The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 26

2C TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 THE TIMES shreveporttimes.com THEY SAID IT "Peope are always excited. I don't think the record really matters. It's always a big game, and you're going to get your best out of both teams. I know they'll play their best, and hopefully we will, too." David Franklin, Haynesville coach, on playing rival Homer on Friday with both teams 2-0 COVERING REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS High School Athletics LSWA Polls orcDeirs Texas schools find ways to get students involved in games 2005 football standings District 1-5A Overall District W-L W-L Byrd 2-0 0-0 Natchitoches Central 1-1 0-0 Ruston 1-1 0-0 Southwood 1-1 0-0 West Monroe 1-1 0-0 Airline 0-1 0-0 Huntington 0-2 0-0 Friday's results Neville 18, Airline 8 Captain Shreve 21, Natchitoches Central 12 West Monroe 28, Comeaux 14 Ouachita 35, Ruston 20 Byrd 45, Woodlawn 6 Southwood 26. Northwood 0 District 1-4A FT 7T 7 The statewide high school football rankings compiled by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

First-place votes are in parenthesis, followed by record, points and the previous week ranking. Class 5A LWest Monroe (6) 2. East St. John (4) 3. Acadiana (2) 4.

Hahnviile 5. Destrehan 6. Catholic-Baton Rouge 7. Barbe 6. Sulphur 9.

Byrd 1- 1 0- 0 2- 0 1- 0 1-0 1- 0 2- 0 2-0 2-0 120 118 112 96 83 80 77 66 43 39 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 NR NR NR 10. St-Amant 1-0 Others receiving votes: Lafayette 33. Airline 27, Thibodaux 22. Ruston 7, Woodlawn-Baton Rouge 4. Walker 2.

Natchitoches Central 1. Hammond 1. Class 4A 1. Bastrop (9) 2-0 141 1 2. Breaux Bndge (2) 2-0 124 3 3Northside(1) 1-1 96 4 4.

Haughton 2-0 93 5 5. Tara 1-0 80 6 6. St. Thomas More 1-1 73 2 7. Ouachita 2-0 69 9 8.

Washington-Marion 1-0 61 7 9. Alexandria 1-1 52 8 10. Bossier 2-0 36 NR Others receiving votes: Neville 31, Parkway 17, Eunice 10. Zacnary 10. Abbeville 8.

East Ascension 8. Leesville 8. Beau Chene 7. St. Martmville 5.

South Terrebonne 4. Peabody 2. Pmevilie Class 3A 1. Notre Dame (12) 2-0 144 -1 2. Parkview Baptist 1-0 112 4 3.

North Vermilion 2-0 110 5 4. Iowa 2-0 97 6 5. Redemptorist 0-1 87 2 6. Amite 0-0 78 3 7. St.

Louis 2-0 69 9 B.Independence 0-0 46 7 9. Marksville 2-0 36 NR 10. Wossman 2-0 29 NR Others receiving votes: Benton 25. Catholic-New Iberia 19. Church Point 19.

Richwood 18. Mansfield 9. Capitol 7, Lutcher 7. Patterson 5. Raynlle 5.

Plaquemine 4, Northeast 4, Baker 4, Teurlmgs 2 Clsss 2A 1. St. James (9) 1-0 137 1 2. Pickering (1) 2-0 123 2 3. Sterlmgton 1-1 107 3 4.

Ouachita Christian (1) 2-0 102 4 5. Jonesboro-Hodge(1) 2-0 81 6 6. St. Charles 1-0 55 9 7. Jewel Sumner 0-0 49 8 8.

DeQuincy 2-0 47 NR 9. Clinton 1-0 38 NR 10. Homer 2-0 36 NR Continued from 1C coordinator and a former Minden athlete and assistant coach at Huntington and Southwood. "It all works together. In Caddo, they look at it like academics is on one side, and atliletics is on another." On the surface, the difference between high school atliletics in the states is in money.

