Louisiana Football Magazine 2026 Class 1A Football Preview (Written by Lee Brecheen)

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District 5

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Elton Indians

Head Coach:Marcus Lejeune(8^th year)

2025 Record:8-4

2025 Playoffs:2^nd Round loss to North Iberville HS.

Signees Colleges: TE/DE Jaylin Thomas(Culver Stockton in Nebraska)

2026 Non District Games: Week 1 Basile HS (Home), Week 2 Vinton HS (Away), Week 3 Montgomery (Away), Week 4 DeQuincy HS (Home), Week 5 J.S Clark HS (Away), Week 7 Oakdale HS (Away)

Team Outlook: “Focus on doing more of the little things for preparations organization as a team and staff in 2026,” said coach Lejeune. “If we do the right things as a team we will be good.” “2026 a few players will need to play both sides of the football for us to win games.”

Coach Marcus Lejeune does a great job with this program with only 125 kids in the school, and over 60 percent of the boys in the school are playing football in that 125.

The Indians will return two of the best players in Louisiana in 5th-year starter Davin Simon, QB/OLB, who had 136 tackles in 2025, senior, and 5th-year starter RB/FS Ma'Kelin Lemoine, who ran for 2,400 yards in 2025. These two kids are special to the program and are the key for this team getting back to the playoffs and beyond.

More players to watch in 2026 are OC/OT Aaron Gaber 6'1" 340 pounds, 3-year starter, SS/FB Dmarian Poullard 6'0" 180 pounds, 3-year starter, DE/TE/FB Chris Ardoin 6'1" 180 pounds, 3-year starter, RB/DB Calvin Thomas Jr. 5'11" 168 pounds, 2nd-year starter, DB/WR Derek George 5'10" 150 pounds, 3-year starter, RB Dreylan Delaphous 5'8" 175 pounds, 3-year starter, WR/DB Drevin Hanley 6'1" 180 pounds, TE/TE Dewayne Archie 6'0" 210 pounds, OG/LB Sam Valdez 5'8" 160 pounds, OL/DL Graison Marsh 6'1" 270 pounds, OL Sam Roy 5'9" 220 pounds, DE Anthony Taylor 5'9" 160 pounds, Center Beau Bucchaus 5'10" 185 pounds, SS Joseph Fontenot 5'10" 155 pounds, and SS Wilbur Istre 6'1" 155 pounds, rotating in for depth and playing time.

Special Teams: Kicker will be Dreylan Delaphous 5'8" 175 pounds, and Punter will be decided in the Summer/Fall.

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Grand Lake Hornets

Head Coach:Jeff Wainwright(8^th year)

2025 Record:8-4

2025 Playoffs: 1^st Round beat Montgomery HS, and 2^nd Round loss to Jeanerette HS

2026 Non District Games: Week 1 DeQuincy HS(Away), Week 2 Rosepine HS(Home), Week 3 Oakdale HS(Away), Week 4 Vinton HS(Home), Week 5 Port Barre HS(Away)

Team Outlook: “A lot of experience coming back to our team on both sides of the football,” said coach Wainwright. “We also had a bunch of players who did not start but got experience lettered in 2025 and look for those players to step up too.” “I am excited we return 3 Offensive Line starters and 3 Defensive Back starters to build around both sides of the football.” “We also had a great Spring off season workouts and Summer as a team.” 

The Hornets will have a 2-Quarterback system, with both Quarterbacks possibly on the field even at the same time at either Wide Receiver or QB. The 2 Quarterbacks are Bransyn Mudd 6'2" 168 pounds and Clint Taylor 5'9" 160 pounds. Both players will play or start at WR when not at QB, and both kids can help this team win.

Another key player back will be 3-year starter Zachary Manuel 5'7" 180 pounds, both at RB and Free Safety. He has a burst as a RB and is tough as nails on Defense.

