Louisiana

Top 25 Louisiana High School Football Rankings (11/27/2024)

Published

1 year ago

November 27, 2024

Top 25 Louisiana High School Football Rankings (11/27/2024)

Here is a look at the Top 25 Louisiana High School Football Rankings heading into the quarterfinal round of the LHSAA football playoffs:

Playoff Seed: No. 1 (Division I select) Up next: Against No. 8 St. Thomas More (8-3)

The Cougars defeated No. 17 Huntington, 56-6. LSU receiver commit TaRon Francis had six catches for 175 yards and two scores, according to Andrew Valenti of The New Orleans Advocate. Junior quarterback John Johnson passed for 324 yards. Daejawn Smith and Oliver Mitchell each caught a TD pass. The Cougars’ defense and special teams each tacked on a TD.

Power Rating: No. 2 (Division I select) Up next: Against No. 10 C.E Byrd (9-3)

The Trojans defeated No. 18 Evangel Christian, 49-6. LSU running back commit J.T. Lindsey rushed for 220 yards and four TDs, according to John Marcase of The Shreveport Bossier Advocate. The Trojans held Evangel to negative rushing yards and intercepted quarterback Peyton Houston three times.

Playoff seed: No. 1 (Division I nonselect) Up next: Against No. 24 Chalmette (9-3)

The Tigers defeated No. 16 Covington, 44-13. UL Ragin’ Cajuns commit Cam Riley had multiple interceptions, according to Jake Martin of The Ouachita Citizen. Jaylon Nichols (15 carries, 109 yards) scored three touchdowns. Sophomore QB Parker Robinson was 14 for 14 passing.

Playoff seed: No. 3 (Division I nonselect) Up next: Against No. 6 Southside (9-2)

The Bearcats defeated No. 14 Zachary, 42-21. Jordan Hayes ran for two touchdowns – one from 70 yards – and caught a TD pass from Tulane QB commit Joshua Brantley, who also ran for a score, according to T. Scott Boatright of The Baton Rouge Advocate. Brantley threw a TD pass to Darius James. It was the third straight year the teams met in the postseason with Ruston winning all three.

Playoff seed: No. 4 (Division I select) Up next: Against No. 5 Archbishop Rummel (9-2)

The Bears defeated No. 13 East Jefferson, 42-0. Rylan Parker ran for 105 yards and two TDs, according to Terry Robinson of The Baton Rouge Advocate. Jayden Miles added a rushing score. Baylor Graves threw a 66-yard TD pass to Amari Clayton as Catholic scored all of its points in the first half.

Playoff seed: No. 2 (Division I nonselect) Up next: Against No. 10 Destrehan (9-3)

The Vikings defeated No. 18 Westgate, 42-16. QB Ben Taylor ran for a score and passed for two, and DJ Allen ran for two TDs, according to Roy Lang of The Shreveport Bossier Advocate. LSU commit Kenny Darby caught eight passes for 135 yards and a TD. Senior receiver Jarvis Davis left the game with an injury.

Playoff seed: No. 4 (Division I nonselect) Up next: Against No. 21 West Monroe (7-5)

The Wildcats defeated No. 13 West Ouachita, 45-20. Nicholls State QB commit Jackson Firmin ran for a score, and sophomore Marvin Joseph ran for another, according to William Weathers of Geaux Preps. The Central defense forced three turnovers. Joseph finished with 117 yards on 13 carries. Linebacker KD Mays returned a fumble for a TD.

Playoff seed: No. 1 (Division II select) Up next: Against No. 8 John F. Kennedy (7-4)

The Eagles defeated No. 16 Loranger, 49-14. Michigan commit Jasper Parker ran for 109 yards on 12 carries with four TDs, according to Darrell Williams of The New Orleans Advocate. Mason Wilson threw a 54-yard TD pass to Jacob Washington (also a Michigan pledge). Shaw’s opponent this week, John F. Kennedy, only lost one game on the field (to St. Paul’s).

Playoff seed: No. 8 (Division I select) Up next: At No. 1 Edna Karr (10-0)

The Cougars defeated No. 9 St. Augustine, 28-27. Senior defensive back Gavin Duplechin blocked an extra point to seal the win, according to Eric Narcisse of The Acadiana Advocate. Quarterback Cole Bergeron completed 8 of 14 passes for 104 yards and two TDs to John Avery Barton (four catches for 72 yards). Gabe Mocek and Carter Melancon combined to carry 39 times for 214 yards. Mocek ran for two scores.

