2016 Louisiana High School Football Division I Quarterfinal Update and Preview

Written by Charlie Beuttel

Twitter: @charlie_cds3

Its quarterfinal time in the Louisiana Division I playoffs with eight teams clinching their spot in the four quarterfinal matchups for Friday night. In the first round, several teams put up some great performances including No. 6 seed Brother Martin as they shut out No. 11 McKinley 42-0 and No. 5 Evangel Christian destroying No. 12 Holy Cross 59-9.

Some players that showed off their great skills in the opening round included Evangel Christian quarterback Connor Curry who threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns. St. Augustine quarterback Justice McCoy, who threw for 200 yards, rushed for 38 yards, and accounted for all four of his team’s touchdowns. Archbishop Rummel quarterback Jacob Palma, who threw for 154 yards and two touchdowns, and Brother Martin running Bruce Jordan-Swilling, who ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns, also turned in big performances.

The eight teams remaining will put it all on the line Friday night with only four advancing to the semifinals. The winning teams will only be one step away from playing in the Superdome for a state title.

Division I Playoff Quarterfinal Update

No. 8 Archbishop Rummel (7-3) @ No. 1 John Curtis (10-0)

In the first round, John Curtis had a bye week while Archbishop Rummel defeated Jesuit, 24-10. These two teams met on Oct. 29 at Archbishop Rummel. John Curtis came out victorious with a 31-17 win. Last year these teams met in the semifinals where Archbishop Rummel won 24-10.

There is less than 10 miles between the two schools. Expect the fans pack the stands to see if Rummel can make another run at the Dome or if John Curtis can continue their undefeated season.

No. 5 Evangel Christian (9-2) @ No. 4 St. Paul’s (10-1)

Last week, Evangel routed Holy Cross 59-9 and St. Paul’s dominated Archbishop Shaw 44-14. Evangel lost their first two games of their season before reeling off nine straight victories. Over that span of games, only one opponent has scored over 10 points against them bringing a lockdown defense into Round 2 of the playoffs. St. Paul’s lost their opening game of the season and are on 10-game winning streak. In that span only three opponents have scored over 14 points.

This will be a very exciting game as one of these great winning streaks will have to come to an end.

No. 6 Brother Martin (8-3) @ No. 3 Catholic-Baton Rouge (10-0)

In the first round, Brother Martin shutout McKinley 42-0 while Catholic-Baton Rouge had a bye. Last year, these two teams also met in the quarterfinals where Catholic squeaked out a 49-48 victory while on their way to winning the Division I state championship. Brother Martin has not lost since Oct. 1 when they fell to St. Augustine (25-18) while Catholic is undefeated. It will be exciting to see if these two teams can deliver an exciting thriller like last year.

Can Catholic continue their undefeated season and go for back-to-back titles or will Brother Martin get revenge for their playoff defeat?  Only time will tell.

No. 7 St. Augustine (7-4) @ No. 2 Scotlandville (10-0)

Last week, St. Augustine defeated No. 10 C.E. Byrd 27-15 while Scotlandville had a bye. These teams met in Week 2 where Scotlandville defended their home turf winning 36-20. Both teams have powerful offenses as Scotlandville is averaging 37.4 points a game and St. Augustine is averaging 26.7 points.

St. Augustine will make the trip from New Orleans to Baton Rouge hoping to upset the No. 2 seed while Scotlandville is looking to defeat their opponent for a second time this season punching their ticket to the semifinals.

Photo credit: NOLA.com; Brother Martin RB Bruce Jordan-Swilling