Six Northwest Louisiana Football Games Moved To Thursday Night Spotlight
by Hunter Bower // GeauxPreps.com Owner
The northwest Louisiana region will be treated to high school football a little earlier than usual as six season-opening contests move up a day to Thursday.
Despite having a positive number of referees needed for the season, Shreveport’s high school football officials association director Mike Thibodeaux discovered an issue with the number of games on the first Friday night of the season.
“With this being the first year of rescheduling, we ended up with 27 games on the opening Friday,” said Shreveport Football Officials Supervisor Mike Thibodeaux. “We have a good amount of officials but there were just too many contests so we moved six games a day earlier.
The games selected to be moved up a day earlier include Bossier at North Caddo, Northwood at Benton, Red River at Haughton, Airline at North Desoto, Minden at Parkway, and Logansport at Calvary Baptist.
“These season-opening contests were some of the most competitive between local teams and had no travel restrictions. They deserve quality veteran officiating crews. I appreciate the coaches being receptive to moving the games.
Logansport’s Kevin Magee was excited that his Tiger football team would be one of the few to be able to open up the season a day early in front of an anticipated capacity crowd.
“I was fired up when Coach (Rodney) Guin called,” said Magee. “To be one of the first games to open the season against a quality opponent like Calvary on a big stage is what it’s all about. Our players and staff are excited about the opportunity.”
Though the state has seen a slow decline in high school referee participation over the last few seasons, Thibodeaux reported a positive growth for the Shreveport association heading into the 2022 season.
“Our numbers are good, we picked up 12 new officials this year,” said Thibodeaux. “We will not have to move any additional games the rest of the season. A normal Friday night for our group is 18 to 20 games which we can take care of. In week 3 we only have 16 Friday games and in week 5 only 15 Friday games.”
The LHSAA football season officially kicks off Thursday, Sept. 1 with the playoffs beginning Thursday, Nov. 10. The Prep Classic returns to the Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans and is scheduled to take place Dec. 8-10.
Games moved to Thursday, Sept. 1 (as of July 26, 2022)
Airline at North DeSoto
Bossier at North Caddo
Logansport at Calvary Baptist
Minden at Parkway
Northwood-SH at Benton
Red River at Haughton