Three Left Standing: River Parishes Eye Championship Glory
by: Lori Lyons // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Then there were three.
Two weeks ago, seven River Parish high school football teams started their hopeful trek to the Caesars Superdome and their respective state championship games.
Heading into Week 13, only three remain alive in the playoffs – one from each of the three River Parishes – St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist — all in different brackets.
In Division I non-select, No. 10 Destrehan defeated No. 23 Ouachita Parish, 30-12, then No. 7 Northwood-Shreveport, 63-21, to advance to Friday night’s quarterfinal. The Wildcats (10-3) will travel from St. Charles Parish back to Bossier to play No. 2 Airline (11-0).
In Division III non-select, No. 1 seed St. James had a first-round bye, then defeated district rival No. 17 Donaldsonville (again), 48-6. This week the Wildcats (8-2) host No. 9 Pine (10-3).
In Division IV select, No. 7 Riverside Academy had a first-round bye, then defeated No. 10 Hamilton Christian, 49-6. This week the Rebels (9-2) travel from St. John Parish to No. 2 Ascension Catholic (10-1).
These three teams are no strangers to the Superdome. Both St. James and Riverside got there last year but finished as runners-up in their divisions. Destrehan missed the Dome trip last year but was the Division I non-select state champion in 2022. St. James’ last title was won in 2019. Riverside won in 2016.
And this year, all but St. James might be considered the “underdogs.”
Third-year Wildcats coach LaVanta Davis said this year’s team struggled to find its identity after losing 13 starters from the state runner-up squad.
“We’ve kind of been under the radar this year, which is good,” Davis said. “We always have that mission. We’re definitely getting better at the right time. I hope we continue to be productive.”
So far, their road to the Dome has been smooth, with a bye week and then a rematch against District 9-3A foe Donaldsonville that went about the same as the first one. The St. James running game continued to dominate with its two-pronged attack — Kendrick Joseph Jr. rushed for 128 yards and one touchdown and Kani King-Young rushed for 147 yards and a score.
Pine pulled off the minor upset last week, defeating No. 8 Kaplan, 21-6, behind the play of wide receiver D.J. Garrett. The senior caught seven passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns from junior quarterback Trey Knight. Garrett also had three interceptions and five tackles to earn GeauxPreps Defensive Player of the Week honors.
The Pine Raiders’ defense has been stingy, posting four shutouts and allowing only 150 points in 13 games, but will be tested by St. James prolific offense.
“They do some things, offensively, to put you in a bind,” Davis said. “They’re real good up front. It’s really going to be based on how well we can do some things in terms of protection.”
The relationship between Riverside Academy coach Lee Roussel and Ascension Catholic coach Lowell Narcisse goes way back. Roussel, a Lutcher grad, is a few years older than Narcisse, who went to St. James. In fact, Roussel taught Narcisse in sixth grade P.E. at Sixth Ward Elementary School, then recruited Narcisse for Nicholls State when the star athlete departed LSU.
Now, Narcisse is in his first season as coach of the Bulldogs who are 10-1, their only loss coming against Dunham, 21-18, in week three. Leading the way for AC is running back Chad Elzy, who has scored more than 90 touchdowns as a Bulldog, including four last week against Opelousas Catholic.
“Their offense kind of goes around him,” Rebels coach Lee Roussel said. “And they play really good defense. They really haven’t given up a lot of points all year.”
But the Rebels are rolling with a bevy of weapons. Running back Kenric “Boogie” Johnson showed his versatility as he broke out for 212 yards and two touchdowns rushing along with two interceptions last week. The Rebels also have running back Dedric Lastie, who has rushed for more than 1,600 yards and 24 touchdowns this season.
“We do have a couple of guys who can make plays for us,” Roussel said. “
The Destrehan Wildcats face a formidable opponent this week in the No. 2 undefeated Vikings.
“They’ve had a great year,” Destrehan coach Marcus Scott said. “They’re 11-0 and they’re at home. They deserve to be where they are. We certainly will have our hands full. We have to really play well in order to get the win.”
Airline senior quarterback Ben Taylor is spearheading one of the state’s most prolific offenses. Taylor ranks among the state’s all-time career passing leaders with nearly 11,500 yards, including a shade under 4,000 and 44 TDs this season after leading the state in passing yards in 2023.
“He’s the real deal,” Scott said. “He’s big, he throws the ball really fast and he’s accurate. We’re going to have to line up right and play hard.”
His top target, junior Kenny Darby, is an LSU commit.
But Destrehan is coming off its highest-scoring effort of the season against Northwood (63 points), in which sophomore running back Malachi Dabney scored six touchdowns and ran for 270 yards, his third 200-plus yard outing. Airline also is a team that gave up 68 points to Captain Shreve, 52 to Natchitoches Central, and 54 to Huntington.
“I think the last team to have the ball is going to have the advantage,” Scott said.