Harris knows that to be true but says anyone criticizing spending on sports is missing a bigger picture. "In Texas, you may have 600 to 650 kids involved in sometliing extracurricular," he says. That aits down on fights and all other problems. Kids have an incentive to act righL" Harris offers the example of a northwest Louisiana school with 30 football players and 40 band members to what he experiences at Marshall. "You may have 150 in the pep squad, 200 in the band.

Kids have an incentive to act righL When it's Friday, it's not just the football team getting ready, it's the whole school getting ready." He estimates 600 students are somehow involved in each game, from playing on the field or the band to selling programs or serving as ushers. Suggs says Byrd, beginning with former principal Lynn Fitzgerald, has acknowledged the link between athletics and academic performance. "I tliink Uiat's where people miss the boat on atliletics," he says. "When they say you shouldn't fund athletics; it all ought to be going to You've got to liave both." Dennis Dunn has coached at public Woodlawn and private Evangel Cliris-tian locally, and he regularly takes his Eagles up against Texas schools. He knows salaries are higher for coaches across the border, saying Texas prep coaches "are making college coaching kind of money." And he agrees with Suggs and Harris on the reason.

"You show me a great athletic program and you're probably going to have a great academic program as well," Dunn says. "For some reason, they go hand in hand. There's no doubt there's a huge correlation." Longview, Marshall and other Texas school officials seem to agree as well and their financial decisions reflect that But it can be difficult to measure. The budgeting process is different across state lines. Whereas Caddo schools are given $1,700 to start and then have to fund their athletic programs on gate reciepts and fundraising from there, Texas schools typically provide an athletic budget up front and then put gate receipts back into the school's general fund.

Either way, Texas schools at least regionally appear to have more Others receiving votes: Dcnaldsonville 33, St. Helena Central 29. Femday 21. Riverside 16. Sacred Heart-Ville Platte 14.

Red River 12. Oakdale 10. University 6. Lakeside 3. Mamou 3.

Port Bare 2, Lake Providence 2, Kinder 1 Vidalia 1 File Shane Bevel he Times the teams met in 2003. Class 1A 1. Oak Grove (8) 2-0 139 2 2. Haynesville 2-0 124 4 3. Evangel (3) 0-2 103 1 4.

Opelousas Catholic 2-0 92 7 5. West St. John (1) 0-1 73 3 6 Kentwood 0-0 53 6 7. Central 2-0 60 NR 8. Westminster Christian 1-1 57 9 9.

Logansport 2-0 41 10 10. St. Mary 2-0 39 NR Evangel could not defeat Longview when to be. Our schools have a tough time doing a budget, because they don't know how much money they are going to make during the year." Caddo football coaches order equipment in the spring and pay for it in October, hoping they've raised enough money. Throw in coaching salaries, and all of the advantages can be a draw for coaches looking for jobs.

Longview athletic director Pat Collins, who coached at the school and also coached in Louisiana, says money is just one factor. "First of all, there are more schools, more 5A programs in Texas. Consequently, when a young coach is looking for a job, he finds more opportunity, and when you compete, you're going to be competing against the best," Collins says. "The second tiling is money. We certainly pay our people more over here than they do in Louisiana" USA Today reported on Texas Bossier Haughton Parkway Captain Shreve Woodlawn Minden Northwood 2-0 20 2-0 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Friday's results Bossier 20, Benton 14 Haughton 33.

