Strong coaching propels high school football teams in playoffs

Just look at the local high school playoff scene. Familiar names are back in the hunt for championships, and we’ve come to expect it based on the machine-like programs they’ve built.

West Monroe continues its path toward another Class 5A title, and that was to be expected with the talent assembled. Still, it’s no easy feat to beat the same team twice and dominate the hardest bracket in the state. In fact, all season long it hasn’t mattered who the Rebels have played. Whether it was Pineville or Ruston, the Rebels played with urgency from the jump, and that’s a credit to the coaching staff for getting them ready. It’s also says a lot that this West Monroe team is only the second Rebel team in history to pitch three shutouts in the playoffs. The Rebels have outscored their 2018 postseason opponents, 130-0. Again, this dominant showing isn’t shocking given the Rebels perfect record.

But look elsewhere in Northeast Louisiana. Teams like Sterlington and Neville weren’t supposed to make it this far. On the surface, that sounds like an illogical statement, but look at what the teams returned from last year.

Neville lost valuable playmakers on defense, returned experienced upfront on the offensive line (which has been huge all year) and an athletic quarterback in Jordan Thomas, who struggled with his accuracy last season. Not only that, but the team welcomed in local legend Bubby Brister’s son, Andrew. That’s not a bad thing, but it certainly could have been. Brister didn’t start, as Thomas earned the starting position with his time put in with the program, and through the season, both Brister and Thomas showed great strides in their development as quarterbacks. That’s been the key to Neville’s success this season. Sure, the Tigers have been able to run the football thanks to a committee of running backs, but Thomas and Brister have combined to add a deep threat element the offense has missed the last two seasons. Now we get to see these two young men against Neville’s arch nemesis, Edna Karr, in the semifinals.

And if you’re talking about development, Sterlington might be the best example of any school in the state. At the start of the season, Bastrop embarrassed Sterlington in the 2018 Bayou Jamb. If you compare that squad to what the Panthers have become today, it’s like comparing a pliable ball of dough to a piece of bread that’s been baked to perfection.

It takes a lot of heat for that dough to rise, though. And Sterlington has endured its share of heated battles this season. A shootout with Wossman and emotional tight victory at Union Parish are just two examples that have forged this team to a semifinal appearance.

Sterlington head coach Lee Doty has made the comment already this season that this team, more than any team he’s coached prior, is his most improved club over the course of a season. His case has been made.  

As we approach the semifinals, all three of these teams have one thing in common — tremendous coaching staffs. These coaches have continuously put these players in positions to succeed all year, and once again, it’s the schools that have that machine, plug-and-fill mentality that are vying for titles.