Playoff seed: No. 6 (Division I select) Up next: Against No. 19 John Curtis Christian (6-5)

The Rebels defeated No. 11 Jesuit, 31-23. Junior QB Alex Munoz completed 14 of 15 passes for 169 yards with a TD to tight end Jack Purser. Munoz is 84 of 120 on the year with 1,272 yards and 13 TDs with no interceptions. Doug E Viltz rushed for 82 yards on 24 carries with two TDs. Nick Celestine caught three passes for 36 yards, according to Kevin Foote of The Acadiana Advocate. Munoz, Viltz and Cason Evans have combined for over 2,000 yards rushing.

Playoff seed: No. 5 (Division I select) Up next: At No. 4 Catholic-BR (10-0)

The Raiders defeated No. 12 McDonogh 35, 50-25. Norman Taylor ran for 177 yards on 17 carries with four TDs, according to Chris Dabe of The New Orleans Advocate. The Raiders will face Catholic-BR in the postseason for the sixth time in seven seasons. QB Generald Buggage was 7 of 9 passing for 132 yards with a rushing touchdown.

Playoff seed: No. 19 (Division I select) Up next: At No. 6 Teurlings Catholic (10-1)

The Patriots defeated No. 3 Acadiana, 28-27. QB Reggie Johnson threw the game-winning TD pass to freshman Jarvis Stevenson, according to Nick Fontenot of The Acadiana Advocate. The Patriots totaled 363 yards rushing and averaged 13 yards per carry, according to Chris Dabe of The New Orleans Advocate. Johnson ran for 169 yards on 10 carries with two scores. Jacobi Boudreaux added 138 yards on eight carries.

Playoff seed: No. 3 (Division I select) Up next: Season complete

The Rams lost to No. 19 John Curtis, 28-27. Jonah Gauthier ran for 164 yards on 27 carries with three TDs. Tayden Collins added 103 yards on 12 carries. Caden DiBetta ran for a score. Gauthier and Collins combined to score 24 rushing TDs on the year.

Playoff seed: No. 6 (Division I nonselect) Up next: At No. 3 Ruston (9-2)

The Sharks defeated No. 22 Walker, 47-0. The Sharks notched 18 first downs to Walker’s six. Ramon Singleton ran for 136 yards and two TDs on 15 carries. Justin Williams added 84 yards on 16 carries with two scores. Singleton added two catches for 31 yards and a score. QB Parker Dies threw for a TD and ran for another. Dies, Singleton and QB Cruz Holden combined to complete 4 of 5 passes for 82 yards and a score.

Playoff seed: No. 10 (Division I nonselect) Up next: At No. 2 Airline (11-0)

The Wildcats defeated No. 7 Northwood-Shreveport, 63-21. Malachi Dabney scored five TDs, according to Lori Lyons of The Shreveport Bossier Journal. Jabari Mack and Greg Wilfred each caught a TD pass, and LSU receiver commit Phillip Wright ran for a score. The Wildcats have won seven straight games with QB Jackson Fields back in the lineup. Destrehan will be making back-to-back trips to the Shreveport-Bossier area.

Playoff seed: No. 14 (Division II nonselect) Up next: At No. 6 Plaquemine (11-1)

The Tigers defeated No. 3 Jennings, 30-19. Senior tailback D’Shaun Ford ran for 265 yards and two TDs. The Tigers’ losses were to Teurlings Catholic, Alexandria and Zachary. Opelousas led the undefeated Trojans by two scores early.

Playoff seed: No. 18 (Division II nonselect) Up next: At No. 7 North DeSoto (9-3)

The Bulldogs defeated No. 2 Lutfcher, 49-41. Diesel Solari completed 13 of 21 passes for 206 yards and three TDs. Braylon Calais ran for 113 yards on 15 carries with two TDs. Solari added 96 yards rushing and two TDs on 15 carries. Ellis Stewart totaled 104 yards and a TD on six touches. Brent Gordon and Jermaine Davis combined to catch five passes for 102 yards and two TDs.

