By TEDDY ALLEN, Journal Sports
Tonight in Many, Haughton has a home game on the road.
“Heard it’s an experience,” said Haughton head coach Jason Brotherton, whose 5A team known for its own interesting gameday experience is expecting a playoff atmosphere when the Bucs visit John W. Curtis Tiger Stadium at 7 o’clock.
“Heard about the Harley-Davidsons, the fireworks, the tailgating,” Brotherton, a Many gameday rookie, said. “We’re excited about that. Heard if you want to steal anything in Many, do it during a home football game. Sounds familiar; sounds like my kinda place.”
While Brotherton and the Bucs haven’t been there, they’ve “been there.”
“We have a unique (home) atmosphere too,” he said. “Many might even be a step up from us. But our guys are used to playing in big-game atmospheres.”
Both teams have playoff pedigrees. Many has won two Class 2A state titles in five title game appearances since 2013 and finished as runner-up last year. Haughton’s been a playoff regular for the last 25 years, including in every season since the Bucs have been in 5A.
“Our kids know Many’s good; they know Many’s not your typical 2A team,” Brotherton said. “Shoot, they’re gonna have more guys get scholarship offers for college on their team than we’ll have on ours, so we’re not gonna overlook them.
“There’s a lot of interest in the state in this game — how will the top team in Class 2A play against a 5A team. Our guys know that, and we always hope to represent 5A well.”
Many is fast and furious; the Tigers outscored their first two opponents, each in a higher classification, by a combined 88-10.
“We like playing in big games like this,” Brotherton said. “If you don’t find yourself playing in a big game, you must not be very good. Parkway is our biggest rival, and we’ve got them next week — another big game. So Friday night’s not going to be anything too out of the ordinary.”
Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu
Haughton (2-0) at Many (2-0), John W. Curtis Tiger Stadium
Series: Haughton leads 6-2
Last year: Did not play
Last week: Haughton beat LaGrange 44-14; Many beat DeRidder 50-7
Rankings: Haughton is ranked 4th in the Journal Top 10; Many is No. 1 in LSWA 2A Top 10
Radio: none locally; 99.9 KTEZ FM, Many (BDCRadio.com)
Notable: Last time they played was in 1969, won by Haughton 35-0 … Haughton Athletics’ Twitter, @HbucsAthletics, has named senior DL Hayden Ramey, 3.75 GPA, as its Scholar Athlete of the Week … Haughton QB Colin Rains is No. 5 in SBJ passing yardage: 358, 23-29-0, 5 TDs … Many QB Tackett Curtis is not much of a passer but is a special runner/safety/linebacker/return man; returned two punts for TDs this season and a third was wiped out by penalty … RB Jeremiah James is Many’s primary back, but look out for Jamarlyn Garner too, and others … defense returns 10 of 11 starters, including LB Keaton Montgomery and DB Tylen Singleton, from last year’s very good unit … Many coach Jess Curtis: “Playing some spread offenses earlier this season definitely helped us prepare and showed us some things we need to clean up. Third down on defense is a down we want to win. And then we want to control the time of possession on offense because Haughton likes to go up-tempo; we want to hang on to the ball.”
Loyola (0-2) at North DeSoto (2-0)
Series: Loyola leads 12-7
Last year: Did not play
Last week: Loyola lost to Logansport 44-42; North DeSoto beat Center, Texas 71-42
Rankings: None
Radio: none
Notable: Loyola has recovered more onside kicks (2) than it has fumble recoveries and interceptions combined (1) … Loyola will be trying to avoid its first 0-3 start since 2006 … Last week’s game against Logansport is the first time the Flyers have scored 42 points and lost since a 2007 playoff game against St. John’s-Plaquemine (46-44) … This is the first meeting between the Flyers and Griffins since 2014 … The previous 19 meetings were all as a district or playoff game.
Magnolia (0-2) at East Iberville (0-2)
Series: First meeting
Last year: First meeting
Last week: Magnolia lost to General Trass 49-18; East Iberville lost to East Feliciana 33-0
Rankings: none
Radio: none
Notable: Magnolia is looking for its first win since a 30-26 victory over Ringgold on Sept. 24, 2021 … despite scoring only one touchdown in their Week 1 loss to Lake Charles College Prep, the Mariners were able to get into the endzone three times last week … Magnolia quarterback Mark McCray – who ran for the Mariners’ only TD in Week 1 – threw two TDs last week (to DeAndre and DeVondre Johnson) … East Iberville is trying to break a three-game losing streak that started with last season’s final game.
