Pine is back home tonight to face Independence in District 9-2A play, after splitting its two games on a recent road trip.
Last week, the Raiders were defeated by Amite, 37-24, after trailing 27-0 after the first quarter. Amite is second in the Louisiana Sports Writers Association poll and fourth in the LHSAA unofficial Class 2A power rankings.
Pine coach Bradley Seal said Tuesday that the Raiders just have to move on.
“Independence is a good football team. We just need to get back in the win column,” Pine coach Bradley Seal said.
Seal talked about an area he’d like to see his team improve on from last week.
“I thought that our open field tackling at the beginning of the game wasn’t very good,” Seal said. “That has to improve for us to win this week.”
Pine has alternated wins and losses all year on the way to a 3-3 record. The Raiders are 1-2 in district play.
Pine is seventh in the unofficial LHSAA Class 2A rankings.
Quarterback Joey Seal has had a solid senior year, throwing for 918 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. Seal has also run 25 times for 189 yards.
Markell Dillon put up another strong game last week. He caught four passes for 105 yards. This year, he has 14 receptions for 400 yards and four touchdowns.
“He’s a really athletic receiver,” coach Seal said. “He’s big, he’s 6-foot-2, 190 pounds and he’s fast. He’s really coachable.”
The rushing totals have been pretty balanced this year.
Jakyran Handy enters with 427 yards on 67 carries.
Delvric Dillon begins the night at 50 attempts for 339 yards.
Damarea Odom is at 30 carries for 206 yards.
Pine won last year’s game, 33-12. The teams were not in the same district last season.
Like Pine, Independence begins this week with a 3-3 record.
The Tigers are 14th in the unofficial LHSAA Class 2A power rankings.
Independence comes into tonight on a two-game winning streak that has featured a 54-37 win over St. Thomas Aquinas and a 41-7 victory against Northlake Christian School last week.
“We’ve played a little better the last two weeks,” Independence coach Keith Carona said. “We made some changes on offense; we’re playing better on offense and we’ve continued to play well on defense. But Pine runs that option good. They’re going to pose a problem defensively.
“They slow you down and make you play assignment football. Defensively, they are very, very physical. They’re about as big as a team we’ve played. They’re not just big guys, they’re big guys that make plays.”
Quarterback Marquel Jackson is back from injury and has thrown for 86 yards on 8-of-17 with two interceptions. He has run for 99 yards on 21 carries this season.
Anthony McClain is the team’s leading rusher with 92 carries for 641 yards and six touchdowns.
The receivers are Michael Otkins and Stephan Jackson.
Otkins has nine catches for 121 yards and a touchdown. Jackson enters with 57 yards receiving on six catches and he has run for 471 yards on 32 carries and four scores.
The top defenders include Jackson, McClain and Roy Thomas. Jackson plays linebacker while McClain is a strong safety and Roy Thomas is on the defensive line.