Three turnovers lead to HBCS loss in opener

As expected Friday, three of the four Teche Area football teams remaining in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association playoffs won their games. There was no chance all four would win as two of them matched up in the second round.

What came as a surprise was which one of the four lost. Loreauville High School was the highest seeded of the Teche Area’s 10 football teams, heading into the Class 2A playoffs as the No. 2 team.

But for the second week in a row, LHS had to face a team it had faced a few short weeks earlier in a District 7-2A game. This time the Tigers weren’t as fortunate, falling to 15th-seeded Franklin 16-14. Loreauville shut out West St. Mary 49-0 in the playoff opener.

Franklin, seeded No. 15, will play at home for the first time in the postseason, taking on No. 7 Jonesboro-Hodge, which beat No. 10 Mangham 28-18 on Friday.

In the other games involving Teche Area teams Friday, Westgate beat Leesville 16-7 in a Class 4A game at WHS, and St. Martinville ripped Iota 63-28 in a Class 3A game at IHS.

Westgate is the No. 5 seed in Class 4A and travels to Shreveport this coming week to face fourth-seeded Northwood, which beat No. 20 seed North DeSoto 19-9.

St. Martinville is the No. 3 seed in Class 3A. The Tigers will play host to No. 6 Lutcher, which beat Bogalusa on Friday.