By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine
This is my favorite time of year for sports, going back to my start in covering high school football in Louisiana since 1991.
I think I speak for many readers when I say that after jamboree week is over, the feel in the air and around this state goes to another level when it comes to high school football. We all get fired up for a season of 10 games that will fly by so fast, followed by playoffs, and then championships in December.
Let’s talk about some interesting matchups of Shreveport-Bossier teams in Class 5A in non-district games which will be really exciting this season.
Start this Friday, when C.E Byrd has Pleasant Grove, a big-time Texas team, and it’s a home game for the Yellow Jackets. Pleasant Grove has won state titles recently and they have several FBS players playing in the Big 12 and in the SEC (like defensive tackle Marcus Burris, 6-4, 285, at Texas A&M, and defensive end Landon Jackson, 6-7, 280, at Arkansas, although he signed with LSU in 2020), and they return a big-time squad. This will be a huge gauge to see where Byrd is with such a young team that has an experienced quarterback in senior Lake Lambert. If Byrd can pull this one out, it could be a great indication the Jackets could have legs in the Louisiana playoffs statewide.
Airline in Week 2 on Sept. 9: the Vikings will play at home against Union Parish out of Farmerville. This will be a great game to see how good early on Airline can be taking on one of the best running backs in the country in Trey Holly, 5-8, 205 with 4.4 speed and around 8,000 career yards rushing, on pace to break the state career record by the middle of this season. It will also be interesting to see how a Class 5A team in Airline handles one of the best Class 3A programs in the state. Union Parish has not been the normal Class 3A team with the offensive and defensive lines the last seven years averaging over 280 pounds per player.
Haughton in Week 2 has a big-time home game with LaGrange out of Lake Charles. I saw LaGrange play in 2021 and they have at least 12 seniors in 2022 (I counted!) who can go anywhere from FBS to Division III for college football; they also have several talented young players back. This is a game that can go either way. This will be a big test for a young Haughton defense early on in the season facing an offense with a lot of team speed and size. LaGrange will average over 250 pounds per player on the offensive line, not bad for a Class 4A program in Louisiana.
An interesting matchup in Week 2 will be Parkway taking on Red River in Coushatta. It’s the classic “throw out the records” and “forget one program is Class 2A (Red River) and the other Class 5A (Parkway).” The Bulldogs had a wild shootout last fall with Haughton and this could be more of the same with 100 points combined on the board. Both teams return multiple players who can run under 4.4 in the 40. It might be the fastest game on turf or grass in North Louisiana this season. Parkway athlete Jaylan White will have a chance in this game to go over 300 total yards I predict, but Red River will be able to showcase its five senior skill players who can give Parkway a challenge. All of those seniors are college prospects, not bad for a Class 2A school; Red River also has a pair of senior college prospect linebackers.
In Week 3, I love the matchup with Benton traveling to Newman Sept. 16 to take on Class 2A powerhouse Newman and quarterback Arch Manning (6-4, 220), who you may have heard about; he’s 100 percent legit and not the Greenies’ only talented player. His younger brother, by the way, is their center. This game might produce over 900 yards in offense combined because Benton has a very good and relatively unheralded quarterback too in Gray Walters at 6-4, 215. It might come down to who has the ball last. It’s also a chance to see how Benton does on the big stage in an away game. The Tigers want to be in New Orleans in December. Here’s a trial run.
The last game I want to mention in Class 5A is Southwood; the Cowboys will take on a very talented Monroe team in Carroll. This game is Week 3 and a home game for the Southwood football program. Class 3A Carroll had two players make my All-Louisiana Football team, one on offense and one on defense. Southwood has one big-time player on my Louisiana Football Magazine Preseason team and that’s outside linebacker, defensive back, wide receiver do-it-all Corinthian Walters 6-1, 185, with 4.45 speed and I think a big-time FBS sleeper. I think Carroll has a chance to go deep in the playoffs, and this is a big test for the Southwood program to see where it can be in terms of competing, either with a great team come playoff time or in its tough district this season.
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Contact Lee at lbrecheen@aol.com