Playoff seed: No. 5 (Division III select) Up next: at No. 4 Jewel Sumner (10-1)

The Panthers defeated No. 12 Amite, 39-14. QB Dillon Compton threw three first-half TD passes for Cain Milligan, according to Fast Break ENT. Compton was 10 of 15 passing for 195 yards and four TDs, according to LaMar Gafford of Cenla Preps. He also ran for a score. Zion Lee rushed for 94 yards on 16 carries. Jateren Gaines added 92 yards on 12 carries with two TDs.

Playoff seed: No. 10 (Division I select) Up next: At No. 2 Alexandria (11-0)

The Yellow Jackets defeated No. 7 St. Paul’s, 37-15. Desmond Simmons ran for 167 yards on 30 carries with a TD, according to Joseph Halm of The New Orleans Advocate. QB Harrison Ayres completed 5 of 6 passes for 82 yards and added 30 yards rushing and two scores on eight carries.

Playoff seed: No. 21 (Division I nonselect) Up next: At No. 4 Central-BR (10-1)

The Rebels pulled off their second upset by defeating No. 5 Mandeville, 20-9. Ranaldrick Myles and Kedrian McNeal combined for 209 yards rushing on 28 carries with two TDs, according to Dave Woodall of The New Orleans Advocate. QB Ryder Dejean completed 3 of 6 passes for 37 yards.

Playoff seed: No. 1 (Division III select) Up next: Against No. 9 Lafayette Christian (6-6)

The Tigers defeated No. 16 Parkview Baptist, 42-0. Sophomore QB Elijah Haven accounted for 406 yards and four TDs, according to Patrick Wright of The Baton Rouge Advocate. Trevor Haman caught seven passes for 128 yards and two TDs.

Playoff seed: No. 7 (Division II nonselect) Up next: Against No. 18 Cecilia (9-3)

The Griffins defeated No. 10 Belle Chasse, 38-14. Cole Cory continued to shine since his return from injury, catching two TD passes and returning a kick 56 yards, according to Lee Hiller of The Shreveport Bossier Advocate. Luke Delafield was 15 of 20 passing for 205 yards. Kenny Thomas ran for 107 yards on 23 carries with two TDs. Cory finished with seven receptions for 114 yards.

Playoff seed: No. 5 (Division II select) Up next: Against No. 13 Istrouma (9-3)

The Chargers defeated No. 12 St. Charles Catholic, 34-20. Tylan Johnson was 10 of 13 passing for 125 yards and two TDs, according to Charles Salzer of The Baton Rouge Advocate. Alfred McKnight ran for 180 yards and two TDs. Madison Prep, which led 21-0 at halftime, takes on Istrouma in a matchup of north Baton Rouge schools whose campuses are separated by 2.1 miles.

Playoff seed: No. 2 (Division II nonselect) Up next: Season complete

The Bulldogs lost to No. 18 Cecilia, 49-41. Trenton Chaney ran for 194 yards and three TDs on 24 carries, according to Reed Darcey of The Baton Rouge Advocate. QB Zach Jenkins rushed for 118 yards on 25 carries with three TDs. He passed for 75 yards and didn’t throw an interception this season.

Playoff seed: No. 1 (Division IV select) Up next: Against No. 8 St. Edmund (10-1)

The Eagles defeated No. 16 Westminster Christian-Opelousas, 47-17. QB Jonathan Dartez ran for 199 yards and had a hand in six TDs. The senior has rushed for 2,119 yards and 34 TDs on 239 carries with 1,360 yards passing (19 TDs, two INT).

Source link

Louisiana

Louisiana National Guard troops return to Washington for Trump task force

Published

6 hours ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

Louisiana National Guard troops return to Washington for Trump task force

Louisiana National Guard soldiers have been deployed to Washington, D.C., for a second time.
The deployment is part of a crime emergency declared by President Trump nine months ago.
About 125 soldiers will assist local police and the D.C. National Guard in a support role.
The soldiers will patrol high-traffic areas but will not have the authority to make arrests.

Louisiana National Guard soldiers have returned to Washington, D.C., on a second deployment as part of President Trump’s continued crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.

Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington nine months ago to trigger deployments of states’ National Guard troops to the capital.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry first sent a contingent of Louisiana soldiers to Washington in August 2025. Lt. Col. Noel Collins told USA Today Network on May 13 that all of those soldiers returned to Louisiana by the end of December.

Landry’s latest deployment of Louisiana soldiers includes about 125 who began assisting other soldiers and local police May 12.