More players to watch in 2026 are DE Caisen Mayard 5'10" 185 pounds, WR/CB Mason Babineaux 6'1" 185 pounds, tough player, leader, LB/FB Luke St. Romain 5'10" 175 pounds, TE/DL Kyle Welch 6'0" 265 pounds, RB/FB/LB Baker Knowles 5'9" 175 pounds, OT Oakley Dunnaway 5'10" 225 pounds, SS/WR Ryder Shields 5'10" 160 pounds, Center Carson Eskind 5'10" 205 pounds, OG/DE Andon Baccigalopi 6'0" 205 pounds, OT/DT Dax Guillotte 5'8" 225 pounds, MLB Tucker Tregle 6'1" 210 pounds, who will anchor the Defense, OT Kohl Benton 5'9" 195 pounds, OG Brycen Pender 5'9" 170 pounds, DE Gavin George 5'7" 170 pounds, and WR Noah Broussard, who will both rotate in for minutes.

Special Teams will be strong, led by Kicker Silas Pearce 5'7" 135 pounds, who will handle kickoffs. Long Snappers will be Carson Eskind and Ryder Shields. Punter also will be Ryder Shields when not Long Snapping. In the return game, Zachary Manuel will return as a playmaker for the Hornets. The Summer and Fall will determine who wins the job actually kicking Field Goals.

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Merryville Panthers

Head Coach:Bryan Barbay(2^nd year) 6 years total at the school

2025 Record:2-8

2026 Non District Games: Week 1 East Beauregard HS (Away), Week 2 Pine Prairie HS (Home), Week 3 Northwood Lena HS (Away), Week 4 Pickering HS (Home), Week 5 Linden HS,Texas (Game will be played at Mansfield HS).

Team Outlook: “Still going to be thin in overall numbers of kids who participate in football in 2026,” said coach Barbay. “We just don’t have depth overall as a team.” “We only average 5 seniors a year for football and we just graduated 9 to 10 seniors from last year's team.” “We need to stay healthy for a full season to have a chance to win some games.”

What the program does have is quality Linemen for both sides of the football like OT/DE Curd Walker 6'0" 220 pounds, 4-year starter, leader, OT/DT Zachary Byrd 6'1" 230 pounds, 3-year starter, OL/DL Bobby Daniel 6'1" 210 pounds, 3-year starter, OC/DT Billy Smith 5'11" 200 pounds, 3-year starter, OL/DL Hunter Springer 6'0" 220 pounds, OL/DL Matthew Lungrin 5'8" 160 pounds, DT Bubba Lanier 5'8" 220 pounds, DE Michael Clark 5'8" 185 pounds, TE/DE Kennon Treme 6'0" 190 pounds, and OL Kameron Phillips 6'1" 230 pounds.

Key skill players to watch are RB/LB Cole Mirante 5'9" 190 pounds, 3-year starter, WR/DB Austin Anderson 5'7" 130 pounds, returning starting QB Brooks Lukens 6'1" 180 pounds, DB/WR Caiden Watson 5'8" 140 pounds, 3-year starter, WR/CB Lezayier Morgan 5'11" 150 pounds, RB/OLB Bryson Dockens 5'10" 165 pounds, and RB/LB Otis McCann 5'9" 180 pounds.

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Oberlin Fightin Tigers

Head Coach:Robert Etheridge(1^st year)

2025 Record:2-8

2026 Non District Games: Week 1 Vinton HS (Home), Week 2 Oakdale HS (Away), Week 3 Centerville HS (Home), Week 4 Rosepine HS (Away), Week 5 Basile HS (Away).

Team Outlook: “We are making progress with off season workouts,” said coach Etheridge. “Players still need to learn the basics and fundamentals of the game of football.” “The Offense will look different in 2026 with more of a Spread Offense.” “ We will need to stay healthy because a lot of our players will have to start both sides of the football.” 

New head football coach Robert Etheridge is an alum of Bolton High School in Alexandria, Class of 1999, where he was a part of a Quarterfinals team back in 1999 for Bolton High School. He was most recently the Defensive Coordinator for Rayne High School in 2025.

Key players to watch in 2026 are RB/WR Jayden Bokemeyer 5'10" 155 pounds, CB/WR Paityn Declouete 5'8" 150 pounds, WR/RB/DB Dvante Simmons, RB/WR/LB Navaughn Williams 6'1" 189 pounds, talented QB Hunter Montou 5'9" 155 pounds, OL Cruz Chandler 6'1" 245 pounds, 2nd-year starter, OL/DL Tatum Ortego 6'0" 245 pounds, and OL/DL Daylon Goodley 6'0" 235 pounds.

Special Teams: The program has Jayden Bokemeyer as the starting Punter.

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