Anxious times for area prep football coaches

• By ROBIN FAMBROUGH
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 8, 2009

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When his team lost a share of the District 7-4A football title to Glen Oaks on Friday, St. Michael coach Eric Held was brutally honest about his team’s playoff chances.

Held told his team: “Guys, it really doesn’t look good for us. We need to have several things happen to give us a chance to be in and I’m just not sure if that’s possible.”

Within hours after the Warriors’ 34-18 loss, Held was singing a different tune. Losses by three other teams give St. Michael (6-4) the chance to be the No. 32 seed — the last team in — when the Louisiana High School Athletic Association announces its playoff pairings today.

The LHSAA will announce its playoff pairings in all five classes during a 1 p.m. meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Pairings in Class 1A will be announced first, with 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A to follow.

District champions automatically receive a playoff berth. Other teams fill in wild-card berths on the brackets based on their respective power ratings. Matchups for bidistrict games are based on power ratings with the top 16 teams hosting the bottom 16 in each class.

Power ratings take into account a team’s record, strength of schedule and the record of its opponents.

“This has been the wackiest year,” Central coach Sid Edwards said. “It looks like we may be a four seed or might move up if Rummel wins today (Saturday).

“I’ve heard that it would be good to stay where we are and that it would be good to move up. And I’ve heard we might play two or three different teams. That’s just part of this.

“We’ll talk to the people we know who figure this stuff up. But of course you never really know until the meeting.”

Only one local team entered Week 9 of the regular season at No. 1 in the power ratings in its classification, St. John-Plaquemine (9-1) of 1A, the 8-1A champion.

District 5-5A champion Central (9-1) was rated fourth in 5A, while two other teams, Dutchtown (7-3, sixth) and Catholic High (8-2, 12th), also figure to host bidistrict games this week. Denham Springs (8-2), seeded 20th, will travel.

District 7-4A co-champions Woodlawn (7-3) and Glen Oaks (7-3) wrapped up playoff berths by tying for the title. Neither school is in line to host a playoff game.

Woodlawn was 19th, while GOHS was rated 23rd.