It all comes down to this – undefeated Iota visits one-loss Eunice with the District 5-3A title on the line.
Eunice’s only loss on the season was a 22-20 loss to then undefeated Church Point, a team Iota would later defeat 15-12.
The Bobcats remained in the district hunt after a 37-14 win over Northwest highlighted by over 300 yards rushing.
“We know we have three good running backs so we try and use them as much as we can,” Trosclair said of Avery Lee, Deon Ardoin and Jeoul Hill. “Coach (Andre) Vige did a good job of mixing it up against the Raiders.”
Lee rushed for 135 yards including a 8-yard touchdown run. He also connected for two touchdown passes to Tyler Darbonne.
Lee set the school career scoring record with 235 points – moving ahead of Spencer Aucoin’s 232 points set in 2000.
“We can throw it when we need to because we have some good receivers,” the coach said.
Trosclair said his team has a lot of confidence heading into Friday’s game.
“We have been playing well,” he said. “All you can do is what you can do – in this district any one could have won it.”
Iota has the top power ranking in Class 3-A, followed by No. 2 Eunice, No.8 Northwest, No. 10 Church Point and No. 14 Crowley.
“It’s going to be a very competitive game,” Trosclair said of the showdown with Iota. “I think the fans will get their money’s worth.
“It will come down to who makes the fewest mistakes,” he added. “That’s usually what happens in those big games.”
The Bulldogs opened the season with non-district wins over Basile (28-10), Oakdale (44-7) and Lake Arthur (42-21).
Iota then earned district victories over Northwest (49-12), Mamou (37-0), Crowley (41-20) before the key win over Church Point.
The Bulldogs then cruised past Port Barre (39-6) and Pine Prairie (38-0).
Iota running back Luke Doucet finished with 146 yards on 10 carries including two touchdowns in the win over the Panthers.
“They good running backs, a great offensive line and with their quarterback they have the ability to throw when they want to,” Trosclair said of the Iota offense.
They are very aggressive on defense and make things happen,” the Bobcat coach said. “It is no mystery, they have a good football team.”
Trosclair said it would be a major achievement to win the district title.
“At one point of the season the district had five teams in the top 10 power points,” he said. “That’s pretty impressive.
“Either way the game goes Friday we will still stay in the top two or three in the power points so we know we will have a home playoff game next week,” Trosclair said.
Iota won 34-27 over Eunice last year to finish second in district behind Church Point.
In other disrict games this week, Crowley travels to Pine Prairie, Church Point visits Port Barre and Mamou travels to Northwest.