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FERRIDAY, La. — Ferriday High School will be at home this Friday night when the No. 8 seed Trojans welcome No. 25 seed Lake Arthur High School to Melz Field for the Bi-District Round of the 2024 LHSAA Non-Select Division IV Playoffs.

Kickoff between the Lake Arthur Tigers (5-5) and the Ferriday Trojans (7-3) is slated for 7 p.m. The Tigers enter the playoffs on a three-game losing streak after falling at home to Lafayette Christian Academy 64-13 last Thursday night. Meanwhile, the Trojans bring some much-needed momentum into the postseason after taking care of Rayville High School 32-6 last Thursday night.

Trojans assistant coach DeVante Scott said the team had a good practice on Monday and he expects that to continue the rest of the week as they prepare for Lake Arthur. He added that the Veterans Day holiday had no impact on the team’s practice routine.

“We’ve got two coaches that are veterans. We had a good practice. Normal routine. Kids were locked in. Coach (Derrick) Davis and coach (Shrone) Finister, they both served in the Army,” Scott said.

As for what Ferriday will be doing in practice this week to get ready for the Tigers, Scott said, “Basically going over our offense. Take what other teams’ offenses did against them and put some of that into our offense for us to be successful. Defense, see what we can win in. See where the match-ups are at.”

Even though Lake Arthur went winless in district play, Scott said that the Trojans cannot take the Tigers lightly or for granted.

“They have four of five (teams) in their district. They have a pretty good district. They play hard. They’re kind of big up front. They like to run a spread offense. But they run it more than they pass it. Defensive-wise, they’re big up front. They’re battle-tested,” Scott said.

When the Tigers’ offense has the ball, Scott noted that they have one big back they like to get the ball to, and that it will be up to linebackers Marion Smith, Lionel Scott Jr., and Jabari Evans to keep him from having any big runs. As for what kind of defense Lake Arthur runs, Scott said, “They run a 4-3, but they walk the linebackers down. They’ll run some man, cover-1.”

Smith will be back on the field after missing the last three games with a broken nose. Scott said he is thrilled to have the junior linebacker back.

“Our linebackers, they’ll have to hit their big back and stop him in his tracks early,” Scott said about Smith, Scott Jr., and Evans.

He then said that senior quarterback Caleb Ellis and junior wide receiver Desmen Jefferson will continue to have the continuity that duo has had in recent weeks for the Trojans to come out victorious and advance to the regional round.

“Caleb Ellis, as long as the offensive line gives him enough tie, so we can be more efficient running the offense than we were the first five games. Desmen Jefferson, he’s been hot the last two or three weeks. He’s had six touchdowns the last few weeks,” Scott said. “If he can have a big game like he’s had, if he and Caleb can have that fire, it’s going to be perfect for us.”