Bogalusa at Amite

AMITE — For those fans who could not make the trip to see Amite play Bogalusa last Friday, the teams will give an encore performance tonight in Amite in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs.

No. 3 seed Amite will try to make it two straight over Bogalusa, seeded 30th, after defeating the Lumberjacks 35-19 for the out-right District 10-3A title last week.

"One week later, we do it again," Amite head coach Alden Foster said. "It's amazing how things fell. It's unfortunate, but we're happy to have a chance to play.

“It's a quality football team we're playing, a very dangerous football team. When you are dealing with a team like Bogalusa who has (receiver) Maurice Cooper and (quarterback) William Smith, those dangerous guys, it's a pretty good No. 30 seed we are facing."

Jennings at Independence

INDEPENDENCE — When college recruiters inquire about what position Independence senior Reggie Sims plays, Tigers coach Keith Carona tells them to take their pick.

"Reggie Sims has been a horse for us all year long," Carona said. "He plays everything. He's our tailback out of our bunch set, the fullback in our I set and he starts at linebacker. When colleges come by and ask what position Reggie can play, I say, ‘All of them.’ What's his best position? I say, ‘Anywhere you put him because he is that versatile of a player."

Sims showed his versatility in Indy's 34-12 win over Loranger last Friday. Sims carried 16 times for 91 yards. He also recovered a fumble and returned an interception 21 yards to set up a pair of second-half touchdowns.

Seventh-seeded Independence (7-2) may need that kind of production again from Sims as the Tigers host Jennings in the Class 3A bi-district playoffs tonight.

Jennings, seeded 26th, finished 3-6 but that record is misleading. All six of the Bulldogs' losses were to playoff teams, including the No. 4 seed in Class 4A ( Eunice) and the top two seeds in 3A (Notre Dame and Westlake).

"They are not your typical 3-6 team," Carona said. “The reason they are in the playoffs is because of the schedule they have played."

Loranger at Parkview Baptist

LORANGER — Loranger is facing a big challenge in its Class 3A bi-district playoff game at Parkview Baptist Friday, literally and figuratively.

Parkview Baptist, the defending Class 3A state champion, is perennially known for its size, particularly on the offensive line. This year's front five is no different, averaging just over 6 feet and 261 pounds. Guard Carneal Ainsworth has committed to LSU.

Running behind that line is the duo of senior Brant Legendre (150 carries, 944 yards, 15 TDs) and junior Drew Dileo (77-622-8).

"That is their game," Loranger head coach Sam Messina said. "They have physical offensive linemen and they are a triple option run team. My coaches tell me they only throw when they are up two touchdowns or down two touchdowns so they are going to try to run the ball most of the time. We just have to do what we can to hopefully slow them down and keep them out of the end zone as much as we can and give ourselves a chance to put some points on the board ourselves."

Welsh at St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas is coming off a 35-7 win at Pope John Paul II to repeat as District 9-2A's undefeated champions.

What the Falcons do not want a repeat of is what happened to them last season in the Class 2A bi-district playoffs.

St. Thomas traveled to Springfield, a team it had defeated in the regular season, but was sent home with a 34-0 loss, ending a 7-4 season.

This time around, the Falcons will be at home Friday at 7 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium against Welsh (6-3).

"Last year, we were one and done," St. Thomas head coach John White said. "We played Springfield and got beat. You have a great season and you win district and go to the first round of the playoffs and lose, you kind of feel a little down in the dumps. We know what that feels like from last year.

“This year, we don't want that to repeat. We're excited about going to the playoffs but we're more excited about getting playoff wins and it starts Friday night."

St. John at St. Helena Central

GREENSBURG—Last year's offseason is why St. Helena Central will have a shorter offseason this year.

The Hawks (6-3) will be making their first postseason appearance since 2004 when they host St. John-Plaquemine tonight at 7 in the Class 2A bi-district playoffs. St. Helena is seeded 12th, one season after finishing 3-7 in Dwayne Severio's first year as head coach.

"There were a lot of changes last year with the offensive and defensive schemes and terminology," Severio said of the difference from this season to last. "I think our kids have a good grasp of that now. Last year, the kids really had no spring and no weightlifting.

“But we had a great offseason this year. We had a great spring training period, then played Albany (in the spring game) and played well in that game. I thought the offseason was the biggest difference for us with spring practice and playing 7-on-7 during the summer."

Catholic-PC at Kentwood

KENTWOOD — Kentwood hopes to be on the road next week.

That would mean the 13th-seeded Roos would have gotten by No. 20 Catholic-Pointe Coupee in the Class 1A bi-district playoffs tonight and still have their hopes of a trip to the Superdome alive.

The winner of tonight's game will most likely play No. 4 seed Haynesville, which hosts No. 29 St. Mary, in the regionals. Should Kentwood win, the Roos (5-4) would have to travel to Haynesville.

"That's the goal," Kentwood head coach David Currier said. "We feel like we have a good chance this week. You don't want to look past this week but we know who our opponent most likely will be next week. We would go there but right now we're going to take care of business Friday night."

That will not be an easy task, despite Catholic-PC's 4-4 record. Three of those losses came to playoff teams — Livonia, St. Edmund's and Calvary Baptist. Currier is familiar with the Hornets, the 6-1A runner-up, having played them in district until four years ago.