Louisiana Football Magazine 2026 Class 3A Football Preview (Written by Lee Brecheen)

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District 1

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Bastrop Rams

Head Coach:Alex Washington(4^th year)

2025 Record:0-10

2026  Non District Games: Week 1 Rayville HS(Away), Week 2 Captain Shreve HS(Away), Week 3 Lincoln Prep HS(Home), Week 4 Mangham HS(Home), and Week 5 General Trass HS(Home)

Team Outlook: “Still young and rebuilding from losing 19 starters to graduation from the 2024 team,” said coach Washington. “We only returned 2 starters in 2025.” “Rebuilding it’s not easy but the kids we do have are working hard and we are grinding all Summer till Fall gets here.”

The Rams will have 2 Quarterbacks to play in 2026, a 2-Quarterback system of Jakarion Edmonds 6'1" 210 pounds, a senior leader, and Jordyn Alford 5'8" 150 pounds, a QB with a great athletic skill set. Both of these QBs can play all over the field for the team when not at QB.

More key players to watch will be top WR Robert Martin 5'10" 185 pounds; starting RB Kaiden Payton 5'7" 170 pounds; Safety Devante Carson 5'7" 175 pounds; LB Saku Davis 5'8" 190 pounds; DB Dominique Williams 5'9" 145 pounds; OLB Travion Miller 6'0" 205 pounds, a senior leader; OL Isaiah Moore 5'11" 245 pounds; OL Mickey Caldwell 5'11" 355 pounds; OL Aldric Myles 5'11" 245 pounds; DB Malachi Gates 6'0" 160 pounds; WR Simeon Davis 5'9" 165 pounds; WR Saint Davis 5'9" 165 pounds; OL Jordan Moore 5'10" 235 pounds; DT Costas Bailey 5'10" 225 pounds; Quantravious Trotter 5'7" 185 pounds; DE Jaquarius Bradley 5'11" 205 pounds; and RB Robracio Sanders 5'5" 145 pounds, rotating in.

Special Teams Kicker and Punting are still open going into the Summer.

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Carroll Bulldogs

| Jalen Brown

| Photo by Bigg Zigg Photography

| Michael Henderson

| Photo by: shotzbyshadii

Head Coach:Levi Washington(2^nd year)

2025 Record:4-6

2025 Playoffs:1^st Round lost to Cecilia HS

Signees Colleges: OL Jordan Holmes(Louisiana Christian), and OL Jeremiah Sims(Saint Mary U)

2026  Non District Games:Week 1 Morgan City (Away), Week 2 Woodlawn Shreveport(Home), Week 3 Assumption HS(Away), Week 4 Southern Lab HS(Home), Week 5 Wossman HS(Away), Week 6 Abramson HS(Away),

Team Outlook: “Our team Motto in 2026 is: Make A Way,” said coach Levi Washington.

The Bulldogs quietly, in the last 2 years, have made the playoffs both seasons and been under the radar, and in Coach Washington's 2nd season in 2026, I think they can be a spoiler and get back to the playoffs for the 3rd year in a row.

The Offense moved their best athlete to Quarterback for the 2026 season, new starter Terrance Ward 6'0" 185 pounds, a DB/WR in 2025, and I think a big-time player. More skill players to keep an eye on Offense are RB Kaloe Henderson 5'8" 175 pounds, SR, a 3-year starter, leader of the team with 4.5 speed in the forty; RB/OLB Michael Henderson 5'9" 190 pounds, another 3-year starter, strong with speed; newcomer Trey Caston 5'9" 175 pounds, 4.5 speed, WR/RB; and WR Lamon Woods, another player that can fly with 4.5 speed in the forty. The Offensive Line has a chance to be a really good group, led by SR Braydon Gix 6'3" 255 pounds, the team's best lineman; OG/DT Roman Starks 6'2" 235 pounds; OG/DT Eric Harris 6'1" 240 pounds, SR; and OT Quaterrius Heckard 6'1" 225 pounds.

The Defense will be led by a strong, quick unit of players like Linebacker Jalen Brown OLB/DE 6'2" 230 pounds, leader; LB Cayden Browhow 5'10" 205 pounds, 2nd-year starter; LB Aiden Burks 5'10" 205 pounds, new starter; DE Xavier Douglas 6'1" 215 pounds, new starter; Safety Aiden Smith 6'0" 175 pounds, SR, 2nd-year starter; CB/SS Will Colvin 5'9" 180 pounds, 2nd-year starter, hitter; CB Leeonzay Harper 5'10" 170 pounds, 2nd-year starter, 4.5 speed in the forty; CB Roderick Smith 5'8" 165 pounds, new starter; and Safety Tristan James 5'10" 170 pounds, new starter.

Special Teams will be decided in the Fall at Punter and Kicker.