Louisiana’s soldiers won’t make arrests, but they will patrol high-traffic areas while playing a supporting role for the D.C. National Guard and local police.

The White House has said its capital crime task force has made more than 12,000 arrests since August and seized thousands of illegal guns.

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

Source link

Louisiana

Louisiana students make biggest gains in nation

Published

18 hours ago

May 13, 2026

Press Room

Louisiana students make biggest gains in nation

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A new report shows Louisiana students are making some of the biggest gains in the country, with state education leaders celebrating the progress.

The newest national report card now ranks Louisiana 32nd in the nation, a jump from 49th in 2019.

“Louisiana is no longer about Louisiana simply believes, but for K-12 education, Louisiana achieves,” said state Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley.

The jump comes mainly from improved reading and math scores, making Louisiana the only state that has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Gov. Jeff Landry said the achievement comes at an opportune time for the generation to capitalize on economic developments coming to the state.

“These young men and women are going to get an opportunity we have never had. These kids get to grow up in a new Louisiana at a time when they are getting the education they need,” Landry said.

Brumley said the focus is now on attendance, more tutoring, higher teacher pay, and job readiness.

“Tutoring for every kid to get a little extra help if they need it; differentiated pay so we can target pay in a very precise way to those teachers doing great work for kids; and in the elevation in career and technical education,” Brumley said.

While leaders are celebrating, Brumley said the real work is keeping that momentum.

“Louisiana doesn’t have to be last. Indeed, we can be number one. We will continue to see great results,” Brumley said.

Click here to report a typo. Please include the headline.

Click here to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.

Watch the latest WAFB news and weather now.

Source link

Louisiana

As Louisiana’s Senate election nears, carbon capture becomes a big issue. Here’s what to know.

Published

1 day ago

May 13, 2026

Press Room

As Louisiana’s Senate election nears, carbon capture becomes a big issue. Here’s what to know.

In a campaign that has focused more on President Donald Trump than the issues, government regulation of carbon capture and sequestration has emerged as a key fault line in Saturday’s Senate primary.

State Treasurer John Fleming has made his forceful opposition to the new process a key driver of his campaign, saying it threatens to poison waterways and strip landowners of property rights.

That has made him the target of attack ads broadcast by two outside groups associated with Gov. Jeff Landry and financed at least in part by oil and gas companies that want to inject the carbon dioxide deep in underground wells.

Fleming has counterattacked by saying that U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who has Landry’s support, actually supports the industry because her fiancée, Kevin Ainsworth, is a major lobbyist for carbon capture and sequestration companies in Baton Rouge. Letlow has called that accusation “a low blow.”

Letlow has said she favors letting local communities decide whether to allow the process.

“If a project is not safe, if it’s not transparent and if it does not have community buy-in, it should not move forward,” she said in a radio debate on May 5.

But in a separate interview, Letlow refused to be pinned down on how a community would decide to give a green light.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy on Tuesday said he agrees with Fleming that oil and gas companies should not be able to exercise eminent domain to build pipelines and storage facilities without landowners’ approval.

Cassidy also said he supports the moratorium that Landry has imposed on new carbon capture and sequestration projects. Letlow also backs that moratorium.

Cassidy said allowing parish governments to block carbon capture and sequestration projects “is an acceptable option.”

Where the race stands

Fleming and Letlow are trying to unseat Cassidy this year in the Republican election campaign. Saturday is the primary, where the top two Republican finishers, if no one wins above 50%, advance to a runoff on June 27.

All three candidates are predicting they will win one of the two spots in the June 27 runoff. Polls indicate that Letlow has the best chance.

But political analysts note that the new semi-closed primary election system and recent seismic events – including a U.S. Supreme Court decision that nullified Louisiana’s congressional map and Landry then canceling the House elections – make prognosticating Saturday’s results a challenge.

Three Democrats are vying in their own primary to face the Republican Senate nominee in November. They are Nick Albares, a policy analyst in New Orleans; Gary Crockett, a business owner in New Orleans; and Jamie Davis, a soybean, cotton and corn farmer in northeast Louisiana.

Albares said on Tuesday that he sides with Fleming and Cassidy in not allowing companies to use eminent domain to build carbon capture and sequestration projects on private land.

Davis called for “binding consent from the people who live there, not a public comment period that gets ignored” before any injection wells are permitted.

