District battles start

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 25, 2019

In terms of local participation, District 7-2A, with six Teche Area schools as members, is the largest in the area and with eight total members, is one of the largest in the state.

And after three weeks of the regular season, District 7-2A battles get underway this week with three Thursday contests and one more on Friday as teams vie for the district championship and the automatic bid into the playoffs.

Two-time defending district champion Catholic High is joined with Delcambre, Franklin, Loreauville, Jeanerette, West St. Mary along with outsiders Ascension Episcopal and newcomer Houma Christian in the eight team league for the next two years.

“It’s just a tough district,” Delcambre coach Artie Liuzza said. “I’ve always thought that and I haven’t seen anything over the first three weeks of the season to change my opinion.”

The district starts with Catholic High. In the past two seasons, the Panthers have won the Division III state championship (2017) and were runner-up last season.

Over the past two seasons, the Panthers have won 12 straight district games and haven’t lost a district game since falling to Notre Dame in the last week of the 2016 regular season.

“Everyone knows that they are at the top of the district,” Jeanerette head coach C.C. Paul said. “And everyone gives them their best shot when they play them.”

But this season the Panthers enter district play with an 0-3 record having lost to Vermilion Catholic, Breaux Bridge and Barbe in the first three weeks of the season.

The three teams with the best records entering district play this year are Ascension Episcopal, Loreauville and Jeanerette, all with 2-1 records.

But some coaches don’t even look at records when it comes to the district.

“I think that Catholic High and Ascension are on one plane when it comes to the district and then Loreauville, West St. Mary and Franklin are a step below and the everyone else is a step below that,” Liuzza said. 

Others, however, see things a different way.

“I think that there is more competitive balance this year than in the past,” Loreauville coach Terry Martin said. “We have a lot of good teams in the district and every night is going to be a battle.”

The battles start Thursday night as Ascension Episcopal (2-1) travels to Jeanerette (2-1), Loreauville (2-1) travels to Franklin (0-3) and Houma Christian (0-3) travels to West St. Mary (0-3).

Friday night, Catholic High (0-3) opens district play on the road at Delcambre (1-2).

“I think Ascension right now is the best team in the district,” Catholic High coach Brent Indest said. “I think Loreauville drastically improved.

“It’s a new season for us. Normally we don’t look at it that way but this year because of the way the chips fell, that’s our attitude. We’re starting a new season. Right now our goal is to run the table and go 7-0 our last seven games.”

Paul feels that his Tigers are ready for the challenge of district play.

“I feel that we can compete,” the Jeanerette coach said. “I know that we have a young team but outside of the week one loss to Lafayette High, we’ve grown as a team and that we’re ready to take that step into district play.”

The Tigers district opening foe, Ascension Episcopal, have finished second in district two straight years only losing to Catholic High both times.

In a coaches poll in the preseason, Catholic High was selected by the coaches as the favorite to win its third straight district title with Franklin and Ascension Episcopal tied for second.

With CHS first up on its district schedule, Liuzza knows that his team is going to be in for a fight.

“They are a great opponent,” the Delcambre coach said. “We’re just going to do what we normally do and have fun doing it.

Martin, thought, has some reservations about facing Franklin.

“You look at them on film and they have some really good-looking athletes,” the LHS coach said. “You’re always nervous about facing a team like that because they have such good athletes that they might turn out to be more athletic that you are.”

While the other teams in the district have played each other for two years, the wildcard in the mix is Houma Christian, which moved up from Class A this past reclassification.

Houma Christian coach Chuck Battaglia said his team will be up for the challenge.

“We were in a pretty tough district last year and once we hit district this year, it will be tough again,” Battaglia said. 

“We are new to 2A but we will adjust and get used to it as we go through it.”