By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
Huntington coach Stephen Dennis has talked to his team all year about “being 1-and-0” every week. In other words, just worry about winning this week.
That’s all well and good, but during the regular season the reality is even if you don’t go “1-and-0,” there’s always another game next week.
Not anymore.
“It’s never been more important to go 1-0 than this week,” Dennis said. “But the kids understand the mindset. They have bought into it.”
The Raiders will be ultimately looking to go 5-and-0 as they enter the Select-Division I playoffs tonight against Jesuit at 7 p.m. at Lee Hedges Stadium. It’ll take five wins to win the biggest prize of all – the state championship.
“There are four teams in our district who are no longer playing,” Dennis said. “And if we don’t want to be another one of those teams, then what we do this week in practice matters.”
Huntington is seeded 14th in the bracket and won’t be getting any favors in taking on the Blue Jays, a team that went to the state finals a year ago. This season, Jesuit has played the Nos. 2, 4, 7 and 8 teams in the final Class 5A poll as well as the No. 7 Class 4A team.
So, forget the 4-6 overall record when evaluating the Blue Jays. This is no typical No. 19 seed.
“They lost to Catholic 14-10 last year in the championship game and they return eight starters on defense,” Dennis said. “They are good in all three phases of the game. They are not going to beat themselves. We are just going to have to execute. That may sound like coach-speak, but it doesn’t make it any less true.”
The playoffs also mean playing against an opponent in which you are not familiar and, in this case, from across the state.
“During the regular season, you develop a familiarity with the people in your district,” Dennis said. “You don’t have that now. It’s playoff football. You just try to get as familiar as you can in five days and you go from here.”
The Raiders do have some postseason experience, having played five playoff games in the last three years and getting wins in each of the last two years.
“It’s always good to have experience, but every year is always different,” Dennis said. “But our kids have been in that atmosphere and environment before. That won’t be new to them.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
19-Jesuit (4-6) vs. 14-Huntington (6-4)
Where: Lee Hedges Stadium
Series: First meeting
Last week: Jesuit beat Rummel 24-14; Huntington beat Bossier 48-0
Rankings: Huntington is No. 9 in Shreveport-Bossier Journal Top 10 poll
Radio: none
Notables: The Raiders have never played Jesuit or any other team from the Catholic League in their history … Jesuit won its final three games of the regular season but none against teams that finished with a winning record … The Huntington defense had five sacks in their game last week against Bossier … Playing in place of injured starter Kam Evans, reserve Raider quarterbacks Jamarion Washington and Lorenzo White combined to complete 13 of 18 passes for 291 yards last week … Huntington usually plays its home games at Independence Stadium, but installation of the new turf field there has forced the game to be moved to Lee Hedges Stadium, which had its own set of preseason improvements.