The No. 22 Eunice Bobcats will travel to No. 11 Berwick in the opening round of the Class 3-A playoffs.
The Bobcats (5-5, 4-3) struggled with a 1-4 start before winning four of their last five games.
“We battled through adversity after the slow start to the season and and wanted to finish on a five game winning streak but we came up a foot short,” Trosclair said of the 34-27 overtime loss to Iota in the regular season finale.
“But it is important that we recover and compete as we start fresh Friday.”
Berwick closed the regular season at 7-3 overall as the Panthers grabbed a 38-6 win over North Vermilion
The Panthers’ offense was led by quarterback Mitchell Sanford and running back Josh Jones.
Sanford rushed 14 times for 141 yards and three touchdowns and completed 12 of 24 passes for 142 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Jones rushed 13 times for 155 yards and a score and caught six passes for 64 yards.
Berwick totaled 430 yards of offense (288 rushing and 142 passing).
North Vermilion totaled 269 yards of offense (201 rushing and 68 passing).
“They are very talented,” Trosclair said. “They have a very good quarterback, running back and receivers.
“It will be tough to cover everybody but that is the challenge we face.
The Bobcat coach said it is important to control the football and not give Berwick too many opportunities of offense.
“We need play hard, not make mistakes, get first dows and shorten the game,” Trosclair said. “They have so many weapons on offense and we can’t let them have the ball too often.”
In other Class 3-A games of local interest, No. 7 Church Point will entertain No. 26 Carroll, while No. 12 Iota will play host to No. 21 Patterson.
After a 3-8 struggle in 2016, Church Point finished the regular season at 8-1 over and the Bears rolled to a 7-0 District 5-3A championship, while Carroll (4-6, 2-3) competed in District 2-3A against No. 1 Sterlington, No. 8 Richwood, No. 17 Union Parish and No. 31 Wossman.
The Bulldogs were 2-8 in 2016, but Iota (8-2, 5-2) finished as the District 5-3A runners-up this season and will take on the Lumberjacks (6-4, 4-1).
Patterson finished second in District 8-3A behind No. 5 Kaplan.
With a win, Iota would face either Kapalan (7-3, 5-0) or No. 28 KIPP Renaisance (3-6, 3-1).