2016 Louisiana High School Football Division II Quarterfinal Update and Preview

Written by Charlie Beuttel

Twitter: @charlie_cds3

Opening round of the 2016 Louisiana Division II playoffs was exciting with three teams punching their tickets to the quarterfinals after the top five seeds all earned a bye week in the first round. The most exciting game of the weekend was when No. 11 E.D. White upset No. 6 Vandebilt Catholic. The other two teams to advance were No. 8 Lusher Charter and No. 7 University Lab.

There are no more byes. All eight remaining teams will wage gridiron war for the four semifinal spots in the Division II state playoffs.

Division II Quarterfinal Matchups

No. 8 Lusher Charter (6-5) @ No. 1 De La Salle (10-0)

In the first round, Lusher Charter defeated No. 9 St. Louis while De La Salle had a bye week. On Friday night, Lusher quarterback Eli Poche led his team to victory by throwing for 247 yards and four touchdowns. Now Poche and the rest of the Lions will have to take on undefeated and No. 1 seed De La Salle.

The Cavaliers score a whopping 42.3 points a game and have only given up more than 14 points twice this year. De La Salle won at Lusher Charter 34-0 in Week 4 of the season. De La Salle is led by quarterback Julien Gums who threw for 1,141 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 575 yards with nine additional touchdowns in the regular season.

Can De La Salle continue their magical season or will Lusher Charter pull off a phenomenal upset?

No. 5 Parkview Baptist (6-4) @ No. 4 Teurlings Catholic (7-3)

This is the only quarterfinal game where both teams had a bye week last Friday and had two weeks to prepare for this battle. Parkview Baptist is the defending Division II state champions. If they want to defend their crown they will have to travel to Teurlings Catholic coming away with a victory against a Teurlings Catholic team that reached the semifinals last year.

While both teams score over 30 points a game, Parkview Baptist only gives up 17.9 points to their opponents. Teurlings Catholic, led by quarterback Hayden Cantrelle, is looking to defend their home turf, defeat the defending champions, and make another run towards New Orleans.

No. 11 E.D. White (4-7) @ No. 3 St. Thomas More (7-3)

Last week, E.D. White defied the odds by taking down No. 6 Vandebilt Catholic 24-17 while St. Thomas More had a bye week. These teams met in the 2015 quarterfinals where St. Thomas More won 49-7. St. Thomas More is led by quarterback Nate Cox, who threw for over 2,000 yards with 32 touchdowns, and linebacker Paul Labored, who had over 100 total tackles.

E.D. White, as a team, rushed for 313 yards in their opening round win led by Nik Shanklin. Shanklin rushed for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Can E.D. White perform another miracle or will St. Thomas More stop this Cinderella story and get closer to making another appearance in the semifinals?

No. 7 University Lab (7-4) @ No. 2 Loyola College Prep (9-1)

In the opening round, University Lab took down St. Michael the Archangel 49-25 while Loyola College Prep had an extra week off to prepare for their quarterfinal game. Loyola started the season 9-0 before falling to Mansfield in the season finale which cost them the No. 1 seed. They will be anxious to get back on to the field to start another winning streak throughout the playoffs.

University Lab was the No. 1 seed last season reaching the semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Parkview Baptist. This will be Loyola’s first quarterfinal game since 2010. It will be quite a task for University Lab to go up to Shreveport and upset the No. 2 seed in a hostile environment.

Photo credit:  LA Football Magazine; St. Thomas More QB Nate Cox