Storylines abound for 10 locals in state playoffs

    The state football playoffs offer a newsday’s worth of story lines, if little else.
    When the Louisiana High School Athletic Association revealed the five playoff brackets, there were few surprises. All five defending champions return as high seeds.
    Three champions – Neville (4A), John Curtis (2A) and Ouachita Christian (1A) – are the top seeds in their respective classes, which gives them the assurance of at least two rounds of victories.
    Still, the selection of the 160 schools, which this weekend begin their road to the Dome, is the most exciting time of the fall season for the 10 Catholic schools from the local area to earn an extension to their seasons.
    When the coaches received their copies of the brackets  last Sunday, there was joy, disappointment, shock for a few and opportunities for redemption for others.
    For instance, Jesuit, which lost to District 9-5A rival West Jefferson, 24-17, on Nov. 3, has an opportunity to reverse the decision when the two meet again at Tad Gormley Stadium on Saturday (1 p.m.).
    Jesuit head coach Wayde Keiser said his team was lethargic and lost its focus. And they picked an ill time to do so against a West Jefferson team that is among the top teams in Class 5A.
    But now they have a chance for redemption.
    Also looking for redemption are St. Paul’s and Hahnville, two teams that survived  a rocky start to the season. St. Paul’s lost its first two games but rallied to sweep its District 6-5A schedule and gain a No. 10 seed.
    Coach Lou Valdin’s Hahnville squad suffered four straight losses, then won all five District 8-5A games to gain a No. 23 seed and a trip to Hunter Stadium on Friday.
    St. Paul’s seniors still harbor the ill thoughts of 2011 when their Wolves, the No. 1 seed in Class 5A, lost to No. 32 Central, 35-28, in the first playoff round.
Raiders looking good
    This season the top 5A seed is Archbishop Rummel, an easy winner of all nine of its games.
    The prize for the Raiders is Lafayette, a 5-5 team that beat just one opponent with a winning record. The two were scheduled to meet at Joe Yenni Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m.
    The teams most likely to present hurdles for the Raiders include No. 9 Ouachita (8-2), No. 8 South Lafourche (9-0), No. 5 Catholic (7-2) and No. 4 Central (9-1).
    Frankly, I don’t believe any of the four has the ability to escape the Raiders’ smothering defense.
    Holy Cross and Archbishop Shaw, two schools which hope to be back in the Catholic League fold next fall, meet for the second time on Friday at Pan American Field.
    Holy Cross (7-2), the District 10-4A champion, defeated the Eagles (4-5), 34-0, on Sept. 21. The Tigers got in as the No. 6 seed while Shaw did enough good work to make it as the No. 27.
    Hot and cold St. Augustine (6-3) drew a No. 10 seed and will host No. 23 Alexandria (5-5), another team that had just one win over an opponent with a winning record.
    This should be little more than a pebble in the road for the Purple Knights, whose real tests lie ahead in the form of No. 7 St. Thomas More and No. 2 Edna Karr, which in this columnist’s opinion, is the most talented team in 4A.
    The reigning Class 3A champion, St. Charles Catholic, is still being victimized by Hurricane Isaac, which flooded its LaPlace home and the dwelling of head coach Frank Monica and cost the Comets losses in their first two weeks of play.
    And despite running off seven impressive victories in which they outscored their opponents 279-45, they will open the playoffs on Friday 200 miles away in the Lake Charles berg of Westlake as the No. 18 seed.
    If St. Charles gets past the No. 15 Rams, they have the unenviable task of meeting No. 2 Notre Dame, which should defeat No. 31 Patterson in Crowley this week.
    Another traveler will be District 10-3A runner-up De La Salle, which, under first-year head coach Ryan Manale, has won six of nine games.
    The No. 19 seed Cavaliers have a long ride to northeast Louisiana to play Farmerville, a team that lost its first two games against strong competition, then beat eight opponents with losing records to gain a No. 14 seed.
    Think you have troubles?
    Want to trade them with coach Mark Jeanmard at Pope John Paul II?
    His staff has been preparing the Jaguars to face the No. 1 seed in Class 2A, John Curtis,on Friday.
    The Jags had a difficult year indeed. They did open the season with wins over Class 4A Pearl River and Riverdale and even put 73 points on the board in a rout of St. Helena Central. But the best they could do was post a 3-6 record and the final seed in the 2A playoffs.
    David had better odds against Goliath with a stone and sling.
    Curtis plays arguably in the weakest district in its class, but it prepares for all comers as serious competition.
    Coach J.T. Curtis’ teams have won 24 state championships in 29 trips to the title game. The Patriots have won 10 or more games for the past 36 years and have reached the playoffs each season during that stretch.
    But if the Jaguars pull the upset, the reward will be either No. 16 Kinder or No. 17 North Webster at home.
    And Archbishop Hannan will end its stay in Class 1A as a No. 22 seed before moving up to 2A next fall.
    The Hawks, who finished the regular season with a 6-3 record and a fourth-place finish in District 7-1A, will visit No. 11 White Castle (8-2), the
District 9-1A runner-up.
    Ron Brocato can be reached at rbrocato@clarionherald.org.