By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine
Every year in high school football in Louisiana, there always seems to be three or four teams that are new that make the state title games from Class 1A to Class 5A, Select or Non-Select.
It’s hard to get this right every year even if you’re like me and watch over 300 high school football games a year on film with almost 100 of those in person, counting full practices, around the state.
Also, every year there seems to always be a team on a mission that shocks everyone in every city of the state to make the playoffs and win a couple of playoff games.
That’s what I love about high school sports: on any given night anybody can beat anyone. I always say great teams with leadership sometimes beat great teams with just talent.
Today I will talk about teams in the Shreveport-Bossier Journal coverage area who can make a long run in the playoffs or shock people to make the playoffs in the smaller classes like 2A.
I really like Calvary Baptist Academy’s chances to win another state title with a deep team coming back at the skill spots and overall more depth back at the lineman spots. They did lose all-state quarterback Landry Lyddy, who threw for over 8,000 yards in his career, but return a capable stable of young talented QB’s in Abram Wardell, Bryce Carpenter and some younger talented players. I like their leadership coming back with players like Kolby Thomas at wide receiver, defensive back Hutch Grace and linebacker Cade Bedgood.
Calvary had an 11-2 record in 2021 — not bad — but in 2022 might end up with one of their best teams, even with a tough start to their slate. Come midseason, I would not want to play this team.
Another team I like a lot is North Caddo, with some of the best offensive players coming back in the Shreveport-Bossier area: running back Aiden Brock, quarterback/running back KJ Black and wide receiver Omarion Miller. This program has a chance to go farther in 2022 than they have ever been in school history.
North Caddo finished 10-3 in 2021 and again has a chance to really shock some people in the end — if their key players stay healthy, always a concern at any level, but especially in the smaller high school classifications.
My top sleeper team in Class 2A in Shreveport-Bossier is Green Oaks. I watched this team last season play Class 5A Zachary and they competed with 90 percent of the team being freshmen or sophomores, and most of those kids are back, even though wide receiver De’Coldest Crawford is now with Nebraska, making snappy commercials in his NIL deal.
Even though Zachary won the game by halftime, I was impressed how these young kids competed against the eventual Class 5A state champs, and I expect those young kids will grow up and become a problem for many schools in 2022.
Another young team to keep an eye on is Loyola Prep. This Class 2A school lost a lot from the 2021 season with many players graduating, but they return some good young players and some seniors like free safety/wide receiver Grayson Hutchins, wide receiver John Carmody and new quarterback Cooper Defatta each have a chance to put this team on their back, and each can become recruits in 2022 with great seasons.
Loyola Prep veteran coach Mike Greene does a great job and always has, even when his teams have had little to no experience returning. I’ve covered his Fair Park and Airline teams over the years and have learned to never count his teams out. They’re in a more favorable position when it comes time for the playoffs (see today’s Loyola season preview by John James Marshall) and that Flyer tradition is another subtle factor.
GET YOUR ORDER IN: For previews of every Louisiana high school and college football team, info on the state’s top senior prospects, and more, you can order the 2022 Louisiana Football Magazine at LaFootballMagazine.com – offering North Louisiana and South Louisiana editions, printed or digital.
Contact Lee at lbrecheen@aol.com