Sports

LAKE CHARLES — The Elton Indians made the trip over to Lake Charles Friday night to play their toughest contest of the season so far by tangling with the undefeated Hamilton Christian Warriors in a key district 4-1A battle. The Warriors, who came into the contest heavily favored, took all they wanted and then some from the feisty Indians but ultimately came away with a 28-21 victory to remain unblemished on the season. The game was a matchup between two of the most high-profile players in all of Southwest Louisiana going head-to-head. Makelin Lemoine of Elton is the top rusher in the area, while Hamilton Christian’s Javon Vital is considered to be a four-star athlete with several collegiate offers on the table. The Indians led the game 14-7 at halftime, but a strong third quarter saw the Warriors outscore Elton 14-0 in that frame and ultimately led to a 28-21 win for Hamilton Christian. The win allowed Hamilton to move to 7-0 overall, 2-0 in league play, while the Indians dropped to 5-2 overall, 1-1 in district action.

Hathaway claims girls’ parish title

Coming off a convincing 55-14 win over the South Beauregard Golden Knights, the Jennings Bulldogs will now turn their attention to a powerful Notre Dame High School Pioneers’ squad. The Dogs and Pios currently both sit at 5-2 overall on the season and will be looking to follow up last year’s classic that saw the Dogs win a close 17-16 thriller in Jerry Simmons Stadium. This year’s contest will be a Thursday night game at Gardner Memorial Stadium in Crowley. The Bulldogs were dominant in their week seven beatdown over the Golden Knights, in which they put up 55 points on offense and only allowed a pair of scores to an up-tempo South Beauregard offense. Jennings Head Coach Bret Fuselier discussed his team’s performance a week ago and had high praise for their effort.

FOO FACTS:

The 4-2 Jennings Bulldogs are coming off a slugfest loss to district rivals Lake Charles College Prep (LCCP) a week ago in a game played at McNeese State University. The Dogs fell 43-32 in a game that was much closer than the score indicated. The Bulldog defense faced one of the best running backs in Southwest Louisiana in Ayden Carter. The big back rambled for 260 yards and a trio of scores in the contest. Jennings’ Chris Ned had a big night throwing the football for the Dogs, as he completed nine balls for 125 yards and three TDs. Humphrey Ned reeled in a pair of those TD grabs while D.K. Sams had another TD catch in the loss. Despite the setback, Jennings Head Coach Bret Fuselier was complimentary about his team’s performance in their district opener. “I was very proud of the kids for the way they fought and continued to fight all night long,” said Fuselier. “I thought we gave a heck of an effort all night long and we did some really nice things in the passing game that kept us right there in the ball game. The back breaker was the long kick-off return for their final score when we had cut it down to a three-point game. I have a lot of confidence in our defense that we could have gotten a stop if they hadn’t had the big return. But credit to those guys from LCCP, they have a great football team. Carter is a great back who can run and break tackles. Their coaching staff also did a great job in the game.”

WELSH — The Welsh Greyhounds are coming off a thrilling 12-0 win over the Class 4-A Loranger Wolves and will now be the last team to start district play in District 6-2A when they travel to face Lafayette Renaissance Charter High School (LRCH) this Friday night. Welsh will enter the league battle with a 3-3 mark.

LAKE ARTHUR — After coming off a good showing against the Notre Dame Pioneers last Thursday, the Lake Arthur Tigers are now turning their attention to a non-district tilt against Richwood High School in Monroe. The Tigers beat the Rams a year ago in Lake Arthur but will have a much stiffer test when they make the three-hour trek north to Monroe tonight. The Tigers enter the match-up with a 5-1 record, with their only blemish coming at the hands of the Pios a week ago by a score of 35-7. Richwood enters the contest with an overall mark of 1-4 but has played an extremely tough schedule of North Louisiana powers. The Rams opened the year with a 20-15 win over West Ouachita but have dropped four straight games following. They fell to Class 2A power Mangham (34-28), Wossman (28-14), Tioga (54-30) and Sterlington (40-0). The Rams are coming off a bye week last week, and Lake Arthur Head Coach Tarius Davis said the Rams are kind of a mystery because of their tough schedule.

Welsh High School offensive lineman Jayden Turnley was recently named to the LHSAA’s All-Academic Composite Team released this week. Turnley carries a 4.0 grade point average in the classroom and anchors a strong Greyhound offensive line. Turnley was the only player in Jeff Davis Parish to accomplish this feat.

LORANGER — The Welsh Greyhounds made the long trek to Loranger Friday night, and for the second year in a row, overcame the Wolves, this time by a 12-0 shutout to move their record to 3-3 for the season. Welsh will now begin the rigors of District 6-2A next week when they travel to face Lafayette Renaissance.

ELTON — The Elton Indians had no game last week, as the Oberlin Tigers were forced to forfeit because of a low number of players. With the forfeit win, the Indians move to 5-1 for the season and will now turn their attention to Hamilton Christian in District 4-1A play. The Warriors will enter the battle undefeated with a 5-0 record, and were the favorites to win the district title before the season began. “They are a very explosive team,” stated Elton Head Coach Marcus LeJeune. “These kids have been playing together for three years now and they have really progressed into a very good football team.”