Northwest Positions For Title

BOBBY ARDOIN

Editor/Consulting Writer

If everything proceeds according to plan, there will be a previously discussed neighborly meeting in Week 10 with Northwest High and Iota playing for the District 4-3A football championship.

Northwest and Iota are currently the only teams with undefeated district records.

That’s a topic that Northwest head football coach Chris Edwards says he and Iota head coach Ray Aucoin will probably discuss soon when they meet as they usually do at a nearby rural convenience store.

“(Aucoin) and I are practically neighbors and we meet at the store each week. We’ve discussed the possibility of meeting to play each other for a district title and now that might happen,” Edwards said on Thursday night.

“As of right now, we know it’s not going to be a three-way tie. So the battle could be in the last week. I’m sure that’s something we will talk about when we get to the store,” said Edwards.

Edwards referenced the Iota game after Northwest took another step in determining the importance of the Iota contest by defeating Church Point 38-13 in a key district matchup.

The loss eliminated Church Point from championship consideration, since the Bears have lost to Iota and Northwest.

Last year Iota, Northwest and Church Point shared a league trophy.

The win over Church Point (4-3, 1-2) was significant, said Edwards. Northwest hadn’t defeated the Bears in football since 2018.

Northwest (5-2, 3-0) never trailed Church Point, which plays district opponents Ville Platte and Crowley before ending the regular season in Alexandria against Holy Savior Menard.

The Raiders controlled the offensive possessions throughout, holding a 67-43 edge in plays.

Northwest junior running back Ke’Von Johnson ran for 193 yards and scored twice, as he continued to roll up yardage now well beyond 1,000 yards.

The Raiders rushed for 266 and held a 328-251 edge in total offense.

Edwards said he has held back touches for Johnson during the past few weeks.

“We kept him fresh for (Church Point). Now we are going to give him the ball more,” Edwards added.

Johnson acknowledged that he would be the lead weapon against Church Point.

“I was prepared for all the carries I got. The plan was to come out and pound it,” said Johnson, who had all the carries in the Raiders’ first possession – a 10-play, 65-yard drive that devoured over six minutes.

Gavin Fontenot kicked a 35-yard field goal to give the Raiders a 24-0 halftime lead. In the second half, Northwest scored on an 11-yard pass from quarterback Jayden Chavis to wide receiver Reginald Lavergne.

A final TD occurred when Dontrel Eetienne bolted over from a yard out with 8:58 left.

Defensively Northwest scored on a 69-yard fumble return by Kylen Serie and used a Hayden Brown interception to set up another touchdown.

“We came in wanting to stop the run. Our defense studied the way (Church Point) runs the ball and we practiced against that,” said Northwest defensive end Devon Thibodeaux.

Edwards thought the win displayed an element of completeness.

“I thought we played well in all three of the phases. I thought defensively we had the edge in size and experience. Defensively I think we are second to none,” said Edwards.