By james art The scenario is the same, but there is no guarantee that it will be.
Regardless of what happens, many will be watching to see what happens when 10th-ranked Madison Prep (5-3, 4-0) hosts No. 1 University (7-1, 4-0).
The game that will decide the District 6-3A title is set for 7:00 p.m. Thursday at Olympia Stadium.
A year ago, the Cubs beat MPA early and earned a surprising 43-7 win. It was a contrast to 2022, when the Chargers earned an emotional 40-37 victory in overtime.
“We both have the same philosophy that we schedule a lot of tough games early to prepare for the playoffs,” U-High coach Andy Martin said. “Again, they’re good. And last year we thought the same.
“But we were able to catch them early and it snowballed on them. This can happen. This year their quarterback is playing at an extremely high level…he is their playmaker. They are big up front and hold the ball well. Their defense plays fast and runs to the ball.”
This game is notable for football watchers outside of Baton Rouge. The two teams previously competed in different select divisions in the postseason. In the new LHSAA classification cycle, U-High is No. 2 behind Archbishop Shaw in the LHSAA’s Power II Pick power rankings after Week 8. Madison Prep is sixth.
“We kind of looked around,” MPA coach Landry Williams said. “We (Williams and Martin of UHS) became head coaches around the same time and we like to play 5A teams to get ready for the postseason.
“They’ve won all but one of those games this year. It was more difficult for us because we only had a few guys on defense. We lost three games, but the young guys we had on defense stepped up. This week we will see how far we have come.”
Each team enters the game with a veteran defender. The Chargers’ Tylon Johnson was the star in the win two years ago. He passed for 1,702 yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior. U-High senior QB Emile Picarella has 802 with 17 TDs. The balanced U-High offense has nearly 1,200 yards. MPA’s Alfred McKnight has 931 yards and 16 TDs.
“I was pleased with the effort all year. We only had four guys returning on defense and I think that group came together a little faster than I thought it could,” U-High’s Martin said. “But we should be ready to go tomorrow night.”