When a couple of good offenses get together in eight-man football, the result can often resemble backyard football.

Tonight in Gulfport, Tallulah Academy and Christian Collegiate might have to institute another sandlot rule — the first one to 100 wins.

Tallulah and Christian Collegiate are averaging 49.5 and 50.1 points per game, respectively. It’s a first-round playoff matchup with the potential for a final score more closely resembling basketball than football.

“I sure hope it’s a big score for us and not very much of one for them,” Tallulah coach Justin Bigham said with a laugh. “But every time you think it’s going to be a big score, it’s going to be a low score.”

Tallulah (7-1) scored a season-low 16 points in its last outing against Clinton Christian two weeks ago. That snapped a streak of three straight games in which the Trojans scored at least 56 points. They had scored 80 and 82 the two games prior.

Christian Collegiate (8-2), the District 9-A champion, put up 69 and 62 in its last two regular-season games. Earlier in the season, it scored 50 — and was blown out by 40 points. The Bulldogs gave up 90 to Clinton Christian.

Christian Collegiate quarterback Devan Roberts has thrown for 1,801 yards this season, with 20 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He’s completed 70.1 percent of his passes, and also run for 735 yards and 12 TDs.

Bigham has a healthy respect for Roberts and the Bulldogs, but felt his Tallulah squad can keep up if the game gets into a shootout.

“I feel like we can score on anybody. We just can’t stop ourselves,” Bigham said. “Christian Collegiate is going to score. We have to be able to turn around and match them. When they get a touchdown, we have to be able to say don’t worry, we’re getting the ball back and we’re going to score a touchdown too.”

 

Hebron Christian at SIA

Sharkey-Issaquena, the beast of MAIS eight-man football, is no stranger to its opponents in the north half of the playoff bracket. The Confederates have played — and beaten — all of them this season.

Tonight’s first-round opponent, Hebron Christian (6-3), was an early victim, going down 36-0 on Sept. 5. SIA coach Hunter McIntire said that should help his team, unless the win was too easy.

“For us, it helps us. We feel like we got one of the better looks at them. They had to throw a lot of stuff at us to stay in the game,” McIntire said. “What you worry about is, they could go in too confident. That could happen. I don’t think it will happen.”

McIntire probably doesn’t need to worry about his team getting cocky. If there’s one thing SIA (11-0) has done well during its 25-game winning streak, it’s handle success.

The defending state champion’s closest margin of victory this season was 24 points. That came in the opener against Kemper Academy, a team SIA could see again in next week’s semifinals.

Kemper will play Marvell Academy in another first-round game tonight, with the winner advancing to the semifinals.

Crowley at Madison

After winning four out of five games to become a playoff contender, Madison Parish (4-5) has seen its hopes take a hit with back-to-back blowout losses. The Jaguars have been outscored 108-16 the last two weeks by Richwood and Union Parish.

Madison, though, is still creeping around the edges of the playoff chase. Its power point ranking is 30th in Class 3A, and playing Crowley (7-2), a strong Class 4A team, will help its strength of schedule. A win in tonight’s regular-season finale would boost Madison’s status even more.

The Louisiana High School Athletics Association gives automatic playoff berths to 11 district champions in each class. The rest of the 32-team bracket is filled out using the power point rankings.