings. Logansport lost last week 30-24 at home to one of St. Mary’s last-second victims, previously winless Red River.
SMHS went to 3-1 Winnfield and stunned those Tigers last week 23-14. The St. Mary’s defense has been stout all season while first-year coach Jacob Carruth’s squad has relied upon superior performances at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
Logansport is coached by former NSU quarterback Kevin Magee, who led the 2002 Demons to the FCS playoffs. His son, Kollin, is his quarterback in a powerful offense. LHS is 10th in the LSWA’s Class A top 10 poll and eighth in the Non-Select Division I power rankings.
NCHS: The Chiefs showed a lot of spunk in their homecoming game last weekend, taking perennial district contender Airline down to the final seconds in a 32-29 loss. There were bright spots on both sides of the ball for a team that was missing 10 starters due to injury.
NCHS (0-5, 0-1 in 1-5A) now faces the defending district champion Eagles (3-2, 1-0), whose receivers have struggled with drops this season. Evangel has won three straight while Houston has shifted to running the ball more often, averaging over 100 yards on the ground while still getting 400-plus in the passing game.
Quarterback Kobe Jones, running back Kaden Kuykendoll and receiver KJ Newton were among the Chiefs’ offensive standouts last week.
LAKEVIEW: The Gators welcome Montgomery’s Tigers to The Swamp in a 3-1A matchup of 2-3 teams.
Lakeview has dropped its last two games in shutout losses on the road to higher classification teams, but will square off on even terms with Montgomery. The teams have been on an even keel over the past decade, although the Tigers have won the past two meetings after three straight Lakeview victories.