Kinder came up a few inches short against Jennings last year, losing a season-opening game 41-40.
The Yellow Jackets haven’t lost since, rolling to 14 consecutive wins and the Class 2A state championship.
Kinder gets a chance to avenge that loss Thursday night when it visits Jennings.
The game pits one of the state’s most successful programs against one of the state’s top players.
The Yellow Jackets are 42-3 — with three consecutive 14-1 seasons — since Bret Fuselier took over as head coach. Each of the last three seasons have ended in the Superdome with two state championships.
Jennings features running back Travis Etienne, who was named the Class 3A Offensive MVP last season after running for 2,901 yards and scoring 47 touchdowns. He ran for 259 yards and scored five touchdowns against Kinder.
“This is a great high school matchup in any classification game, this is a fan’s matchup,” said Jennings head coach Rusty Phelps. “Both schools have a lot of history and pride in their programs. Hopefully we can get out there with our young guys and battle with them.”
Jennings beat Sam Houston 7-3 in its jamboree last week. Kinder posted shutouts against Oberlin and Oakdale at the Allen Parish Jamboree.
“It was good. We started four new guys on the offensive line, including two sophomores,” Phelps said of the jamboree win. “We got better there. That was a big concern of ours coming in. We are not there yet, but we got better last week against a 5A team that had several starters back on defense.”
Phelps said he was pleased with the progress shown by the Bulldogs defense, which struggled last year.
“Putting those guys in the fire, we had eight sophomores we played with. They have gotten better, they understand what we are doing,” Phelps said.
“Against Barbe (in a preseason scrimmage) and Sam Houston we tackled better,” he said. “Hopefully that continues and we continue to grow on defense. I don’t think we are a finished product, but I saw some things last week that were pretty good for us. We had some kids making plays.”
Phelps said Kinder looks no different after losing a few top players from last year’s team.
“I know they graduated seven or eight guys, but it looks like they have just plugged in new guys,” he said. “They look like they are poised to be strong again in 2A. They played young guys defensively last year. Those guys got 15 games last year got better. They look like the same team from the past three years.”
Elsewhere Thursday night, Lake Charles College Prep will play its first home game, hosting Delta Charter at Cougar Stadium. The Blazers are coming off a jamboree win over Rosepine.
Follow Warren Arceneaux on Twitter at http://twitter.com/WarrenAmPress
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