Green Oaks 0 Southwood 26, Northwood 0 Parkway 28, Tioga 14 Minden at Spnnghill Captain Shreve 21, Natchitoches Central 12 Byrd 45, Woodlawn 6 District 1-3A Benton 1-1 BTW 1-1 Mansfield 1-1 North DeSoto 1-1 Fair Park 1-1 Green Oaks 0-2 Thursday's result Mansfield 40, Farmerville 0 Friday's results Bossier 20, Benton 14 BTW 19. Red River 18 Haughton 33. Green Oaks 0 Fair Park at Plain Dealing Lakeside 29, North DeSoto 8 Fair Park 45, Plain Dealing 40 District 1-2A 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Homer 2-0 Lakeside 2-0 Loyola 0-2 North Caddo 0-2 Springhill 0-2 Friday's results Homer 39, Arcadia 6 Lakeside 29, North DeSoto 8 Minden 19, Springhill 0 Many 36, North Caddo 32 Logansport 32, Loyola 30 District 3-2A Red River 1-1 Many 1-1 Menard 1-1 Lakeview 0-2 Friday's results BTW 19, Red River 18 Many 36, North Caddo 32 Menard 21, Sacred Heart 12 Ringgold 46, Lakeview 16 District 1-1A 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Haynesville Logansport Calvary Arcadia Cotton Valley Evangel Plain Dealing 2-0 2-0 1-1 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Sarepta Friday's results Texas High 45, Evangel 0 Logansport 32, Loyola 30 Haynesville 14, Magnolia, 7 Fair Park 45, Plain Dealing 40 LaSalle 39, Sarepta 0 Homer 39, Arcadia 6 Ouachita Christian 28, Calvary 24 Northwood Lena 46, Cotton Valley 14 Other LHSAA Cedar Creek 2-0 0-0 Ringgold 2-0 0-0 St. Mary 2-0 0-0 Grambling 1-1 0-0 Thursday's result Cedar Creek 42, Montgomery 20 Friday's results Ringgold 46, Lakeview 16 St. Mary 14, Catholic-Pointe Coupee 13 DeQuincy 49.

Grambling 12 MPSA schools Claiborne 1-1 0-0 Glenbrook 2-1 0-0 Univ. Christian 1-2 0-0 Riverdale 2-2 0-0 Texas schools Waskom Carthage Marshall Center Elysian Fields 3-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-1 2-1 1-2 0-3 IMTIUCK J0I1S0 ST.HtKV.FOOTBMX Patrick Johnson scored the tying touchdown, led the team on an 80-yard fourth-quarter drive, converted a fake punt and had one of his punts downed at the 1 inside a minute to play in a road victory. Henry focuses on championship sites II Despite this sack by Chris Bowers, money to work with. Longview High will spend about $600,000 on athletics this year. Byrd will start with that $1,700 and hope to get to $250,000 through income.

"It varies, and we probably spend more than most do," Suggs says, adding that the school is older and has more alumni than many locally. They're mere to draw from. There's only so many times you can go to them, especially if you go to them for a sizeable donation." Alan Carter, the athletic director for all of Caddo Parish, says the budgeting process for Texas has its pros and cons. "During the course of the year, if Longview goes three games into the playoffs, that money all goes back to the county," he says. "Of course, if they have a rough year, they know they have enough money to operate on.

"The thing is consistently knowing up front what your money is going Thursday through Saturday and two or tliree locations. He speculates the first game could be played at 7 p.m. on Thursday, foUowed by two games spaced as far apart as 1 and 7 on both Friday and Saturday. Henry wffl meet with the executive committee on Thursday, hopes to have bids back by early October and has set a tentative date of Oct 19 for a final decision. In the mind of Alan Carter, the atliletic director of Caddo Parish, Shreveport is the prime location for the games.

"I see Independence as being the only option," he says. That time of Henry the year, in December, I would tliink you would want to play a state championship game on artificial turf I would hate to play a second game on natural turf if there's bad weather." CAMPUS coaching salaries last year, including some head coaches on the high end $93,000 at Odessa Permian, $87,065 at Midland Lee and $100,882 at Highland Park. While Texas coaches receive a stipend on top of their base teaching salary, Louisiana coaches are paid on a percent basis, meaning a first-year assistant could make significantly less than a coach doing the same job with more years of service. Whatever the reason, Louisiana coaches know they are in an unbalanced competition for coaching talent. It has impacted many head coaches in the area.

There is a drain," Carter says. "I know when I was at Parkway in Bossier Parish, I had a reaUy good staff that actually won district there. We lost tliree coaches to Texas. In Caddo, it seems like we've been able to hold on to the ones we have better. That's always enticing for young guys." pendence." Kim Gaspard, Airline's principal and the vice president of the LHSAA expects a proposal to play at home sites, but he sees the reasoning behind multiple neutral locations also.

