CHS hosts Slidell in opener

St. Tammany News

Slidell travels across the parish tonight to open District 7-5A play against the Covington Lions at Jack Salter Stadium. Kickoff is at 7.

SHS won last year's game, 36-23.

This year's game is being played under odd circumstances. The teams, normally fighting for district championships, have combined for one win this season. Slidell (0-3) has lost three games by a combined 15 points to 4-A schools, including a 21-14 loss last week against Mississippi powerhouse Picayune. Covington (1-2) opened the season with a 7-0 victory over Bogalusa in a driving rainstorm, but was beaten by Denham Springs last week, 47-14.

Covington coach Darryl Graham said this season has been disappointing so far, but he realizes district play is a new season.

"We've got a lot of improving to do," Graham said. "We haven't progressed as far as we wanted before district starts, but the kids are playing hard."

Tiger first-year coach Artie Liuzza said it's a fresh start for his team.

"It's the first district game," Liuzza said. "It's a new season, and district is what you look for. The first three weeks have no bearing on anything now. We played some tough opponents, and we've improved in a lot of areas, but the result hasn't shown on the scoreboard. I'm pleased with the way the players have responded."

SHS runs the spread offense out of the shotgun with junior quarterback Blake Forbis taking the snaps.

Last week, he completed 22-of-42 for 175 yards and one touchdown. He also had a rushing TD for Slidell.

One of Forbis' weapons is senior wide receiver Chris Smith, who caught 13 passes for 106 yards. T.J. Nunez caught three passes for 28 yards, including a 3-yard score.

The running back is senior Ryan Tott, who will be depended upon to take some of the pressure off of Forbis with his running. He gained 61 yards on nine carries last week.

Covington's defense has struggled so far this season.

Graham, who said sophomore defensive backs Denzel Ladner and Otis Jacobs have been bright spots on defense, added the morale of the team is fine because the Lions know what they have to do in order to improve.

Ladner had a pair of tackles and an assist, while Jacobs finished with two stops and posted two assists.

Senior T.J. Gautier led CHS in tackles last week with eight (one assist).

Tyler Crouch recorded six stops and an assist, while junior defensive end Barry Grinnell (6-foot-3, 190 pounds) made five stops and tallied five assists.

Covington rotated three quarterbacks to begin the season but has moved senior Kyle Patterson to running back. The quarterback shuffle will continue as sophomores David Mizell and Tyler Scott, who threw a touchdown to Corey Leto, try to put their names in the starting lineup under center for good.

Covington QBs threw for 181 yards but completed just a third of their passes (13-39).

The Lions' other score came on a 61-yard burst by Blake Bruhl.

Slidell's 4-3 defense will be challenging those guys. Liuzza said his entire defense has been playing with a lot of emotion and intensity. He added the defensive line has been competing well, but the scores have come on some breakdowns.

If you can't make it out to the game, you can listen to it on Lake 94.7 WYLK with David Hardy doing play-by-play.