FERRIDAY — The Ferriday High School Trojans will welcome a very familiar opponent to Melz Field tonight when they host the General Trass High School Panthers in the second round of the LHSAA Class 2A State Playoffs.

Kickoff between No. 14 seed General Trass and No. 3 seed Ferriday is set for 7 p.m. This will be a rematch between these District 2-2A foes from the Trojans’ homecoming game back on Sept. 28, when they shut out the Panthers 36-0.

The 8-3 Trojans went to win the district title while the 8-3 Panthers ended up in fourth place at 3-3 in district play behind Ferriday, Vidalia, and Rayville.

Ferriday head coach Stanely Smith said he the second meeting between the two teams will be more competitive because of home much General Trass has improved since then.

“I think they’re executing a lot better. They’re running the ball better. They have athletes that are running the ball. Offensive line is blocking real well. Defensively, they’re flying to the ball right now,” Smith said.

Speaking of shutouts, Ferriday did that to No. 30 seed Vinton High School, 54-0, in its first-round win. Meanwhile, General Trass took care of No. 19 seed Lakeside High School 35-6 in its first-round match-up.

In the win over Vinton, Ferriday had 438 yards of total offense. Da’minya Milligan had 137 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Kobe Dillon threw for over 200 yards with four touchdown passes. And the Trojans’ defense kept the Lions off the scoreboard – something Smith was thrilled about.

However, the rainy weather on Monday and the cold weather on Tuesday had a big impact on practice. And despite a high temperature in the mid-30s and a wind chill in the 20s, the Trojans hit the field for practice on Wednesday afternoon.

“We weren’t able to get out on Monday and Tuesday because of the field conditions. (Wednesday) was our first day out. The players had enough clothes on to keep them warm,” Smith said. “Good tempo. Good energy. I think they had the right mindset.”

Ferriday will need to have that kind of tempo, energy and effort to defeat General Trass and advance to the Class 2A quarterfinals.

“We’ll have to make sure we do everything we can to secure a victory. We have to come out and play our brand of football,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we’ll have a full house. We’re going to need everybody to come out and support our kids.”