GeauxPreps Thursday Night Road Trip: Barbe’s Jelandon Gray Has Red-Letter Day in a Statement Home Win Over Champion Iowa
by Marshall Loeffler // GeauxPreps.com
Lake Charles – The LHSAA season kicked off last night under Thursday Night Lights, and one of the most anticipated games to open the 2026 season was a matchup between two teams that started last year very differently, but ended up captivating the state with their respective postseason runs.
The Barbe Buccaneers hosted the defending State Champion Iowa Yellow Jackets and needed little more than a minute off the game clock to take the lead with a Jordin Griffin 50-yard touchdown run down the right sideline in a display of the elite speed that both head coaches acknowledged earlier in the week.
It was that kind of night for Barbe’s offense, with four-year starter Jelandon Gray having an absolutely stellar performance as a passer, runner, and decision-maker. The Bucs used some RPO plays with different running backs, and Gray had plenty of time to throw, run, and direct the offense, getting three first-quarter scores. Christopher Rideau, Jr. had a 23-yard score on a slant route, and Sawyer Kuypers caught a 20-yard jump ball against two defenders for another score. Kicker Will Flavin hit on all six extra-point attempts and was strong off the tee.
“We wanted to start off explosive, but really it came down to the mental things as well,” said Gray after accounting for five total touchdowns and at least two postgame awards to get the 42-15 win. “A small block here or there can lead to a touchdown, and staying focused on those mental things is what can make a ball game special.”
For Iowa, the run game did have its own firepower, with Kaston Lewis busting through the middle for a 60-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and another 1-yard score before halftime, but that would be the only scoring for the defending champs as Barbe used a group of linebackers like Bo Armstrong and Kaysen Click to force third-and-long looks.
Head Coach Dennis Owens was pleased with his offense overall while wanting to clean up penalties for next week, saying after the game that “the offensive line did a tremendous job battling the heat, battling a good front seven, and they just wore them down, especially in the second half.” He also is not going to celebrate a 1-0 record for long: “People may talk about how good we are, but we still have to go out there and make plays. That’s a good defense, and we had too many penalties, but we fought back in the second half, got a shutout after halftime, and that was key for us.”
Gray added another red-zone TD pass to Ty Guillory and a 24-yard swing pass to Kuypers to pull away in the second half, when the defensive unit for Barbe shut the door on any comeback attempt by Iowa. Gray praised that group after the game, saying, “They’ve been doing the right things all year, and they are going to carry us this year. Offense will carry the team as well, but everybody is ‘Team Over Me’; that’s our motto this year. We focused on being explosive and having everything right tonight.”