District 7-4A teams jockeying for playoff berths

• By ROBIN FAMBROUGH
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Oct 30, 2009

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Playoff fever won’t start for many teams until Nov. 8 — the day the Louisiana High School Athletic Association announces its playoff pairings.

With two weeks left in the regular season, the frontrunners in District 7-4A say they’re getting an early start on the playoffs tonight.

“We’ve got homecoming and we want to make the atmosphere as much like a playoff game as possible,” Istrouma coach McKinney Evans said, “because for us and Glen Oaks it really is a playoff game.

“We’re a game behind the leaders in district and we need to win out to give ourselves a chance. This is a game Glen Oaks needs to win, too. Everybody is trying to stay alive.”

Istrouma (3-5, 3-2) hosts Glen Oaks (5-3, 4-1) in one of two key District 7-4A games that help highlight the Week 8 schedule for Baton Rouge metro teams in Classes 5A and 4A.

Another 7-4A co-leader, Woodlawn (5-3, 4-1) meets Tara (3-5, 3-2) at BREC’s Olympia Stadium facing a similar scenario.

The third co-leader, St. Michael (5-3, 4-1) travels to Broadmoor (0-8, 0-5) also in 7-4A action.

Fourth-ranked Central (7-1) leads 5-5A and hosts third-ranked Capitol High Academy (8-0) of Class 2A for a nondistrict game. Catholic (6-2, 3-1) travels to Scotlandville (2-6, 1-3) in 5-5A play. Denham Springs (6-2, 2-2) plays at Live Oak (4-4, 2-2) in another pivotal 5-5A game.

Third-ranked Hahnville (7-1, 3-0) plays at St. Amant (5-3, 0-3), while Dutchtown (5-3, 1-2) hosts No. 7 East St. John (7-1, 3-0) in 6-5A. East Ascension (4-4, 1-2) travels to Destrehan (3-5, 1-2) also in 6-5A.

“Every week has been like a playoff game for us the last few weeks and this one isn’t any different,” Tara coach Ron LeJeune said. “Woodlawn presents a challenge because they have a lot of experience with 24 seniors and a lot of depth.

“We need to be able to run the ball and if we can contain them on defense we’ll give ourselves a chance. That’s what we’re looking for.”

The two 7-4A games do provide some contrasts. Glen Oaks saw its four-game winning streak snapped by Tara two weeks ago. The Panthers have a roster of less than 30 players and also have less size than Istrouma.

“The thing that concerns me is their size on the offensive and defensive lines,” GOHS coach Landry Williams said. “I don’t think we can run straight at them, so we’ll have to do some other things on offense. And on defense, we can’t let them run over us.