There were few surprises, but one close call, as all five top seeds won in bidistrict, or first-round action of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association state football playoffs. The regionals will be contested this weekend.
Top-seeded Metairie Archbishop Rummel (11-0) of Class 5A relied on 10 first-quarter points to edge 32nd-seeded Captain Shreve, 10-3. Rummel will now face 16th-seeded New Orleans Jesuit.
Top-seeded Franklinton (11-0) had much less trouble in Class 4A, where it routed 32nd-seeded Baton Rouge St. Michael, 57-13. Sophomore Josh Robinson rushed 15 times for 263 yards while scoring on runs of 41 and 67 yards. Franklinton advanced to play 17th-seeded Bastrop.
No. 1-seeded Notre Dame of Crowley (11-0) carved up 32nd-seeded New Orleans Carver in Class 3A, 43-14. Notre Dame must now contend with 17th-seeded North DeSoto. No. 1 River Ridge John Curtis (10-0) of Class 2A began its quest for a 24th state title with a 64-0 victory over 32nd-seeded Mangham. John Curtis will now visit 17th-seeded Opelousas Catholic.
Dex Thibodeaux, Curtis
File photo by Greg Pierson
Finally, top-seeded St. John of Plaquemine (10-1) of Class 1A overwhelmed district foe Baton Rouge Christian Life, 53-21. St. John will go on the road to play 17th-seeded Monroe Ouachita Christian.
Too close for comfort
Rummel likely must play better to beat Jesuit after scoring its only touchdown against Captain Shreve on Amahad Brown’s 11-run. Rummel’s first drive ended in Marc Raziano’s 30-yard field goal.
Rummel forced three turnovers, with safety Carvin Johnson intercepting two passes. It was Johnson’s 30-yard punt return that set up Brown’s touchdown. Captain Shreve came away with only a second-half field goal after reaching Rummel’s 28-, 2- and 44-yard lines. Captain Shreve (6-5) ended its season on a three-game losing streak.
"We just played hard, and we got through it," Rummel’s Johnson said. "We know we're going to struggle at times. Our offense has struggled all year. We've just got to keeping getting it done."
In Jesuit, Rummel will be playing a New Orleans Metro Catholic League rival that it beat in the seventh week of the regular season, 21-14. Jesuit stopped 17th-seeded Shreveport Airline in bidistrict play, 27-7.
Quarterbacks find six to be their lucky number
Lutcher’s Gavin Webster, and Shreveport Evangel Christian’s David Dee Duron, started the playoffs with a flourish in powering their teams to easy victories.
Webster rushed for 260 yards and six touchdowns as top-ranked and third-seeded Lutcher of Class 4A blasted New Orleans Warren Easton, 69-30. Webster scored on runs of 52, 20, 81 23, 31 and 15 yards. Lutcher (11-0) won last year’s Class 3A state title.
Duron, of Class 2A’s second-ranked and second-seeded team (10-1), threw six touchdown passes in little more than three quarters of the Eagles’ 49-0 victory over Baton Rouge Episcopal. Duron threw for 175 yards and four touchdowns in the first quarter alone. Eric Thomas caught three of those scoring passes and finished with six receptions for 107 yards.
Lutcher will play host to Lake Charles St. Louis Catholic in the regionals, while Evangel will be at home again in facing inner-city rival Calvary Christian.
Thibodaux pulls off overtime surprise
In one of the playoffs’ first upsets, 23rd-ranked Thibodaux of Class 5A edged 10th-seeded Lafayette St. Thomas More in overtime, 15-14, when Brandon Duncan scored on a two-point run. Duncan’s score followed quarterback Trovon Reed’s 9-yard touchdown run. St. Thomas More had taken a 14-7 overtime lead when Drake Hebert recovered a Thibodaux fumble in the end zone.
St. Thomas More (7-4) scored the game’s first touchdown on Thomas Gumpert’s 1-yard run before Thibodaux (7-4) tied the score on a 1-yard run of its own.
Reed’s performance followed his commitment to play collegiately at Auburn. Reed made the announcement at a ceremony where he accepted an invitation to play in the U.S. Army All-American Game. Reed, who missed part of the season with a knee injury, is projected to play wide receiver at Auburn. Reed and Thibodaux will entertain Covington St. Paul’s (10-1) in the regionals.
Volleyball: Redstickers roll again
In beating New Orleans Mount Carmel Academy for the fourth consecutive time this season, Baton Rouge St. Joseph’s Academy won its third consecutive LHSAA Division I-Class 5A state championship. The Redstickers (46-1) claimed the title in three closely contested sets, 28-26, 25-23, 25-21. Cori Martone earned Outstanding Player honors for the title game after having produced 15 kills. Lindsey Fourroux added 24 assists and Morgan Adams added 19 digs.
"We knew Mount Carmel would play us tough," SJA coach Sivi Miller said. "We won it in three, but it definitely wasn’t easy."
"There was a difference of eight points in the three (sets) and it’s tough to lose like that," MCA coach April Hagadone said. "I think the difference was their experience….We’re a younger team, and we’ll learn from this."
In other action at the Ponchartrain Center in Kenner, Napoleonville Assumption won the Division II-Class 4A crown, New Orleans Ursuline claimed the Division III-Class 3A championship, Covington Northlake Christian took the Division IV-Class 2A title and Metairie Park Country Day succeeded Northlake Christian as the Division V-Class A, B and C winner.
After losing its first set, Assumption (33-12) roared back to beat New Orleans Cabrini, 15-25, 25-21, 25-18, 26-24. It was Assumption’s first state title since 2000. Assumption’s Chelsie Bergeron was named Outstanding Player with 15 kills.
Ursuline (33-8) needed four sets to beat Notre Dame of Crowley, 25-23, 25-21, 24-26, 27-25, for its first state volleyball championship. Northlake Christian (29-1) won its third consecutive state crown in defeating New Orleans McGhehee, 25-20, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18. Northlake Christian had won the previous two Division V titles.
Country Day (30-10) triumphed in three sets, 25-21, 25-21, 26-24, with Katherine Broussard producing 15 kills and 20 digs. Becca Lapeyre collected 30 assists. Episcopal’s Tiffany Jenkins and Kelly Gambel each had 22 digs.
