Week 5 of the high school football season is in the books. Teams are ready for district play in the next few weeks. Leesville picked up another win over a class 5A school with a 48-28 win at Benton. The undermanned but not outplayed Pickering squad got hit by LaSalle 53-6, and Rosepine found more offense, but not enough, as they fell at home to Lake Arthur 42-0.
PICKERING
Pickering was able to dress out only 18 players for the game against LaSalle. Injuries are something the team has dealt with since week one. Ladarius Privitera had his second straight game as starting QB and led the team in passing and rushing. Privitera threw for 61 yards and a touchdown, completing 5 of 12 attempts. The scoring pass was to Kenny Givens. Privitera led Pickering in rushing with 32 yards.
Pickering will take a road trip Thursday night to Metairie for a match-up with Crescent City (District 10-1A). The Pioneers are 0-3 on the season after losing to 4A Abramson last week, 31-0. Their other losses have come to 3A Springfield and 5A Riverside. Game time is 6:30 pm.
ROSEPINE
The Eagles ran into the buzz saw that is Lake Arthur in last week’s 42-0 loss. Rosepine is now 0-5 on the season while the Tigers improved to 4-1.
QB Gabe McKee was 7 of 15 passing for 68 yards and 2 interceptions. He also rushed for 14 yards. McKee’s targets were Aiden Shell, who snagged 5 balls for 39 yards, and Brynnum Chaney, who had two receptions for 21 yards. The Eagles managed just nine first downs for the game.
Rosepine hits the road as they visit the Winnfield Tigers out of district 3-2A Friday night at 7 p.m. Winnfield fell to Bunkie last week, 50-14. They are 2-3 on the season, posting wins over Jonesboro-Hodge and Caldwell Parish to open the season. The Tigers have lost their last three games.
LEESVILLE
The Wampus Cats took down their second class 5A opponent in the last three weeks as they broke open a close game at Benton late for a 48-28 win. Leesville is now 4-1 with district 3-4A play beginning this week.
Leesville’s All Galaxy running back, Xavier Ford, rang the scoreboard lights seven times in another impressive performance. He carried the ball 33 times against the Tigers for 367 yards and those 7 TD’s. Ford’s season totals are 144 carries for 1441 yards rushing in 5 games and 24 TD’s. That is an average of 10 yards per carry and a TD every sixth touch of the ball. Ford now has 6558 yards rushing and 92 TD’s. He needs one more score to tie Cecil Collins on the all-time scoring list. He would need another 1380 yards rushing to overtake Collins as the all-time leading rusher in Leesville history. Ford would have to average 267 yards per game over the last five games to reach that mark.
Any running back is only as good as his line, and Ford is running behind a senior-dominated group of offensive linemen. SR Andrew Lewis is at center; SR Rene Slover is the left guard; and SR Kenny Ingram is at left tackle. Right guard Jarron Eakes is the lone JR; SR Jaython Hurd is at right tackle; and SR Deandre Herron is the rock at tight end. These are the guys that anchor the line and create the space for Ford.
Leesville took the second possession against Benton and drove the field, capping it with an 11-yard Ford TD and a Christian Delapp PAT for a 7-0 lead. Benton answered with a short run to tie the score at 7. Ford got his second TD next on a 42-yard scamper to make it 14-7. Ford added his third score early in the second quarter to extend the Leesville lead to 20-7.
Benton QB Malachi Zeigler scored on a short plunge to make it 20-14 Leesville at half-time. Zeigler, a 6’3”, 190-pound sophomore, hit 22 of 30 passes for 210 yards, 2 TD’s and 2 Interceptions. Zeigler also rushed for 85 yards and two TD’s. He targeted WR Rydon McCormack ten times. He caught them all for 79 yards total.
Zeigler’s TD pass to JR/WR Owen Patterson at the beginning of the fourth quarter gave Benton a short-lived lead. Ford’s two third quarter scores had given the Wampus Cats a 27-14 margin. Zeigler scrambled on a 12-yard run to cut the Leesville edge to 27-21. Benton took the lead on the TD pass to Patterson at 28-27
Leesville answered the bell with Ford’s 12-yard TD run, and when QB Trel Broom hit Ju-Ju Brown with a two-point conversion pass, it was 35-28 and no looking back. Ford had 10- and 15-yard scores in the last six minutes of the game.
Leesville QB Broom had eight TD passes in his last two games. Against the Tigers, he hit 9 of 24 passes for 148 yards and an interception. Broom also rushed for 75 yards. Mike Davis had 4 receptions for 69 yards and Brown caught three balls for 66 yards.
The Wampus Cats chased Zeigler all night on defense and got interceptions from Taj Jackson and Jaylen Tucker to cut off Benton drives.
Leesville (4-1/District 3-4A) opens district play on the road as they travel Friday to Iowa (4-1/District 3-4A). This contest has taken on a rivalry game sort-of-feel the last few years. In 2022, Leesville won the regular season game over the Yellow Jackets but fell to them in the playoff quarterfinals (SANS Ford). Iowa lost in the semis to North DeSoto. Last year Iowa got to the semis again, losing to North DeSoto again. Leesville was upset in the first round of the 4A playoffs last year by St. Martinville.
Iowa beat St. Louis Catholic last week 54-8. They have wins over 4A Wossman, 3A Parkview Baptist and 3A Jennings. Their lone loss was in week two at Little Cypress/Mauriceville, TX, 45-26
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