District 7-1A Midseason Evaluation

There's a three-headed monster living in District 7-1A, and any one of the heads can take a bite out of you in a district packed with danger.

Whenever playoff time rolls around, there are going to be a few members of this district invited to the dance. Halfway through the season, there are a couple squads battling for supremacy. One thing stands true: if you want to win in District 7-1A, you better come prepared to score.

Pick your poison with Vermilion Catholic, Ascension Episcopal and Central Catholic-Morgan City. Any one of these three can hang half a century on the scoreboard in a hurry, and diversity plays a big part in their offenses.

The Screamin' Eagles are led by Hunter Frith, who totes the line on both sides of the ball along with Emile Trahan. Frith and Trahan can light you up in the passing game, then switch sides onto defense and create turnovers. With Frith (Quarterback/Linebacker) and Trahan (Wide Receiver/Defensive Back) lining up every week, VC isn't the unit you want to face when your offense is struggling. Their only loss of the year came against Kaplan, but they bounced right back to light up Erath, 62-41. Points galore when you play the Screamin' Eagles.

Michael Desormeaux won games at the QB position as a Ragin' Cajun, and now he's building a winning program on the south side of town at Ascension Episcopal Academy. Last year, their offense depended on the production of beefy back Ja'Ciery Linzer, but Jake Arceneaux started to come around at the quarterback position. This year, Arceneaux looks comfortable behind a cohesive offensive line, which is allowing Desormeaux to deploy Linzer predominantly on the defensive side of the ball as a heat-seeking missile at linebacker.

Versatility is the key to success, which is one of the reasons why the Blue Gators became exponentially dangerous. In terms of versatility, Central Catholic-MC might have the football equivalent of a Swiss Army knife.

Ever seen a one man band? A guy plays a horn, while keeping a drum beat with his feet and playing cymbals with his knees...kind of looks silly. Not when Stefano Guarisco does it on the football field. Halfway through the season, Central Catholic's one-man-band has been terrorizing defenses. Any given week, he can go off for four or five TD's and about 300 total yards. They scored 50+ in four of their five victories, and the other game was a 32-20 victory over 2A Opelosas Catholic. Beware Central Catholic, they're no joke with Guarisco strapping on the pads.

Highland Baptist poses a solid argument to be included in the top-tier of this district, except their sole loss to Vermilion Catholic. Highland has one of the best running backs in the area in Bronte Griffin, who regularly puts the team on his back for multiple TD efforts on heavy carry loads. They might rely on him offensively, but it's not bad to rely on something when it's that consistent. Griffin is their workhorse, tractor and trailor...but will there be enough tread on his tires to make them a serious contender for the district down the stretch? The tough district schedule will tell us all we need to know.

Here's where things get muddy. Centerville, Gueydan, Lafayette Christian Academy and Hanson Memorial remain.

Centerville and Gueydan find themselves nestled into the middle of the mid-season evaluation. Gueydan has the worse record (2-3), but they hold the head-to-head matchup to give them the edge in district play. Sometimes numbers lie.

Hanson takes the cellar position, despite sharing the same 1-4 record as LCA. Hanson is getting outscored by opponents 40-172, while LCA has lost all four games to probably playoff teams (Elton, Loreauville, Central Catholic-MC and Highland Baptist). Neither team started the season ideally, but there is still time to clean up the issues.

Every game counts double in district play. You move up a notch and your opponent moves down. With matchups like Acension Episcopal vs Vermilion Catholic going on weeek-to-week, District 7-1A is a good bet to get bang for your bucks on a Friday night.