The Quarterfinals of the Louisiana High School football playoffs kick off Friday. LHSAA Network’s Spencer Verrett says the chaos of the Division I non-select bracket has lived up to the hype. 26th seeded Barbe upset Northwood and West Monroe, but Verrett says their Cinderella run will have to go through second-ranked Neville.
“The slipper might fit for this Barbe team to be able to make a really good run. That offense is so explosive. They’ve got guys who can do it. Jelandon Gray, and obviously the running back, (Jordin) Griffin. Both of them are tough to stop. I really think that this Barbe team can go far if this offense just keeps going,” Verrett said.
Verrett says he’s circling Belle Chasse versus West Feliciana in Division II. Coach Stephen Meyers’ Cardinals have the makings of a championship contender.
“They are like the only team in the state of Louisiana that I can confidently say will show up on defense every single week. They beat Opelousas 7-6 last week. They’ve got another tough task in front of them with West Feliciana. If they keep the score low like this, throughout the whole playoffs, we might have to say defense is back in Louisiana,” Verrett said.
Third-seeded St. James will take on 6th-ranked Oak Grove Friday in the Division III quarterfinals. Verrett says this will be a matchup between two dynamic offenses.
“Well, we obviously know what we’re getting with St. James, but we didn’t know what we were going to get with
Oak Grove at the start of the year. I think they’ve really started to come on here as of late, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They haven’t given up a point all the playoffs. That week 10 win over OCS with huge for the Tigers. I think this game is going to be electric. It’s so hard to think about who’s going to possibly win,” Verrett said.
Oak Grove is outscoring opponents 89-0 in the playoffs this year.
