Slidell bounces back with blowout playoff win over district rival Hammond

Going into Friday night’s Non-Select Division I playoff opener with District 6-5A rival Hammond, No. 7 seed Slidell needed short-term memory after being upset by Northshore in its regular season finale to snap an 8-game win streak.

Apparently, the Tigers forgot about the loss quickly.

Slidell displayed outstanding offensive balance throughout and dominated the Tornadoes in a 55-22 victory at McGinty Stadium.

The Tigers had beaten Hammond 32-21 at home on October 7 in district play.

Trevel Watts ran for 199 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown to pace the offense while Luke Guidry ran for one score and passed for three touchdowns.

Slidell took a 14-0 first quarter lead on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Guidry to Landon Cole and a 3-yard pass from Guidry to Dwayne Mills.

Hammond cut the deficit to 14-7 by the end of the quarter on a 20-yard run by Tyrese Williams.

Kendall Carter made it 21-7 in the second quarter on a 1-yard run but Jermaine Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown and Hammond pulled within 21-14.

Undaunted, the Tigers (9-2) distanced themselves prior to halftime, scoring on a 7-yard run by Cory Cousin and a 5-yard run by Austin Bates to make it 35-14 by the break.

In the third quarter, Watts raced 14 yards for a score to increase the lead to 42-14 before Guidry scored on a 4-yard run to make it 49-14.

Reserve quarterback Zavien Bartee then hit Ramelo Howard with a 2-yard touchdown pass to make it 55-14 before the Tornadoes completed the scoring as Eli Johnson ran six yards for a touchdown and ran in the two point conversion with just over two minutes to play in the game.

Speaking on Ken Trahan’s Original Prep Football Report Friday night on NASH ICON 106.1 FM, Slidell coach Malter Scobel said he saw his team respond well to early adversity and to last week’s loss.

“They came out and made a play on special teams and made it close but our offense started putting points up and the defense played well,” Scobel said.

No one likes to lose but Scobel saw a silver lining in the defeat against Northshore.

“That might have been the best thing to happen to us, to be honest with you,” Scobel said. “I think the were riding high and I think that loss grounded them and we made sure we grounded them at practice and got back to work.”

Next up, Slidell will host defending Class 4A state champion and No. 10 seed Westgate, who eliminated Belle Chasse 35-14.

“That’s not going to be an easy task,” Scobel said. “Any team that can come down to New Orleans and beat Karr at Behrman Stadium and then beat Easton in the ‘Dome is one of the top teams in the state, without a doubt. The good news is we are home and playing well. Hopefully, we can make it a ver