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November 5, 2004

Dawgs, Wolves have a lot at stake
By Joe Parfait

COVINGTON - The District 5-5A and prep football regular season comes to an end tonight. For two area high school teams, the final game has a different meaning when they meet at St. Paul's Hunter Field.

For the homestanding Wolves the game means a shot at its first Class 5A playoff berth. For the visiting Fontainebleau Bulldogs the game means a shot at the school's first district crown.
On top of those initiatives, no one in the stands will forget the last meeting between these two teams. Last year the Bulldogs hosted the Wolves with a chance of winning the district title. The Wolves came in with nothing to play for except a chance for a break even overall record - its first-ever in class 5A. St. Paul's took the game to Fontainebleau that night and came away with a 38-34 upset win. The Bulldogs ended up tied with Covington for a second-place finish in the district.

This year the game has a lot more meaning. Both teams are coming off huge wins. The Bulldogs beat Ponchatoula, 28-7, last week to increase its record to 5-1 in district play and 7-2 overall. The Wolves posted one of the school's biggest football victories in history, defeating the state's fourth-ranked Covington Lions, 26-18. It was a game no one expected the Wolves to win, and it was the first time St. Paul's had beaten the Lions since 1971.

"I think our program has grown in leaps and bounds. We still have a lot more work to do, but we're starting to see some results," said St. Paul's coach Ken Sears. "When the kids see the results, you know you can always get a little bit better and it gives the kids something to work for."

Coach Sears is not alone when speaking about players seeing the benefits of their hard work.

"When you work kids hard, it's important that at some point they see the results of hard work. We have asked our players to not only be winners on the field but also off the field. Because they have bought into it and committed to it, it's more exciting because now they see that it works," said Favre.

Going into tonight's game the Bulldogs are ranked 12th in the power ranking, and a win would be enough to earn the school's first-ever home playoff game. It would also earn them at least a tie for the district championship. A loss would not eliminate the Bulldogs from the playoffs, but their chances to play at home would be greatly diminished, and a Covington win over Mandeville would result in a second-place district finish. The Bulldogs were the preseason favorite to win the title.

"Our goals going into the season were to win the district championship and to host a first-round playoff game. Both of those goals as we head into the 10th week of the season are right there within our grasp. That's exciting, and that's what we have worked so hard for since Jan. 3rd," said Favre.

The Wolves are ranked 31st going into the game. Thirty-two teams enter the playoffs, so a win would give them a good shot, but there is no guarantee. They would be subject to being knocked out because of first-place ties in other districts.

All teams who win or are tied for first-place in their district get automatic playoff berths. At least 10 teams get automatic berths. Should the Wolves lose to Fontainebleau, their playoff chances get very remote.

"We have met our goal of having a winning season. Our second goal of making the state playoffs is still up in the air. As a team, we haven't been satisfied the way we've played all year long. There's always another level we can reach," said Sears.

That next level for the Wolves would be to be in that number of 32 teams playing beyond tonight.