Louisiana football LookBack: Top takeaways from Week 12 of 2023 season

Ascension Catholic tailback Chad Elzy's record-tying 9-TD performance highlights second-round playoff action

SBLive Louisiana is continuing its weekly statewide high school football recap called Louisiana LookBack. 

This week, we will look back at Week 12, the second round of the playoffs, and take a sneak peek at some of the best quarterfinal playoff games later this week. 

1. Elzy Does It 

There is no doubt who had the best individual performance in the second round of the playoffs. It's junior tailback Chad Elzy, who sparked Division IV select No. 9 Ascension Catholic to a 77-43 road win over No. 8 Opelousas Catholic.

Elzy not only tied Ju'Juan Johnson's state record with nine touchdowns, Elzy rushed for 461 yards on 27 carries.

He rushed for eight scores, added 55 receiving yards with another TD and scored a pair of two-point conversions for the Bulldogs (10-2), who travel to Abbeville to face No. 1 Vermilion Catholic (11-0) in the quarterfinals.

Elzy increased his season totals to 2,560 yards rushing on 162 carries with 43 touchdowns. He is averaging 15.8 yards per carry.

The win over Opelousas Catholic (8-4) was the second this season for the Bulldogs, who beat the Vikings 39-28 in Week 2 - also in Opelousas.

Louisiana high school football playoff brackets updated for all select and non-select divisions 

2. Bearcats Barely Survive

After jumping out to a 20-3 lead over No. 16 Westgate, Division I non-select top seed Ruston had to hang on for dear life. Instead of padding an early lead with field goals, the Bearcats were stopped twice on fourth down deep inside Westgate territory in the first half.

The Tigers (7-5) rallied in the second half and appeared to even the score at 20-all with a TD and a two-point conversion, but a penalty moved Westgate back and Ruston (11-0) intercepted a late pass to advance.

Westgate's five-star defensive back, junior Jaboree Antoine, returned to action after missing several weeks with a broken collarbone. Antoine completed 8-of-10 passes at quarterback for 131 yards and a touchdown. The Ruston run defense was tough, holding the Tigers to 101 yards on 35 carries.

3. Skippers Sail On

No. 21 Mandeville pulled off its second straight upset in Division I non-select, beating No. 5 St. Amant at home, 42-21. Defensive back Emil Allen intercepted two passes and returned one for a touchdown in the first quarter.

The Skippers (8-4), who will travel to Bossier City to face No. 4 Airline (10-1) in the quarterfinals, beat No. 12 Sam Houston, 50-36, in the first round.

Junior tailback Nate Sheppard rushed for 107 yards and tallied 75 receiving yards with four TDs, according to Jason Russell of the Baton Rouge Advocate. Against Sam Houston, Sheppard rushed for 328 yards and three TDs on 25 carries.

He finished the regular season with 1,096 yards on 170 carries and 22 TDs.

Updated high school football brackets with Friday night, Saturday results (11/18/2023)

4. Central Casting

Central-Baton Rouge also engineered its second straight upset as the No. 18 Wildcats rebounded from a 16-0 deficit to surprise No. 2 Neville, 17-16.

The Wildcats (9-3) intercepted Neville twice, held the Tigers (8-2) to 73 yards rushing and scored the game-winning TD on a short run by tailback Damon Blocker to advance to face a local opponent in the Division I non-select quarterfinals, No. 7 Dutchtown (10-1).

Nathan Zimmer kicked a 29-yard field goal for the Wildcats, according to Jake Martin of the Ouachita Citizen, and quarterback Jackson Firmin threw a 51-yard TD pass to Keithon Womack. Firmin's eight completions went for 120 yards.

5. Cecilia Cruising

Second-seeded Cecilia hammered No. 15 Iota, 70-30, in Division II non-select. Quarterback Diesel Solari ran for 239 yards on 13 carries with two TDs, and tailback Corey Broussard rushed for 203 yards on 17 carries with six TDs.

Solari also completed 7-of-9 passes for 100 yards, including a 20-yard TD pass to tight end Jonathan "Bubba" Boudreaux.

The Bulldogs (10-1) host No.10 Jennings (9-3) in the quarterfinals.

Solari has rushed for 1,310 yards on 130 carries with 25 TDs - and has completed 82-of-117 passes for 1,143 yards and 17 TDs. The junior has returned three kicks for TDs.

Broussard, a 5-foot-6, 171-pound senior, has carried 124 times for 938 yards and 18 TDs.

6. St. Landry Shockers

Two St. Landry Parish teams advanced to the Division II non-select quarterfinals.