Crockett said, “I’m totally against it.”

Trump dominates election

Trump has been a dominant topic in the campaign because each of the three Republicans is claiming to be the candidate best aligned with the president. Letlow has his endorsement.

The three Democrats have been scathing in their criticism of Trump.

In a weekly call with reporters Tuesday, Cassidy announced $150 million in additional federal money to build a replacement bridge on Interstate 10 over the Calcasieu River in Lake Charles.

In making the announcement, Cassidy slipped in a story about how he was riding on the ancient bridge with Trump in the presidential limousine nicknamed “the Beast” to an event in Hackberry in Cameron Parish in 2019. As they reached the top, Cassidy said, Trump wondered aloud, “Is this bridge going to hold us”?

Cassidy said the new bridge would be able to hold the Beast and is an example of how he delivers for Louisiana. He said the money came from the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, a President Joe Biden-initiative that he supported, unlike the rest of Louisiana’s Republican delegation.

Fleming, meanwhile, speaking to a Republican luncheon Tuesday in Baton Rouge, highlighted a nine-page referral to the Department of Justice by a nonprofit group that accuses Letlow of filing false campaign finance reports to the Federal Elections Commission.

The Coolidge Reagan Foundation alleged that the Letlow Victory Fund raised money for two months without reporting it and then tried to conceal this later.

The foundation said it has filed previous complaints against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee.

“With the FEC, you have to be very careful with your paperwork,” Fleming told the crowd at the Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon.

Letlow’s campaign dismissed the allegation.

“Bill Cassidy voted to convict President Trump (on impeachment charges in 2021) and has spent over $10 million attacking Julia Letlow,” Letlow’s campaign said in a statement. “Now, in an attempt to distract from President Trump’s endorsement of Letlow, Cassidy’s allies are desperately trying to dress up routine FEC paperwork questions because they can’t defend Cassidy’s record. The Letlow campaign takes compliance seriously and has filed all required reports with the FEC.”

In recent days, Letlow has said that the defeat last week of five state senators opposed by Trump in Indiana bodes well for her campaign, since Trump wants to end Cassidy’s Senate career.

Outspent by Cassidy and Letlow, Fleming has said he is running a grassroots campaign. One example of that, he said in an interview, is that a majority of the members of the Republican State Central Committee have requested that the committee endorse him.

Derek Babcock, the party chair, didn’t respond to a text Tuesday asking how the party’s executive committee – which actually issues the endorsement – will respond.

Attack ads target Fleming

Landry has inserted himself into the campaign by raising money for two groups associated with him – the Accountability Project and MAGA Energy – to attack Fleming. Both groups are organized in a way that doesn’t require them to disclose their donors and are headed by two of his key campaign associates, Jay Connaughton and Jason Hebert.

Landry held an event at the Governor’s Mansion on April 20 with about 15 carbon capture and sequestration executives, said someone who attended the meeting but spoke on condition of anonymity. Landry warned the group that a Fleming victory would harm their industry. The executives then heard a pitch to raise $1.5 million to defeat Fleming, according to the source.

In a brief interview, Landry acknowledged holding the meeting but wouldn’t discuss it.

Fleming repeats his opposition to carbon capture and sequestration at every opportunity, telling the Reagan luncheon, “It’s just not good for Louisiana.”

In other appearances, Fleming has said the technology is unproven and dangerous, saying in a radio interview last month, “It’s stuffing toxic carbon dioxide in the ground and using your taxpayer money and stealing your land through private domain for profiteering.”

For a month, the Accountability Project and MAGA Energy have been attacking Fleming.

The Accountability Project has broadcast ads accusing Fleming of being a supporter of allowing illegal aliens across the Mexican border. Fleming called that a lie while speaking at the Reagan luncheon, saying he supports tough border restrictions.

MAGA Energy accuses Fleming of having voted for pro-carbon capture and sequestration bills while he served in the House. That, too, is a lie, Fleming told the Reagan crowd.

In a new line of attack, the Accountability Project is attempting to undermine a key part of Fleming’s pro-Trump biography by saying that Fleming never served as Trump’s deputy chief of staff during his final 10 months as president in first term.

In campaign appearances, Fleming has said his office was 10 steps from the Oval Office in the West Wing, and he told the Reagan luncheon that the accusation was “an absolute lie.”

Source link