Louisiana High School Football Division I Semifinal Preview
Written by Charlie Beuttel
Twitter: @charlie_cds3
This past Friday we had three very close games and one convincing win in the Division I quarterfinals. The only team to win by more than one touchdown was John Curtis, defeating St. Paul’s, 35-21. There were no upsets as the top four seeds, Evangel, John Curtis, Scotlandville and Catholic-Baton Rouge have all advanced to the semifinals.
These four powerhouses will meet to find out who will battle for Division I state championship on December 9 in the Superdome in New Orleans.
Division I Semifinal Match-ups
No. 4 Catholic-Baton Rouge Bears (9-3) at No. 1 Evangel Christian Academy Eagles (8-1)
In the quarterfinals, Catholic edged out St. Augustine 7-3 while Evangel escaped past Archbishop Rummel 14-7. The two teams have a history on the field as Catholic won on the road at Evangel in the semifinals in 2015 on their way to winning the state title. Two years later, the Bears will once again have to travel four hours north to Shreveport to battle the Eagles with a finals berth on the line.
The Bears were led to a victory last week by running back Parker Smith who ran for 98 yards and scored the only touchdown of the game. Catholic’s defense also paved the way for the win as they limited St. Augustine to just 69 total yards of offense.
Evangel’s keys to their victory were wide receivers Josh Walker and Christian Baliff. Walker caught five passes for 91 passes with a touchdown while Baliff finished with 97 receiving yards. The Eagles other touchdown came on a one-yard run by Elijah Chatman. This is the 26th consecutive year that Evangel has made it to at least the quarterfinals regardless of division classification. Two defensive players to watch for the Eagles are LSU commits, linebacker Micah Baskerville and athlete Ardarius Washington.
No. 3 Scotlandville Hornets (10-1) at No. 2 John Curtis Patriots (10-1)
Last week, Scotlandville squeaked past Brother Martin 35-33 while John Curtis dominated St. Paul’s 35-21. Fans of both schools will pack the stadium for this crucial semifinal matchup with the schools located 80 miles apart, Scotlandville will travel from outside of Baton Rouge to the outskirts of New Orleans for this one. John Curtis is two wins away from winning their 27th state title since 1975.
Scotlandville advanced to the next round led by the one of the best recruits in the state, Kelvin Joseph. Normally a defensive back, Joseph spent time at wide receiver snagging four passes for 122 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The star playmaker also clinched the game for Scotlandville with an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with less than a minute remaining. Hornets quarterback Cameron Armstead threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns in the quarterfinal win.
John Curtis ran to victory over St. Paul’s by rushing for 372 yards as a team. The star of the game for the Patriots was Darryan Washington who ran for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Another player to watch in the semifinals will be quarterback Collin Guggenheim.
Who will advance to the state championship game? Only time will tell.
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Photo credit: The Shreveport Times; Evangel’s Elijah Chatman runs against Archbishop Rummel