West Feliciana ranked in 3A poll
West Felician coach Robb Odom, left, talks to quarterback Dennis Bell after a touchdown against Tioga earlier this season.
West Feliciana High School is ranked for the first time this season.
The Saints (5-1) are the ninth-ranked team in Class 3A in the latest Louisiana Sports Writers Association high school football polls released Tuesday.
Parkview Baptist, the top-ranked team in Class 3A, and East Feliciana, with heralded recruit Kendall Beckwith, have garnered more attention than fellow District 6-3A teams.
“We don’t mind flying under the radar,” West Feliciana coach Robb Odom said. “We’re proud to be in the top 10. It’s good for our kids, our school and our community. Our goal is go out there and get better each day, and if we do that, we’ll be OK.”
West Feliciana beat Baker 34-6 last week in its District 6-3A opener and entertains Glen Oaks (0-5, 0-0) Friday. Games against Parkview (5-0, 1-0) and East Feliciana (2-3, 0-1) are set for Weeks 9 and 10, respectively.
West Feliciana’s one loss was to Class 5A Zachary 36-21 two weeks ago. Defensively, the Saints have held four opponents to 11 or fewer points.
“We played a lot of young kids last year and had a lot of experience returning with 20 starters back,” Odom said. “Our offense is playing good, and our defense has scored a touchdown in all but one game.
“We came up on the short end against Zachary but learned some things we need to keep working on. The key for us is to be in position to make the playoffs.”
Odom said receiver/defensive back Jazz Ferguson, quarterback Dennis Bell, lineman Tre’ Cazabat and defensive end Jay Ferguson have been among the standout players.
The top-ranked teams remain the same for the fourth straight week. Rummel (5-0) is the top team in Class 5A, Neville (6-0) leads Class 4A, John Curtis (6-0) paces Class 2A and Ouachita Christian (6-0) leads Class 1A.
Dutchtown (4-1) is sixth in Class 5A.
Lutcher (5-0) moved up a spot to third in Class 4A. Lutcher has allowed just six points the last three games with two shutouts. The Bulldogs scored 127 points in that span.
Also in Class 3A, Loranger (5-0) dropped a spot to fourth, Brusly (5-1) moved up a spot to seventh and Livonia (5-1) dropped three spots to eighth. Notre Dame (4-1) earned one first-place vote and moved from fourth to third.
University (5-1) remains fourth in Class 2A. Following a 26-21 loss to Loranger in Week 2, the Cubs have outscored their last four foes 175-30.
Winners of five straight games, Southern Lab (5-1) remains eighth in Class 1A. The Kittens have scored 40 or more points four times.
Central (5-1) is two spots out of the top 10 in Class 5A. Catholic (3-2) and St. Amant (4-1) also received votes.
Other teams outside the top 10 to receive votes include East Feliciana in Class 3A and Pointe Coupee Central and Ascension Catholic in Class 1A.