Basile Vs Hca Preview

Rematch: HCA, Basile for 5-1A title Bearcats recover to force showdown BY JOHNATHAN MANNING AMERICAN PRESS For the second year in a row, the District 5-1A football title will come down to a Week 10 matchup between Hamilton Christian and Basile. Also like last year, both schools are undefeated in district as they roll into their Friday night game in Basile. Kickoff is 7 p.m. But Basile head coach Tony Bertrand said he’s hoping for a decidedly different result than last year’s game when the Warriors walked off 42-13 winners to earn the first district title in Hamilton (7-1, 4-0) history. “A lot of starters played in last year’s game and they have a second opportunity,” Bertrand said. “You don’t always get a second opportunity in life. I think that’s a motivational factor in itself.” Basile (4-4, 4-0) has been the been the area’s turnaround team this year. The Bearcats have won four straight since entering district 0-4 and are now poised to take a playoff spot. In the power ratings released by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association on Monday, Basile was the No. 22 school in Class 1A. Win or lose, Basile is likely to earn one of the 32-playoff spots, although a win would guarantee that. “When we were 0-4 things were looking real bad,” Bertrand said. “I thought we had the potential to be a good team, so it was real disappointing. “But the kids fought through it and brought us to the point we are right now.” Basile’s Derrick Thomas will be looking for his third straight rushing game of more than 100 yards. Thomas rushed for 113 yards against Oberlin on Oct. 24, then 132 against Merryville on Oct. 31. Hamilton has one of the top performing running games in the area and uses a slew of ballcarriers to get the job done. Isaiah Davis leads the team with 614 rushing yards while Kyle Peterson has rushed for 553 yards, Darris Thomas for 401 and Marcos Partin for 332. “They’ve got a field full of athletes out there,” Bertrand said. “They’re everywhere. It looks like their linemen are better than last year. “They’re a dual threat on offense — they can go into a spread mode or splitback veer mode. We’re going to have our hands full with those kinds of athletes.”