Fontainebleau’s Bulldogs return to the friendly confines of the Dawg Pound tonight hosting the Slidell Tigers in District 6-5A play. FHS (4-2, 2-2) worked its way back into the district race last week with a sterling overall team performance taking a hard-fought 19-16 over time victory over previously unbeaten Mandeville ruining the Skippers’ homecoming.

SHS (3-3, 2-2) rolled up the points last week, blasting Ponchatoula 51-19 at home.

Slidell High blanked Fontainebleau 21-0 last year.

Fontainebleau Bulldogs'€™ senior defensive end Gerald Gruenig brings down Mandeville Skippers'€™ quarterback Andy Bertoniere for a sack in last week'€™s District 6-5A game played at MHS. Gruenig, who tops the Bulldogs with 12 sacks, will lead the FHS defense against Slidell tonight in the Dawg Pound. (File Photo by James Gray)

Perrin Sims made Fontainebleau a winner last week as he scored on the Bulldogs’ first play in over time from the 10-yard line after Mandeville’s Matt Dombrowski had kicked a 40-yard field goal to give the Skippers a short-lived lead.

FHS got a strong defensive effort led by junior linebacker Kris Rice who registered 11 individual tackles and three assists. Rice spearheads the Dawgs’ defense with 33 primary tackles and 12 assists, both team highs. Rice has also caused three fumbles and has two interceptions along with a fumble recovery.

The Bulldogs also got solid efforts from its two senior defensive linemen Darrel Brown and Gerald Gruenig.

Brown recorded two sacks, six unassisted tackles with two assists. He has nine sacks on the season, second most for the Bulldogs. Gruenig posted three sacks, giving him a team-high 12 for the year. Gruenig notched four solo stops with one assist against the Skippers. Junior Thomas Babin intercepted a pass and delivered four solo tackles.

Babin has logged 30 unassisted tackles, second best on the team. Junior Justin Church recovered two fumbles, collected a sack and had two tackles. Junior Jeremy Fos intercepted a pass.

He also tallied four individual tackles with an assist.

FHS junior signal caller Addison Melancon continues to do an effective job for the Bulldogs. Last week, he completed 5-of-10 passes for 48 yards.

On the season, Melancon is 44-of-88 for 633 yards with five TDs and five interceptions. Tight end Jordan Zulli is the top receiver with 10 catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior Clay Fritscher leads the Bulldogs’ ground game with 519 yards on 87 carries, averaging 5.9 yards per carry.

He tops the Bulldogs with six touchdowns. Perrin Sims is next with 267 yards and 3 TDs. He averages 6.6 yards per rush.

Slidell second-year coach Artie Liuzza says his defensive unit will have to play solid football to stop Fontainebleau.

“They are a very physical team on both offense and defense. Fontainebleau tries to control the game with their running game. They pound it right at you. They can also pop up, and throw it occasionally to get the big hitter,” Liuzza said.

He said the Slidell defenders would have to stay in their lanes, and be disciplined at the point of attack.

Liuzza described Fontainebleau’s defense as being big up front.

“They tackle well, and play real good technique. They have done a pretty good job against some spread teams to this point. It should be an interesting game,” Liuzza added.

Slidell’s spread offense put together a strong outing last week against Ponchatoula led by senior quarterback Blake Forbis.

He passed for 171 yards, and shredded the Green Wave defense rushing for another 146 yards breaking off a couple of long runs, covering 70 and 66 yards.

Liuzza said the Tigers’ offensive line did a good job protecting Forbis.

“Blake had a good night. He was able to pick up two big runs. All of our receivers did a better job catching the ball,” Liuzza added.

Tigers’ junior receiver Armand Williams caught five passes for 94 yards, including a 35-yard scoring pass.

Liuzza praised the Slidell defense. “I thought our front seven did a pretty good job stopping the Ponchatoula option offense. They hung in there,” Liuzza said.