After dispatching of one charter school easily in the first around of the Division II Select playoffs, another charter school stands in Leesville’s way in the second round.
The No. 14 Wampus Cats (6-5) head to No. 3 Lake Charles College Prep (8-2), who earned a first-round bye after rolling through District 3-3A with all four wins by double digits.
Leesville has been on a roll as well, winning five straight games culminating in the 52-7 first-round playoff win against No. 19 Kenner Discovery Health Science Academy.
The Wampus Cats needed just 30 offensive plays to rack up the points, which included deep touchdown passes of 69 and 65 yards from quarterback Trel Broom.
LCCP will be a much different task as the Trailblazers held its last four opponents to 20 points or less and have won five straight.
The streak started with a 43-32 win against Jennings (No. 9 seed in Division II Non-Select), the most formidable opponent in that District 3-3A.
The Trailblazers challenged themselves in the non-district slate, beating Class 5A Barbe (75-70), Class 4A Opelousas (41-34), and Class 2A Mansfield (44-22).
LCCP’s two losses came to Westgate (28-20) and Catholic-New Iberia (49-42).
The Trailblazers scored at least 40 points in seven of their 10 games.
LCCP advanced to the second round this past season and the quarterfinals in 2023.
Leesville is attempting to continue its playoff success post Xavier Ford, who broke the state’s single-season rushing record with 3,467 yards in 2024 en route to Louisiana Mr. Football honors.
A win at LCCP would catapult the Wampus Cats into quarterfinals for the third time in four years.
Leesville advanced to the semifinals in 2024.
TV station KPLC is reporting that LCCP quarterback Dylen Vital, who suffered an injury in Week 1, will make his return to the field this week.
Vital threw for more than 2,700 yards in 2024, and his return may take some of the load off running back Ayden Carter, who’s rushed for nearly 2,500 yards this season and has 3,100 all-purpose yards and 33 touchdowns.
Leesville’s defense has improved over the course of the season, which includes stout performances in four of its last five games.
Only once did a team score more than 20 points (a 36-34 win against Eunice) while the game was still in reach.
Leesville will put its own offense quartet to the test — Broom has 2,246 passing yards with 27 scores to just three interceptions with the majority of those passes finding Michael Davis Jr. and Julius Brown – paired with the hard-nose running of Grant Braxton (1,379 rushing yards and 18 scores).