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Last week proved that games once thought of as "gimmes" aren't exactly in the bag before kickoff. Of the eight people who picked a week ago, only two had Ben Franklin over Clark, which up to that game had been playing well. And only one person picked McMain over Douglass, another team that was playing better football.
But the real story of this past week's picks are that SuperWebGirl came down from cloud nine. After back-to-back 8-2 we
By Bradley Handwerger bhandwerger@wwltv.com
Willie Brooks likes the position Cox is in heading into Thursday night's game against Shaw.
The Eagles are No. 2 in Class 4A. They're 9-0 and 4-0 in District 8-4A. They're 23-1 in the past 24 games. And they're heavy favorites over Brooks' Cougars (5-4, 3-1), with a win giving them the outright district championship.
"We fe
By Bradley Handwerger
Long have I wondered how anyone would possibly rank the thousands of high school football teams across the country. I've thought that anybody who wanted to take on the task had my backing. It certainly isn't easy.
Throughout the season, I've been keeping tabs on MaxPreps.com to see how they view Louisiana football. I don't hold any grudges. I don't even have
By Bradley Handwerger
You knew moments after St. James completed its 16-14 upset of Curtis that it was something big. Four days later, we know just how big -- the Louisiana Sports Writers Association distrubted four of their 12 first-place votes to St. James.
A week ago, Curtis was ranked No. 1 with eight first-place votes, and Calvary Baptist was No. 2 with the four remaining top votes. Apparently, there is not a cons
By Bradley Handwerger
John Curtis lost in-state in what seems like the first time in the decade. OK, not that long. But it's been nearly three years since the Patriots have lost to a school from Louisiana. But J.T. Curtis schedules tough out of district opponents for a reason. Now we see why.
Despite losing to St. James on Friday, Curtis (6-2) remained the top team in the latest power ratings. That speaks volumes for
Written by: Tom Planchet, man among men at WWL-TV.com
Everyone knows of J.T. Curtis' reputation as a winning coach, but one thing I've always admired is Coach Curtis' gentlemanly manner after a loss.
Granted, you don't often see him in that position. I was perusing a prep football forum Friday night when someone said they couldn't wait to see J.T.'s response after the loss to St. James. >> Continue reading: Gentleman J.T.
 A week ago, I moved Shaw up into first place. The Eagles rewarded my decision by backing it up, beating a very good Vandebilt Catholic team in Houma by 10 points.
The Eagles showed they could hold onto a lead against a quality opponent in a situation where the clichéd deck was stacked against them.
Starting quarterback out for year? No problem, just inser
There are a bevy of big games this week, all with district titles or shares of on the line. St. James plays Curtis in District 10-2A, the winner gaining at least a hand on the title. Holy Cross travels to Franklinton in 9-4A with at least a share on the line. Higgins plays West Jefferson in 9-5A, also with a share at stake.
And then there's the pick 'em regular season title on the line with two weeks left. Professor has a good hand on
Newman won almost 48 percent of the vote to become this week's HS Gametime.com Team of the Week, narrowly defeating Jesuit 1,111 votes to 1,043. Polls closed at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
The Greenies coming off of a loss to St. James, jumped out to a 21-0 lead on Riverside before falling behind 42-28. Newman stormed back, scoring the game-tying touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter to push overtime.
Newman forced a missed Riversi
It took an interception in the end zone with about a minute left, but Destrehan was able to escape an upset bid by East St. John. The Wildcats reward? Moving up -- waaaaaay up -- in the MaxPreps.com national poll.
Destrehan jumped 33 spots to get to No. 66 this week. But that's not nearly the largest jump or fall by an in-state school this week. No, that lovely title belongs to Acadiana. Thanks to a 46-36 loss to Comeaux, the great peo
From time to time, we'll be putting up slideshows of your pictures that you've submitted. They're ones we've found most intriguing. The more pictures you put in, the better chance you have of getting in this slideshow.
All you have to do is sign up for the site and start putting pictures in.
>> Continue reading: User Generated Photos: From you, by you, for you
One little blip on the record can really have an affect on how voters view a team. Just look at Holy Cross. The Tigers lose to Vandebilt -- albeit by a large margin -- and can't seem to sniff the top 10 in Class 4A.
