LOREAUVILLE — In its 2019 football season opener, Loreauville High School dramatically beat Central Catholic.

On Friday, LHS will face the Eagles again to get things rolling in an eight-game regular-season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Calep Jacob fired a touchdown pass to his twin brother Collin on the final play of last year’s meeting to give the Tigers a 19-14 victory.

“We work on the Hail Mary with the trips on one side and a single receiver on the other side,” LHS head coach Terry Martin said. “Zy (Alexander) was the single receiver.

“Calep had the option to go to the other side if the safety played high. Collin ran a post and Calep not only did the right thing, but it was his brother who caught the pass. It was just a great play and a cool way to end a game.”

Alexander has graduated, but the Jacob twins are back for their junior seasons and the brothers are coming off huge efforts in last week’s scrimmage vs. Erath.

“Collin had four touchdowns in the scrimmage and probably close to 250 yards receiving,” Martin said.  “Two of his catches went for 70 yards apiece.

“Calep threw three touchdown passes and Rylan Frederick threw two. Both Collin and Calep had a pick-six.”

Tailback Ethan Simon, last year’s leading rusher, is questionable after he suffered an injury in the scrimmage.

“Ethan had a couple of nice runs,” Martin said.  “He caught a screen pass and went 40 yards, but he twisted his ankle. If he can’t play, it’s going to hurt us.”

Loreauville is coming off an 8-4 season that saw the Tigers enter the Class 2A bracket as a No. 20 seed and pull off upsets over No. 13 Lake Arthur and No. 4 Mangham before falling at Amite in the state quarterfinals.

Martin said his defense is going to have to wrap up vs. Central Catholic, which went 5-5 last year.

“Without a doubt, we have to tackle,” he said.  “They may have better skill guys than Erath. Their quarterback (Freddie Calloway) is a big, strong kid. He has a strong lower body and can squat 405 lbs for three reps easily. Everything goes around him. They don’t do a lot of fancy things, but they’re good at what they do.

“Last year, they were really big up front. It looks like all those guys have graduated, but I know coach (Tommy) Minton got an influx of a few kids from the Patterson area. On defense, they’ll put seven or eight in the box, put a lot of pressure on you, and dare you to throw.”