Top-seeded West St. John continues mission against defending 1A champ Logansport

Fifty-one weeks ago, Logansport made a huge fourth-quarter comeback to win the Class 1A state championship.

The Tigers are one win away from returning to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to defend their title, but standing in the way is top-seeded West St. John in a 1A semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday in Edgard. The game will be streamed live on Crescent City Sports beginning at 6:50 p.m.

Despite a perfect regular season, Logansport drew the No. 5 seed in the 1A bracket.

“I’m sure they feel that being undefeated, they should have gotten the No. 1 ranking,” West St. John coach Brandon Walters said. “If I was … defending champion and undefeated, I would expect to be No. 1 too. They’re going to come to town with a chip on their shoulder.”

Despite two early-season losses, the Rams got the top seed of a strong non-district schedule that includes the likes of St. James and Plaquemine.

As the No. 1 seed, West St. John received a first-round bye in the 1A bracket. The Rams have defeated East Iberville and Jonesboro-Hodge by a combined 70-8 the last two weeks. Logansport has been just as dominant in the postseason, knocking off North Central, Homer and Varnado by a combined 140-18.

The Rams, who returned to Class 1A this season after two years in 2A, have reached the semifinals for the 19th time in the last 31 years, but are seeking their first trip to the championship game since 2011, when Walters was an assistant to Robert Valdez.

“Our kids recognize what’s at stake,” Walters said. “We’re pretty hungry.

“The kids have been talking about a state championship since June. We’re on a mission, and Logansport is in the way.”

The Rams have a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Kylan Duhe and Niko Davis and a 2,000-yard passer in D’Andre Gaudia.

Waiting on the other side is a Logansport team on a 27-game winning streak. Senior quarterback Dalton Shaw, a three-year starter, has passed for 2,792 yards and 34 touchdowns. Treslin Brown has rushed for 1,447 yards.

The teams have two common opponents this year – Varnado and Jonesboro-Hodge. West St. John  defeated Varnado 45-0 in Week 8 and Jonesboro-Hodge 26-6 in the quarterfinals last week, while Logansport opened the season with a 34-19 win over Jonesboro-Hodge and knocked off Varnado 40-18 last week.

Walters is expecting a big-time atmosphere.

“The fans, they love football,” he said. “They shut down everything in the town on Friday nights. It’s a pretty exciting environment and a good high school football venue.

“We look forward to playing under the bright lights. Our kids respond really well to big games and good opponents.”

The Logansport-West St. John winner will have a quick turnaround. The 1A championship is the first of the nine title games next week in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, with kickoff at noon Thursday.