Finally, after eight weeks and and four consecutive big wins, Holy Cross (7-1, 3-0 District 9-4A) has entered the picture. And it happens just in time for possibly the Tigers' biggest matchup of the season. Holy Cross trave
Years ago, winning the district might have been important. In a way, it still is, as it provides automatic placement in the playoff brackets. But now that power ratings have been instituted, your season isn’t over if you don’t win the district.
For teams like Jesuit and Newman, there's still tons to play for, including a high seed come playoff time. Friday, both teams won to maintain a high placement in the ratings.
But teams
It has been interesting for me to see how the power ratings shake out. This is my first prep football season in Louisiana, and I'm not used to the way they work. For me, growing up in Alabama, it was all about where you fell in your district as to how the playoff brackets worked.
I don't claim to understand how the power ratings work. I know there's a mathematical algorithm used that I can't even begin to comprehend. I'm a writer, not
Every year Jim Henderson spotlights some of the area's finest students who are also athletes in a segment called A+ Athletes.
If you miss them on the air, you can view them on the HSGameTime web site by clicking on this link http://www.wwlt.com/advertorial/aplusathletes/index.html.
We will eventually have all of the profiles on the site. Currently we have t
What a Friday night! This was without a doubt the night with the most exciting games of the season. It probably helped that they meant something too, with most teams in the meat of their district schedules.
Put Curtis Welch in your backfield and you're going to win more battles then you lose.
Same thing with Dexter Smith. Ditto with Evan Mistich.
Put them all together in the same backfield, and you have what some could be called the best backfield in the area.
And Vandebilt Catholic, where all three attend and play football, is using just that philosophy, rolling to a 7-0 start overall, and 2-0 in District 8-4A. >> Continue reading: GAMEDAY: Shaw, Vandebilt set for classic Friday night
A week ago Destrehan moved up into the top spot. A week later, the Wildcats move back down. Call it the curse of the top spot, if you may.
This week, I have Shaw up top. Playing with a platoon system at quarterback because starting quarterback Ramaad Robinson is out with a torn ACL, the Eagles took care of Belle Chasse this past week. It was the ground game
A week ago, I was wondering aloud... well, in writing at least... if we would have a perfect week here at the HS Gametime blog. Well, the answer is a resounding yes. And, in fact, two players came through 10-0. Pat yourselves on the back Professor and Ron Held.
Then there's Soccer Freak and Mr. Held Over. I don't know what you're doing, but you should probably try som
 When Mount Carmel lost to Chalmette in five games Tuesday, Jessica Chatellier's mood must have perked up.
The Dominican coach (pictured at right), you see, understands how much bigger today's Division I, District 8 match against the Cubs became with upset. A game already wrought with tension just got bigger.
Now, with two matches to play inc
Here we are, again posting the Maxpreps national rankings and again writing it with a befuddled frame of mind. I understand that the polls can't be static. Teams win, and sometimes the wins are more impressive than others.
But I don't get how West Monroe can beat Southwood, now a 1-6 team, and move up 13 places, while Shaw can beat Bel
It might have taken Class 2A Evangel losing to the consensus Class 4A Bastrop, but John Curtis has taken over the top spot in 2A. But the Patriots aren't overwhelmingly No. 1, with Calvary Baptist earning five of the 12 first-place votes and coming in four total votes short of Curtis.
And then there's Shaw, which is still waiting to have a close game. Despite losing quarterback Ramaad Robinson to a knee injury, the Eagles still pushed
Looking at the power ratings, the big news to me is that Newman's 41-14 loss to St. James didn't hurt as bad as one would expect. The Greenies went into that game No. 3 in the power ratings and, despite a 27-point loss, came in at No. 4 this week. When the regular season is finished, that high rating for Newman might just payoff when the brackets come out.
Other than that, we're starting to see things settle down in the top half of the
Some interesting notes from the final scores in on Friday...Click for more...
Nelson Stewart's Newman offense is averaging more than 33 points per game this season. So, maybe it's a bit interesting that he believes the key to tonight's 7 p.m. game at St. James lies on the other side of the ball.
Then again, maybe he's on to something. After all, he has watched film of the Class 2A No. 4 ranked Wildcats, and knows they're off to a 4-2 start, 1-0 in District 10-2A, thanks to a loaded backfield led by Luther Ambros
Last week was a good week to get the Metro top 5 poll started. No. 2 Destrehan hosted No. 3 Hahnville in a classic game, No. 1 Shaw lapped Morgan City and No. 4 Vandebilt Catholic rolled over Belle Chasse, a team that was knocking on the door to my poll.