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Loyola Prep Flyers

| Ty Walsworth, Charlie McKenzie, Bryce Restovich, Jake Black, Brock Geter

| Photo provided by Loyola Prep

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| Bryce Restovich

| Photo provided by Bryce Restovich

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| Photo by Lee Brecheen (Louisiana Football Magazine)

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Head Coach:John Sella(3^rd year)

2025 Record:10-2

2025 Playoffs:2^nd Round beat Belaire HS, and Quarterfinals lost to Archbishop Shaw.

2026  Non District Games: Week 1 Captain Shreve HS(Away), Week 2 Parkway HS(Away), Week 3 St.Edmund HS(Home), Week 4 Northwood HS(Away), Week 5 Calvary Baptist HS(Away), Week 10 Red River HS(Away)

Team Outlook: “Feel good about our skill players returning to both sides of the football. We do have some lineman to replace on the Offensive Line graduated 4 out of the 5 starters and Defensive Line graduated 3 starters,” said coach Sella.

The team will be led by Quarterback Bryce Restovich 6'2" 185 pounds, who had an incredible year in 2025, throwing for 3,406 yards with 52 touchdowns and completing 206 out of 290 passes thrown. The Flyers broke just about every Offensive Record in 2025 and return a good bit of the Wide Receivers from a year ago in WR Ty Walsworth 6'2" 185 pounds, 31 catches, 717 yards, with 12 touchdowns; WR Brock Geter 6'2" 180 pounds, 42 catches, 616 yards, with 5 touchdowns; and All-State 2nd Team WR Charlie McKenzie 5'9" 165 pounds with 66 catches, 1,049 yards, and 17 touchdowns. You can also add a 4th WR to the mix in 2026, SR Blake Herkey 5'11" 160 pounds, moved to WR from CB as a starter in 2025. The run game will have a new player in CB J.T. Taylor, who will move to RB at 6'2" 220 pounds in 2026, giving the team some power and size at the position, along with RBs Grayson Minnis 5'9" 160 pounds and RB/LB Jack Hinrichsen 5'10" 160 pounds. The Offensive Line only returns one starter in Ryan Sipes 6'0" 275 pounds, SR, but has a few young players that will need to step up in OL/DL Hayden Knight 6'3" 290 pounds, has some experience starting; OG Breaux Blackman 5'11" 245 pounds; and OG Hank Anderson.

The Defense will be young up front but does return some players with talent in DE/TE Will Stuermann 6'4" 210 pounds, SR; DE/DT Stefan Senegal 6'0" 215 pounds; DE/OT Holden Larremore 6'2" 195 pounds; LB Joshua Lafitte 6'0" 200 pounds, leader; MLB Dominic Rinaudo 5'11" 170 pounds; OLB Mason Pavlick 5'11" 190 pounds; and DE/TE Sam Cooper 6'2" 180 pounds, rotating in. The Defensive Backfield will have some talent, led by Safety Thomas Gosslee 6'2" 170 pounds, a big-time leader for the team; CB/RB Ellis Wilson 5'9" 150 pounds; new starter Safety Avery Smith 5'10" 165 pounds; and RB J.T. Taylor will still play some Defensive Back for the program.

Special Teams returns talented Kicker Cooper Varnadore 6'0" 160 pounds, and the Punter will be Ty Walsworth. LSP and Deep Snapping will be handled by Will Stuermann and Dominic Rinaudo.

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North Webster Knights

| Justin Stewart

| Photo by: Quan Batton

Head Coach: Chris Wilson(3^rd year)

2025 Record:4-7

2025 Playoffs:1^st Round loss to Church Point HS

Signees Colleges: LB Ja’Myrian Jackson(Southern Arkansas),and OT Hudson Smith(Louisiana Tech Academics).

2026 Non District Games: Week 1 Minden HS(Home), Week 2 Green Oaks HS(Away), Week 3 St. Fredericks HS(Away), Week 4 Lakeview HS(Home), Week 5 Cedar Creek HS(Home), and Week 6 Bossier HS(Home).

Team Outlook: “Young team continuing to grow,” said coach Wilson. “We started 8 Sophomores in 2025 and all 8 are back in 2026.” “Trying to get one game better and a 1^st Round playoff home game in 2026.” “Keep growing the program and developing.”

The program does have some vocal leaders back with a ton of experience in OLB Jeremiah Washington 6'0" 215 pounds, a 4-year starter; RB/FS Braylon Washington 6'1" 215 pounds, a 3-year starter; FS leader Chandler McKenzie 6'1" 170 pounds, a team leader; and 3-year starter LB/RB Ja'Kayden Jackson 5'10" 190 pounds.

More players to watch will be WR/CB Jquarion Easter 5'8" 160 pounds, 4.5 speed in the forty; OL Kamdyn Lorenz 6'3" 265 pounds, returning starter; returning starter QB Justin Stewart 5'11" 155 pounds; Center Carter Maples 5'9" 230 pounds; SS Kaylon White 6'0" 160 pounds; LB River McEachern 5'7" 195 pounds; CB/SS Kazavion Evans 5'11" 175 pounds; CB/SS Kazavion Frazier 5'11" 175 pounds; OLB Javion Hawthorne 6'0" 220 pounds; DT/OT Mardeicus Smith 6'3" 245 pounds; DT Bryce Parish 5'10" 365 pounds; TE/DL Lederiun Lewis 6'3" 230 pounds; OG/DT Keith Hamilton 5'10" 230 pounds; OL/DL Nekeya Harden 6'4" 300 pounds; and WR/DB Demarkeion Lewis 6'0" 160 pounds.

