Inner-city rivals meet at 7 tonight in the opener at L.V. McGinty Stadium as Slidell’s Tigers host the Salmen Spartans.

Slidell was scheduled to travel to Holy Cross last week, while Salmen was supposed to host Northshore. But those contests were cancelled due to Hurricane Gustav.

Both teams did, however, compete in the Northshore Jamboree and lost to district opponents. The Tigers fell to the Panthers 16-12, while the Spartans suffered a setback on a blocked punt with 1:44 to go against Pearl River.

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Slidell and Salmen met last season, and Salmen won 22-21.

Slidell second-year coach Artie Liuzza said one of the keys to the game will be his team being in the right spots at all times.

“Against Salmen, because of their athletic ability, if you get caught out of position they can beat you,” Liuzza said. “If you take one false step, they can beat you.”

Offensively, Slidell runs the spread offense with senior Blake Forbis, who threw for 1,398 yards and five touchdowns last season, entering his second year as the starting quarterback for the Tigers. During the jamboree, Forbis displayed his talent for throwing and running the football. He ran for two touchdowns and connected with his receivers for some big plays.

With his team trailing 7-0 and the ball NHS’ 35, Forbis completed an 18-yard pass to Zachary Johnson for 18 yards. Near the end of the first half, Northshore led 10-6 and SHS had the ball on the Panther 25 when Forbis found his main weapon in senior wide receiver Armand Williams for a 24-yard pass play, setting up his score sneak to give the Tigers a 12-10 advantage.

Slidell rotates its junior running backs Johnson and Jaron Wiggins.

Defensively, Salmen runs a 3-3-stack. The Spartans played tough in the jamboree, allowing Pearl River to have one long scoring drive of 75 yards after they had taken a 7-0 lead. It ended on a 37-yard touchdown pass.

Dedrick Parson will look to have another good season, as he had 85 tackles and four sacks last year.

Offensively, Salmen also runs the spread. Senior Julien Troullier, who accounted for 2,115 all-purpose yards and 21 touchdowns last year, calls signals for the Spartans.

Troullier was used as an emergency player during the jamboree and did not enter the contest until there was 18 seconds remaining, and he lined up at wide receiver. On the final play of the game, Troullier played quarterback and ran for nine yards but was short of the end zone. Sophomore Matt Lipham took his place and nearly led the Spartans on a game-winning drive that came up short.

His main target is senior wide out Isiah Tate, who caught 47 passes for 751 yards and eight touchdowns last year.

Slidell runs a 4-3 defense, which held Northshore scoreless in the second half. The Tigers return five starters. Senior defensive tackle Jason Smothers is the returning leader in tackles with 31 and he added eight sacks.