What did we learn from last week's games? I'll tell you (at least what I learned).
Dest
Six weeks into this thing we call Prep Pick 'Em and we have yet to have a perfect week. I blame El Nino. We've had five come close, with Mark the latest to attain a 9-1 record. His only miss? Higgins' win over Ehret, a game not a single picker got correct. So, don't feel bad Mark. Fate was against you.
That said, myself, Ron Held and Professor were near that, the three of us coming in
Mount Carmel def Chappelle 3-0: The Cubs (24-1, 5-0 District 8, Division I) won 25-13, 25-7, 25-20 to maintain their lead in the district. Captain Caitlin Clarke led Mount Carmel with 15 kills, Emily Pepperman added 20 digs, Kaylynn Genemaras had 15 assists and Ashley Poolson recorded three aces.
For Chappelle, Fallon Delanay had 11 digs, Lisa Kanecht had 13 assists, Hillary Hammant had six kills and Kortney Sorenson
At least Shaw can say it's still the highest nationally ranked team in Louisiana. The Eagles are No. 32 this week in the latest MaxPreps.com poll, down six spots from their previous high a week ago.
Now, don't get me wrong. I think if you're Shaw, or any team for that matter, it's nice to see your effort recognized nationally in a poll.
Top-ranked teams stayed the same in four of the five classes this week, with Class 1A Kentwood dropping from No. 1 to No. 3 after a 26-13 loss to St. John, the new No. 6-ranked team in 2A.
I find it interesting that in 5A, Destrehan apparently was punished for the way it beat a top 10 team in Hahnville. The Wildcats, ranked No. 3 a week ago and garnering two first-place votes, were behind most of the game but came back to win in double
A disturbing trend has developed for those teams on the lower side of the power ratings. Since week 3, the average movement along all classifications has trended downward. It started in week 3 at an average of 7.308.
And now, with four games left in the regular season, teams are moving only at a 3.579 clip. That's not good if you're in position 25-40 and fighting for a playoff spot based on power ratings and not a district championshi
When schedule's come out in Destrehan each year, one game is circled with an ink pen. Ditto for citizens of Hahnville.
It's the same date, and this year, it falls on Friday.
As if the Hahnville-Destrehan game weren't big enough, the stakes are as high as ever this year. Both enter district play 5-0. Both are ranked in the Class 5A top 10. And both know that a win in this game means a heck of a lot. >> Continue reading: GAMEDAY: Destrehan, Hahnville play for parish, district bragging rights
So, being that I'm new to the area, I wanted to give the season some time before I started ranking teams. You know, I didn't exactly have a good idea of who was good, who was average and who was just plain awful.
Now we're at the midpoint of the season. I don't have the lack of prior knowledge to hide behind anymore.
In other words, welcome to the inaugural Big 5, a ranking that I'll put up on Thursday afternoons from here unt
It's that time of week again. Yes, the high school pick 'em contest that's sweeping the Greater New Orleans metro area. Welcome back, friends.
In last week's episode, we saw leading picker Ron Held take a dive along with blog host Bradley Handwerger. Could either come back from 6-4 and 4-6 weeks, respectively?
The answer is yes ... for one of us. But first, let's commend Prep Guru >> Continue reading: WEEKLY PICKS (Oct. 5-6): Prep Guru calls himself out
It's amazing, really. Shaw doesn't lose in the regular season a year ago. Then the Eagles fall in the state championship game to Bastrop.
Most of the defense returned from that '06 team, and it would have been safe to assume that Shaw would again be the scourge of the region. But the national poll folks didn't think so. Shaw wasn't in the top 100 to begin the year.
Now, five weeks into the season and with evidence that Shaw onc
Polls in high school football don't mean much. They're not even close to as important as the polls are in college. Instead, it's the power ratings in Louisiana high school football that chooses the eventual playoff brackets.
Still, polls are real and they're a good confidence booster and pat on the back for a job well done. Five schools this week remained No. 1, and five schools moved into the top 10.
But how close are the poll
Finally, Class 2A eased up a little bit. But just slightly. The division went from being the toughest to move up for the past two weeks to third toughest. It's not like it became an easier classification, though. The average movement barely inched up by .237 points.
This week's nastiest classification was 4A. Movement dropped nearly two full points to below three spots. Sheesh. That's certainly not the way you want to find the midpoint
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