No. 22 Northwest shocked No. 6 Wossman, 24-14. Tailback JaVian Reese ran for 112 yards on 23 carries with two TDs, and the Raiders' defense limited the Wildcats to 69 yards rushing and 8-of-23 passing for 84 yards.

The Raiders (9-3) make the trip to Napoleonville to face No. 3 Assumption (9-2) on Friday.

No. 12 Opelousas pitched a shutout at No. 5 West Feliciana, blanking the Saints, 14-0. The Tigers (9-3) are at reigning champion No. 4 Lutcher (8-2) in the quarterfinals.

Opelousas junior tailback D'Shaun Ford ran for a TD, and quarterback Zach Malveaux threw a TD pass to Corey Fontenot.

Opelousas has allowed a total of 15 points in its last four games. Lutcher has allowed 59 points all year.

7. District Domination

Three of the eight teams remaining in the Division III non-select bracket are from District 7-3A: No. 5 Bogalusa, No. 7 Pine and No. 8 Amite, which eliminated another league opponent, No. 9 Jewel Sumner, in the second round.

Bogalusa (7-4) is at No. 4 Union Parish (7-4) in the quarterfinals. Pine (10-2) also treks to northeast Louisiana to test No. 2 Sterlington (10-1). Amite (7-4) is at No. 1 Jena (11-0).

8. Alexandria Ascending

In Division I select, No. 13 Alexandria bounced No. 4 Brother Martin on the road, 23-0. The Trojans (8-4) got 118 yards on 30 carries with two TDs from junior J.T. Lindsey, according to Chris Dabe of nola.com.

Quarterback Ty Feaster also shined, accumulating 284 yards of offense with a passing touchdown. Conversely, the Trojans held the Crusaders to 73 yards passing.

Alexandria will return to the New Orleans metro area this week to meet No. 5 Edna Karr (9-1).

9. Rebels Resilient

No. 7 Teurlings Catholic edged No. 10 Madison Prep, 31-30, to advance to the Division II select quarterfinals. The Rebels (8-3) overcame a 22-carry, 149-yard performance from Madison Prep tailback Tony Lewis, and a 197-yard passing effort from Chargers' quarterback Tylan Johnson.

Ayden Trahan and Doug E. Viltz combined for 127 yards rushing on 31 carries for the Rebels, who will face No. 2 E.D. White (11-0) in Thibodaux. Trahan ran for two scores. Quarterback Preston Welch threw for 125 yards and tossed a TD pass to Travis Gallien. Bradford Cain caught four passes for 88 yards.

10. Roneagles Rolling

Division II select McDonogh 35 has had an unusual season. The Roneagles were blown out, 71-13, in Week 1 by St. Augustine and lost, 12-8, to Class 1A Kentwood.

Coach Frank Daggs' team (8-3) won two games by forfeit (vs. George Washington Carver and Warren Easton). and had an open date in Week 3.

Last week, the 11th-seeded Roneagles blew out No. 6 St. Louis Catholic, 53-23. Quarterback Santana Price ran for 162 yards on 11 carries with a TD and completed 11-of-17 passes for 168 yards and three scores, according to Ken Trahan of Crescent City Sports.

McDonogh 35 makes the trek to Lafayette to challenge No. 3 Lafayette Christian (9-2) in the quarterfinals. Last year, a sixth-seeded Lafayette Christian team routed McDonogh 35 by a 46-8 margin in the second round. The Roneagles were seeded 11th last year as well.

NOTEWORTHY

No. 18 Archbishop Rummel is one of four Catholic League programs in the Division I select quarterfinals. The Raiders (6-6) rode a strong defensive effort in a 13-3 win at No. 2 Captain Shreve and will meet No. 7 St. Paul's (10-1) in Covington in the quarterfinals.

No. 10 Central Catholic upset No. 7 St. Frederick, 6-2, in a Division IV select defensive struggle in Monroe. The Eagles (9-3) next travel to Baton Rouge for a date with No. 2 Southern Lab (9-1)

Division IV select No. 5 Riverside Academy is at No. 4 St. Martin's Episcopal in a rematch of Week 5. The Rebels (10-1) won that game, 55-14, as junior tailback Dedric Lastie ran for 351 yards on 18 carries with four TDs. Lastie led the New Orleans metro area in rushing during the regular season with 1,868 yards on 173 carries with 31 TDs. St. Martin's junior tailback Harlem Berry (129-1,763, 33 TDs) was second.

St. Martin's (9-1) advanced to the 2022 semifinals where it lost at No. 1 Vermilion Catholic. The Riverside/St. Martin's winner will face the Vermilion Catholic/Ascension Catholic winner in next week's semifinals.

Photo of Ascension Catholic running back Chad Elzy by Chuck Montero 

-- Mike Coppage | @SBLiveLA