Special Teams Kicker will be Chandler McKenzie and Keith Hamilton. Both do a good job there. Punter will be Ja'Kayden Jackson, and Long Snapper is still open going into the Summer.

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Sterlington Panthers

| Devyn Downs

| Photo by: Michael Odondahl

Head Coach:Lee Doty(10^th year)

2025 Record: 12-2

2025 Playoffs: State Champs.4-0 District 2^nd Round beat Donaldsonville HS Quarterfinals  beat Loreauville HS, Semifinals beat St. James HS and State Title game State Champs over Jena HS.

Signees Colleges: DE/LB Tre’ Burch (Harding), and Athlete Connor Justice (Air Force).

2026 Non District Games:Week 1 Franklin Parish (Away), Week 2 Jena HS (Home), Week 3 Natchitoches HS (Home), Week 4 Ouachita HS (Away), Week 5 Oak Grove HS (Away),Week 6 Lake Charles Prep HS (Away).

Team Outlook: “It's a new year and our team did not accomplish anything yet,” said coach Doty. “Mindset going into this year the other 2 Sterlington teams 2024 and 2025 won State Titles but we start back to zero to work toward another in 2026.” “I will say that our Sophomore class of players is the most talented class I have seen at Sterlington High School in my 10 years here and we have 40 Sophomores in 2026.”

The Panthers, I feel like, the last 3 years play some of the toughest old-school football you will see, and they come after you on both sides of the football. Credit to the staff and Coach Doty for having these kids dialed in, committed, and strong at all positions, and they play fast. Sterlington High School now has won 4 State Titles in football (Three State Titles under Coach Doty in 2021, 2024, and 2025), and it doesn't look like this program is slowing down anytime soon.

The Offense will return starting Quarterback J-Rob Breen 6'1" 180 pounds with 2 State Titles (2024 and 2025) already as the starting Quarterback with good feet as a runner and can throw it when needed in a running Offense. The run game will be by committee again and might be the deepest group of backs I've seen for this Offense. All-State RB starter T.J. Burch 5'9" 210 pounds had 1,400 total yards in 2025 with 22 total Touchdowns. The kid brings it as a runner with power and quickness. There's also RB Xavier Stromile 5'8" 155 pounds; RB Landon Washington 5'11" 165 pounds; RB/WR Presley Parks-Smith 6'1" 185 pounds; RB/WR Shermarion Dismuke 5'9" 165 pounds; and FB/LB Kason Huggins 5'10" 185 pounds. The Offensive Line will be one of the best in Louisiana again, led by Center Luke Crain 5'11" 230 pounds; OT/TE Tucker Sturdivant 6'5" 270 pounds; OT/OG Cam Rugg 6'2" 200 pounds; OL Tre Sheppard 6'2" 250 pounds; OL Mason Lingefelt 6'1" 275 pounds; and OT Sam Janssen 6'3" 275 pounds. Rotating in on the OL will be OT Braxton Mahoney 6'2" 265 pounds and some younger players talented with size. When the Panthers do need to throw the ball, they have the talented senior WR Devyn Downs 6'2" 200 pounds and WR Austin Hill 6'4" 205 pounds to be big-time playmakers, and both will also play some Safety for the Defense.

The Defense front seven has a chance to be the best in Class 3A in 2026. Here are some players to watch in the front seven: DT Brelan Davis 6'2" 265 pounds; DT Ladarius Harris 6'0" 255 pounds; DT Jacobie Robinson 6'3" 285 pounds; DE/LB Steven English 6'1" 205 pounds, 4.4 speed in the forty; DE Ashton Bradford 6'0" 195 pounds; DE Reed Williams 6'1" 200 pounds; the anchor of the Defense, LB Drew Vocker 5'9" 210 pounds, senior; DT Silas Ashley 6'2" 255 pounds; and two Linebackers rotating in, Jett Johnson 6'1" 180 pounds and Cam Walker 5'9" 180 pounds. The Defensive Backfield will still be talented, led by Safety Austin Hill; DB Devyn Downs 6'2" 200 pounds; OLB/SS Keenan Green 5'11" 170 pounds; CB Ty'Kendric Wilson 6'1" 170 pounds; CB Anderson Waalk 6'1" 175 pounds; Safety Brox Sutton 5'9" 165 pounds; Safety leader and coach on the field Kade Hollingsworth 5'8" 165 pounds; and younger players rotating in for depth.

Special Teams will still be strong, returning starting Kicker William Lyon 5'10" 155 pounds. Punter will be Presley Parks-Smith 6'1" 190 pounds, who has a cannon for a leg, and Long Snapper will be Kade Hollingsworth. In the return game, Ty'Kendric Wilson will be one of the top players back as a playmaker.

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