Louisiana High School Football 5A Quarterfinals Preview
Written by Charlie Beuttel
Twitter: @charlie_cds3
We have reached the quarterfinals in 5A playoff action as just eight teams remain in the bracket. In the second round several top seeds including No. 5 St. Amant, No. 6 East Ascension and No. 7 Ruston were eliminated. In the quarterfinals, only five of the Top 10 seeds remain. The other three teams to reach the quarterfinals include No. 10 Hahnville, No. 12 Airline, and No. 22 Live Oak.
Four teams will advance and four will fall as we draw closer to crowning a state champion.
Louisiana 5A Quarterfinal Matchups
No. 9 Barbe Buccaneers (11-1) at No. 1 West Monroe Rebels (12-0)
In the second round, Barbe escaped past Destrehan 22-14 while West Monroe destroyed Dutchtown 49-21. To advance to the semifinals, Barbe will have to travel about 200 miles north from Lake Charles all the way up to West Monroe.
The hero of the Buccaneers win over Destrehan was junior quarterback Luke Richard. Richard threw for 145 yards and ran for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Senior Slade Bolden (Alabama commit) once again led the Rebels to victory as he ran for 111 yards, passed for 93 and accounted for four total touchdowns in last week’s win. Another player to watch for on the Rebels squad is senior linebacker John Bailey Gullatt.
No. 4 Zachary Broncos (11-1) at No. 12 Airline Vikings (9-3)
Last week, Zachary shutout John Ehret 38-0 while Airline upset St. Aman, 35-28. Zachary has yet to give up any points in the playoffs after shutting out Mandeville and John Ehret to set up their quarterfinal matchup against Airline. Airline is making their first quarterfinal appearance since 2012 and Zachary is making their fifth straight quarterfinal appearance and is looking to make the semifinals for the fifth straight year. However, the Broncos will have to travel four hours from near Baton Rouge all the way up to Bossier City.
Zachary was led to victory in the second round by quarterback Keilon Brown who threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns while completing 6-of-8 passes. Another star was running back Darweshi Sanders who finished with 177 rushing yards.
Senior wide receiver Coby McGee and junior quarterback Jordan Gladney led the Vikings in the upset at St. Amant. McGee finished with 127 receiving yards, 93 rushing yards and three total touchdowns while Gladney threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns.
No. 3 Acadiana Rams (11-1) at No. 22 Live Oak Eagles (7-5)
Last week, Acadiana squeaked past Landry-Walker 24-22 while Live Oak defeated East Ascension 34-26. Live Oak is the highest seed remaining and will have a huge mountain to climb if they want to continue their Cinderella run when they host Acadiana with a spot in the semifinals on the line. Live Oak’s win over East Ascension was their first ever home playoff win and they are the first 5A or 4A team in their parish to make a quarterfinals appearance since 1985. The Rams will look to stop Live Oak’s magical run as they’ll have to travel 90 minutes east on I-10.
Some players to watch on the Eagles include senior linebackers Zachary Legendre and Hunter Long and junior quarterback Sal Palermo.
Acadiana took down the defending 5A champs by coming up with big plays when it counted including an interception by Kanyon St. Julien with 23 seconds remaining in the game. Also in the win, Kablen Shelvin scored a rushing touchdown and Hunter Tabb snagged a touchdown pass.
No. 2 Covington Lions (12-0) at No. 10 Hahnville Tigers (10-2)
In the second round, Covington took down Ouachita Parish 35-28 while Hahnville survived with a win at Ruston 23-21. Both teams made through tough games to setup this quarterfinal matchup this Friday night as Covington will travel about an hour south across Lake Pontchartrain to meet the Tigers of Hahnville. Fans are in for a treat in this game as two of the two running backs in the state, Devin Brumfield of Covington and Anthony Williams of Hahnville, will match up.
Covington was led to victory this past week by running Devin Brumfield (Texas Tech commit) who ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Brumfield also threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Joshua Alfaro. Alfaro has thrown for over 2,000 yards for the Lions this season and this dynamic duo will need another great game to advance to the semifinals.
Hahnville was once again led to victory by senior running back and Kansas commit Anthony “Pooka” Williams. Williams ran for 303 yards and all three Tiger touchdowns in the quarterfinal win.
Which game are you most looking forward to this Friday night?
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Photo credit: The Advocate; Hahnville RB Anthony “Pooka” Williams