Class 4A Football Dark Horses: Belle Chasse and Pearl River

By Hunter Bower // GeauxPreps.com Owner

Two football squads in Class 4A could possibly climb the ladder and make some noise this season.

Belle Chasse and Pearl River have both shown improvement within the last few years, showing an upwards trajectory into the “Top 100 Football Teams In Louisiana” according to FizzRankings. With the squad’s recent improvements, the numbers have shown that both squad’s could be a couple of dark horses in 2020.

A “dark horse” is a previously less known team that emerges amongst its peers when on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might.

FizzRankings determines the dark horse for each class using a formula based on positive trajectories in both the program and head coaches recent seasons as well as the performance of the district that the team is in. No team nominated as a dark horse was listed inside the “Top 100” team rankings within the last five-year window.

Pearl River has performed one of the biggest turnarounds in the state within the last few years. The Rebels advanced to the state playoffs for the first time in eight seasons back in 2016 and have punched their ticket every season since. 

The Class 4A squad won the most amount of games within the last decade in 2019, chalking up eight victories. Expect the Rebels to continue to improve under third-year head coach Joe Harris. 

Belle Chasse has experienced some high and low points over the last decade. However, head coach Stephen Meyers looks to have the Cardinals on the right trajectory. Belle Chasse has won nine games back-to-back the last two seasons and has advanced to the state playoffs the last three years in a row.

Since missing the playoffs in 2016, the Cardinals have not won less than seven games and have advanced past the first round all three seasons. Belle Chasse is definitely trending upwards and could be a fun team to watch in 2020.

LET THE DEBATE BEGIN!