By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
It’s crunch time for high school football teams in the state of Louisiana.
With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, every victory matters as teams jockey for positioning in the power rankings and for seeding in the playoffs.
Several of Rapides Parish’s teams face must-win situations as they look to close the regular season strong and lock up a spot in the postseason.
Louisiana’s playoffs are broken into eight divisions, four each on the Select and Non-Select sides. Non-Select schools are the state’s traditional public schools, while the Select divisions are made up of private, parochial, magnet, charter and schools from open-enrollment parishes like Rapides.
Twenty-eight teams make the Non-Select brackets, with the top four seeds in each division receiving a first-round bye, while 24 teams make the Select brackets and the top eight seeds receive byes.
Two parish teams that are right on the playoff bubble are Peabody and Menard.
The Warhorses (2-6) are sitting in the No. 24 spot in Division II, according to the latest power ratings released by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association on Tuesday. Peabody actually has the exact same power rating (8.06) as Archbishop Hannan, which sits in the 25th spot.
Although they have lost three straight games to start District 2-4A, the Warhorses (3-5) have a chance to earn a lot of points when West Ouachita (7-1) comes to visit tonight.
Menard (3-5), which sits in the No. 23 spot in Division II, hosts Church Point tonight in a non-district matchup that ultimately could determine the Eagles’ playoff fate.
“Today was probably our most physical day that we’ve had all year, so hopefully that’ll mean something come Friday night,” Menard coach David Perkins said on his Eagle’s Nest coach’s show on Wednesday.
While Peabody and Menard find themselves on the bubble, Tioga and Northwood-Lena are on the outside of the playoff bracket looking in with two games remaining.
Tioga (4-5), which plays up in the Division I playoffs despite being a Class 4A team, found itself in the No. 31 spot with a power rating of 8.75 heading into its District 2-4A matchup at Grant on Thursday night.
Cace Malone threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers as the Indians cruised to a 42-8 victory. Kervin Johnson caught a touchdown and threw another, while Ryan Reeves caught two touchdown passes.
Northwood (3-5), meanwhile, sits at No. 28, four spots outside of the playoffs, with district games at home against St. Mary’s and on the road against district leader Logansport remaining.
Buckeye (5-3) is in a solid position at No. 13 in Division II, but the Panthers face two tough District 2-3A contests to close the season as they try to wrap up a home playoff game.
The Panthers travel to Marksville on Friday and then finish the regular season with a trip to Jena, likely needing a win in at least one of those games to clinch a home game in the playoffs.
One team that isn’t concerned about making the playoffs is Alexandria Senior High, which is 8-0 and sitting in the No. 2 spot in Division I, just three-tenths of a point behind Edna Karr.
The Trojans, coming off a huge victory over defending state champion Ruston, travel to Monroe to face Ouachita tonight. A win over the Lions not only likely locks up a top-four seed for ASH, but it also could set up a battle of unbeatens for the District 2-5A title against Neville next week.
“We’ve got a big ball game tomorrow night,” ASH coach Thomas Bachman said on “The Thomas Bachman Show” Thursday night. “I feel like we’ve prepared well. Now we’ve got to go play. … It’s going to take our best effort, and I hope we give it.”
Pineville (3-5) has opened district play with three consecutive losses, falling to No. 21 in the Division I power rankings, with a trip to Ruston tonight. The Rebels will look to make Ruston’s losing streak three, and then they finish with a home game against Ouachita.
Bolton (0-8), which travels to face St. Edmund’s in Eunice today, is ineligible for the playoffs.