Turns out Loyola had a dog in that fight.
A postgame brawl last Friday involving the Carroll Bulldogs and fans of the Assumption Mustangs, outside the stadium in Napoleonville, could dampen Loyola’s Oct. 16 homecoming festivities – and hamper its lofty LHSAA playoff ranking.
Wednesday, after a three-hour hearing, Carroll’s football season was justifiably ended by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. Assumption didn’t get off scot-free: it will play the rest of its games on the road and pay a $500 fine for lax crowd management.
The ripple effect rapidly made its way to Shreveport.
Carroll is scheduled to visit Loyola two weeks from Friday, a contest that if played, is the centerpiece of the Flyers’ homecoming.
Carroll will appeal the suspension of its season, but it doesn’t take a sliver of watching the 98-second video of the melee on social media to know the Bulldogs have played their last football until 2027.
Numerous Bulldogs are seen in fights with fans and at least one player was tased by law enforcement after Assumption’s 14-6 victory.
Carroll (2-2) was scheduled to play at its arch-rival, Wossman, this Friday. It’s the Wildcats’ homecoming and their party will not include a football game.
Flyers’ coach John Sella and his staff have scanned schedules looking for teams with open dates on Oct. 16. Two are relatively close – Class A teams, St. Frederick of Monroe and Northwood-Lena. Neither is very good.
Something is better than nothing, though. Both teams are 2-2 but in the lower rungs of the LHSAA’s power rankings in Non-Select Division IV.
Playing either on Oct. 16 would be better than a forfeit win for Loyola, both from the standpoint of actually playing a homecoming game, and gleaning some gain in the Flyers’ power ranking, which at No. 3 in Select Division III is the local area’s best going into Friday night’s tremendous matchup with Calvary – sixth in that division.
Here’s the catch: St. Frederick doesn’t have warm and fuzzy feelings about the Flyers after getting drubbed 56-21 in the 2025 season opener at Messmer Stadium. The Warriors were quite happy two years ago when they won a mud fight, 8-6, in Monroe, spoiling Sella’s head coaching debut.
Northwood-Lena, located along I-49 about a mile away from where a massive data center is being built outside of Boyce, hasn’t played many games ever against larger classification opponents. Perhaps the Gators might be enticed to make the 90-minute trip north by a nice game guarantee check.
The Warriors are the more logical replacement, assuming Loyola can fill the sudden gap and St. Fred’s agrees to come visit for a second straight year.
It was uncertain Wednesday evening if plugging the hole on the Flyers’ schedule is allowed by the LHSAA, but that question will be quickly resolved.
No reason Loyola should suffer for Carroll’s crime. Arranging a game on the fly became routine in the COVID-marred 2020 season, which went off in admirable fashion. Even if there’s some arcane rule in the LHSAA book preventing midseason football schedule shuffling – and considering that is commonplace in other sports — it ought to be waived in this case.
Sella and his team will wait to see how this plays out. Hopefully it’s not beyond their control.
What is squarely on the docket is Friday night’s showdown between Loyola and Calvary. Next week, the Flyers make their District 1-3A debut – on the road against last year’s Non-Select Division III state champion, Sterlington.
After those two battles, Snoopy’s guys deserve a homecoming cupcake.
Contact Doug at sports@journalservicesllc.com