"I tliink the biggest obstacle is what venue can handle it best for a year," he says. "Perhaps what the real worry wiU be is how well a championship series wffl take place in northwest Louisiana. I tliink the fact that the commissioner wants to utilize northwest Louisiana is a plus for us up here." Henry says money is not a major issue. The LHSAA is used to paying for championship staffing and other items. It hasn't gotten concession money from the Superdome, and Henry says die organization won't be asking for anything free.

TypicaHy, it spends in the range of $125,000 for what has been two days of games. After expenses, it has made between $175,000 and $200,000. i tiira nil i.i.i.i;mi(ik.Ki(iTi!ii. Jared Mourad threw three touchdown passes and ran another in from 31 yards in MPSA play. He had touchdown passes of 44, 13 and 23 yards.

Others receiving votes: Cedar Creek 33. St. John-Plaquemine 26, St. Fredenck 18, Dunham 17, Hamilton Christian 12. Oberlin 11, Ascension Catholic 6.

Hanson 4. Grambling 4. Southern Lab 4. Ringgold 3. Northwood-Lena 2.

Mangham 1. This week's schedule Thursday Southwood vs. Captain Shreve, Lee Hedges Woodlawn vs. Fair Park, Indy Delhi at Grambling Friday Haughton at Airline Marshall, Texas vs. Byrd, Lee Hedges Carroll at Huntington, Indy Natchitoches Central at Comeaux Franklin Parish at Ruston St.

Atnant at West Monroe Bossier at Mansfield Jonesboro-Hodge at Minden Green Oaks at Northwood Plain Dealing at Parkway Springhill at Benton North DeSoto at Logansport BTW at North Caddo Haynesville at Horner Sarepta at Lakeside St. Frederick at Loyola Lakeview at Montgomery Pickering at Many Delhi at Red River Calvary Baptist at Loreauville Cotton Valley at Davidson Bernice at Ringgold LaSalle at Cedar Creek Buckeye at Northwood-Lena Hamilton Christian at St. Mary Saturday Evangel at Longview, Texas Texas Wills Point at Carthage Chapel Hill at Center Waskom at Mt. Enterprise MPSA Claiborne at Riverfield Glenbrook at River Oaks Briarfield at Riverdale University Christian at Franklin RISTOUOOTIllU, Randy Grigsby recovered a fumble and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown in Ruston's second game of the season on Friday. By Brian McCallum bmccallumgannett.com Now that he has official word that the Superdome wiU not be available for state championship football games this year, Tommy Henry is ready to find an alternative.

Or two. Or three. On Wednesday, the commissioner of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association will send information packets to cities with stadiums considered big enough to hold title games. "What I'm going to recommend to the committee that wiU make the final decision is to try to move the games to the fans, if possible," Henry says. Two big sites would be Independence Stadium in Shreveport and Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

Those are the two biggies, as far as we're concerned." Henry plans to recommend to the executive committee that the games be spread out over tliree days AL LEWIS REIIKIlBtJOOTBUL' Al Lewis passed for touchdowns of 70 yards and 10 yards in a road game on Friday. He passed for 188 yards in the game. I Bad weather is part of Henry's reasoning for spreading out the games to tliree days and for having long delays on Friday and Saturday, even clearing the stadium between games. "You're going to have limited dressing facilities. Some people are not going to want to sit outside and wait for that second game," he says.

"If you want to go to two games, well probably seU you a two-game pass." But his executive board has to approve any plan, and they wui hear many opinions. Minden football coach David Feaster wants to rekindle memories of the way the state title games were played before the Superdome Classic began in 1981. "I think they should be played at home (sites) like in 1980," Feaster says. "It would be very simple to have a home team based on a simple formula. We already have a way to choose the home team in the seedings.

"My second choice is definitely going to be on the astroturf at Inde FACES JISTIX ALDREDGE HltR REEK. rOOTBALL Justin Aldredge ran for three touchdowns and passed for two more in a win on Thursday. He threw scoring passes of 3 and 35 yards. Frff 'SI f-i i DOMIMQl JEKIS 1MSP0RT, FOOTBALL Dominique Jenkins ran for two touchdowns including the game, winner and passed for another in a non-district road victory. He completed 11 of 22 passes for 203 yards.

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