The Northlake Christian School Wolverines are participating in the St. Martin’s Jamboree tonight in Metairie. The Wolverines, a Class 1A school, suit up to battle the Class 3A Ben Franklin Falcons at 6:30. Ben Franklin (7-4) made the school’s first football playoff appearance in school history last year.

NCS second-year head coach Rowland Skinner said he is expecting a very tough opponent in Ben Franklin, which runs the Wing-T on offense.

“That’s good for us because we will face a couple Wing-T schools during the regular season. That should prove to be an advantage for us, seeing a team that runs it this early in the season,” Skinner said.

NCS sophomore running back Derek Williams tries to avoid Pine Raiders'€™ defender Darren Handy (21) in last week'€™s scrimmage. (File Photo by Mike McCall)

NCS, which finished 8-4 last season, advanced to the regional round of the state playoffs. The Wolverines lost to South Plaquemines, the eventual Class 1A champion.

Skinner said his Wolverines have had a great week of practice leading up to the jamboree.

“We have corrected our mistakes from last week’s scrimmage. We have had a lot of excitement at practice this week. The players are figuring out the tempo we want. They are now bringing intensity and energy at practice. I’ve been very happy with their progression this week,” Skinner added.

Skinner said his players have a renewed focus and are concentrating on turning in efficient practice sessions, which have helped prepare them for the regular season.

Skinner praised the leadership skills of sophomore fullback/linebacker Tyler Clark, a two-way starter.

“Tyler is a natural leader. He has football savvy and does things right. Even though he is only a sophomore, he is a player that a lot of his teammates look up to. He brings it every day, whether it’s practice or game day. Our players feed off of his energy,” said the second-year coach.

Skinner also credited a couple of his senior two-way performers, namely Taylor Bazzell and Will Werner, who are stepping up on the field and vocally as well as they become more comfortable with things. Bazzell is a starting wide receiver and defensive safety, while Werner starts at receiver and cornerback.

“We need big contributions from both of them. Our coaching staff feels like things are coming together at the right time. We have made some huge strides since last week coming out of our scrimmage,” Skinner said.

Ben Franklin returns only three starters on defense and just two on offense. Senior Philip Jones (5-10, 170) is the Falcons’ starting quarterback. The Falcons feature three junior running backs including fullback Evan Clark (5-9, 154), Josh Hunter (5-5, 124) and Printess Tate (5-5, 122). Ben Franklin’s top defender is sophomore tackle Corey Prevost.

Crescent City opens the jamboree going against Thomas Jefferson at 5 p.m. followed by the NCS-Ben Franklin contest at 6:30. The host St. Martin’s squad closes out the jamboree taking on the Lusher Lions beginning at 8.