By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
Six of the eight Rapides Parish football schools made the postseason brackets released Sunday morning by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association.
Tioga, Alexandria Senior High and Pineville all landed spots in the 24-team Division I Select bracket. Peabody and Buckeye are among the 24 schools in the Division II Select postseason, and Menard made the Division III Select playoffs.
Tioga (8-2) earned the highest seed among parish teams at No. 10 in Division I Select and is one of four Rapides Parish teams who will host a first-round playoff game along with No. 13 ASH in Division I, No. 14 Peabody in Division II and No. 15 Menard in Division III.
The Indians, whose only losses were to Jena and Neville, two teams that earned top-two playoff seeds, will host No. 23 L.W. Higgins (3-7) out of Marrero.
Offensively, the running back duo of junior Travis Adams (658 yards, 10 TDs) and sophomore Kenny Ponthier (344 yards, 5 TDs) lead the Indians along with senior receiver Josh Loyd (31-319, 6 TDs), who had a career game in the Week 10 win over Grant.
“We’re not putting anything new in,” Tioga coach Kevin Cook said. “We’re not doing anything new.”
ASH (6-4) brings a battle-tested team into the postseason as the four teams that beat the Trojans during the regular season finished with a combined record of 36-4. The Trojans face No. 20 Bonnabel (4-6).
The Trojans feature a balanced offensive attack that is nearly 50-50 in the number of passing plays and running plays.
Senior quarterback Ty Feaster has thrown for 1,783 yards and 24 touchdowns, and junior JT Lindsey has 1,187 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. Senior EJ Scott is ASH’s leading receiver with 42 catches for 613 yards and eight TDs.
“We’re excited about what’s in front of us and the challenges,” ASH coach Thomas Bachman said. “I think that’s why you’re in – go measure yourself against the best and see how you stack up.”
Pineville (2-8), meanwhile, got the final spot in the Division I Select playoff bracket and will travel to No. 9 Carencro (8-2).
The Bears, led by sophomore quarterback Chantz Babineaux, beat ASH 48-26 to start the season and reeled off eight consecutive victories before losing the district championship to Acadiana (27-26) and a non-district contest against Shaw (57-50) the past two weeks.
The Rebels have struggled with efficiency in the passing game but have seen the emergence of sophomore tailbacks Ayden Tate (703 yards, 5 TDs) and Hy’keem Mix (169 yards, 2 TDs).
“We are looking for success this week, but we’re also looking for a springboard into what’s next,” Pineville coach Bryant Bell said.
Peabody (6-4) joins District 2-4A rival Tioga in the playoffs, but the Warhorses are in a different bracket as they received the 14th seed in the Division II Select playoffs.
The Warhorses head into the playoffs following consecutive losses to Tioga and Franklin Parish, but second-year coach Harry Coleman said he is confident in his team.
“We gotta just reset,” Coleman said about the two-game losing streak. “Everybody going into the playoffs, no matter where you’re playing at, is 0-0. We would have loved to have either a bye or a higher seed, but we can’t harp on that.”
The Warhorses will host No. 18 Booker T. Washington of New Orleans (4-6) in their first home playoff game since 2019.
While Peabody is at home this week, No. 18 seed Buckeye (5-5) will travel to New Orleans to face 15th-seeded De La Salle (4-6) – a team that finished as state runner-up in 2020 and 2021 before losing in the quarterfinals last season.
The Panthers bring an uptempo, spread offense led by junior quarterback Adam Brodnax, junior tailback Jim Burlew and junior receiver Haidyn Boone – all three among the top producers at their positions in the parish.
Brodnax has passed for 1,917 yards and 19 touchdowns on the season. Boone has been his favorite target with 50 receptions for 925 yards and 11 TDs. Burlew, meanwhile, has been the top running back in the parish with 1,546 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns.
Buckeye coach Ben McLaughlin said the Panthers met one of their goals to make the playoffs, and even though they are facing a team with a strong recent tradition, they will put forth their best effort.
“We’re going to put the best game plan we can to go exploit as many things as we can,” McLaughlin said. “As coaches you have one job and that’s to put the kids in the best position they can to make plays, and then they have to go make plays.”
Menard (7-3) received the No. 15 seed in Division III Select and will host 18th-seeded Houma Christian (7-3).
The Eagles have ridden their stout defense all season, led by senior linebacker Cooper Scott and senior defensive end Drake Aldredge.
Menard also features a run-heavy offense that includes sophomore quarterback Jake Vaughn, sophomore running back Aidyn Moran and seniors Cooper Scott and Gavin Hilton, who have combined to score 13 rushing TDs on the season.
“We want to grind it out on offense and kinda shorten the game up,” Menard coach David Perkins said. “We like to run the clock, play tough defense and use our special teams.”