4 Big Louisiana HS Matchups: The Massey Ratings (and Jerit's Take)

The Louisiana high school football regular season largely wraps up Friday, with just a couple remaining Week 10 games on Saturday’s schedule.

Because of such a heavy slate on Thursday, we already had a chance to look at four top matchups that night. Now let’s glance at another four on tap for Friday.

Neville (9-0, 4-0) at Alexandria (9-0, 4-0)

Friday, 7 p.m., at J.L. “Butch” Stoker Stadium (Jerit Roser will be on the sidelines for coverage)

Rankings: Neville (No. 4 overall Massey, No. 1 LSWA Class 5A, No. 1 Division Non-Select power ratings); Alexandria (No. 5 overall Massey, No. 4 LSWA Class 5A, No. 3 Division-I Non-Select power ratings)

Last week: Neville beat West Monroe, 27-14.

Players to Watch: 2027 Alexandria DL Jaydon Bayonne, 2026 Neville S Julian Burns, 2025 Neville TE Thomas Campbell (Nicholls State), 2025 Alexandria WR Jimmie Duncan, 2026 Neville DL Jordan Fobbs-White, 2027 Alexandria WR Alex Fontenot, 2027 Alexandria QB Max Gassiott, 2025 Neville DB Robert Graves, 2027 Alexandria DB Jakyrin Griffin, 2025 Alexandria RB J.T. Lindsey (LSU), 2025 Neville RB Jaylon Nichols, 2025 Neville DL Anzelon Perkins, 2026 Neville DB Jayden Reed, 2025 Neville CB Cameron Riley (Ragin’ Cajuns), 2027 Neville QB Parker Robinson, 2027 Alexandria QB Karsen Sellers, 2027 Alexandria DB Jaytun Terry, 2025 Neville WR Kaleb Vaughn, 2025 Alexandria WR Darius Washington, 2025 Neville DL Brody Whatley (TCU), 2026 Alexandria LB Xzavier White, 2026 Neville WR Ze’land Young.

Recent History: Friday will mark the schools’ first meeting since a 2003 regional playoff game, a 41-17 Neville win, and only the second meeting since a 34-14 Neville win in 1974. Alexandria won in 1941 and 1942 before five Neville wins in the 1970s and a sixth in 2003.

Massey Prediction: Alexandria (58%), 38-32.

Jerit Thoughts: The heavily anticipated District 2-5A showdown of two of Louisiana’s top teams is final remaining matchup of two undefeated opponents this regular season. Both teams surprised many fans around the state by upsetting defending Division-I Non-Select champion Ruston in back-to-back weeks. Now they square off with the crown to arguably Louisiana’s toughest district on the line. Friday should be an absolute slugfest determined on a fine line of pivotal moments such as turnovers, third downs and maybe an explosive special teams play or two.

Ruston (8-1, 5-1) at West Monroe (8-0, 6-0)

Friday, 7 p.m., at Don Shows Field at Rebel Stadium

Rankings: Ruston (No. 2 overall Massey, No. 6 LSWA Class 5A, No. 3 Division-I Non-Select power ratings); West Monroe (No. 17 overall Massey, 16th-most vote LSWA Class 5A, No. 19 Division-I Non-Select power ratings)

Last week: Ruston beat Pineville, 49-0, at home. West Monroe lost to Neville, 27-14, on the road.

Players to Watch: 2025 Ruston DB Aidan Anding (LSU), 2027 Ruston DB Jayden Anding, 2025 Ruston DL Payton Bell, 2025 Ruston QB/ATH Joshua Brantley (Tulane), 2025 Ruston RB Dylone Brooks, 2026 West Monroe WR Trez Davis, 2026 West Monroe QB Ryder DeJean, 2025 Ruston RB Jordan Hayes, 2025 Ruston LB Zheric Hill (Louisiana Tech), 2027 Ruston TE Ahmad Hudson, 2026 West Monroe DL Smoltz Lilly, 2026 West Monroe RB Kedrian McNeil, 2025 West Monroe RB Ranaldrick Myles, 2025 Ruston C Sam Nations (Northwestern State), 2025 Ruston WR Joran Parker, 2025 West Monroe WR An’Jahvion Perkins, 2026 West Monroe RB Christian Ponti.

Recent History: Ruston has won the past two years, 35-17 in 2022 and 35-28 in 2023. West Monroe won most recently in 2021 by a 42-14 margin.

Massey Prediction: Ruston (88%), 36-14.

Jerit Thoughts: A pair of Louisiana blue bloods from the north half of the state wrap up another regular season head-to-head, both looking to carry some momentum into the playoffs after navigating more ups and downs thus far than has typically been the case in recent years. The matchup is one of just two on Friday’s schedule between top-20 teams in the Massey ratings. But even after a pair of district losses, my confidence in Ruston is unshaken as one of the top tier of teams in the state this fall with an opportunity to showcase it on the road in traditionally one of Louisiana’s tougher venues to go win.

Holy Cross (3-6, 2-4) at Brother Martin (5-4, 2-4)

Friday, 7 p.m., at Tad Gormley Stadium

Rankings: Holy Cross (No. 26 overall Massey, No. 25 Division-I Select power ratings); Brother Martin (No. 16 overall Massey, No. 14 Division-I Select power ratings)

Last week: Holy Cross lost to St. Augustine, 18-13. Brother Martin beat Warren Easton, 45-42.

Players to Watch: 2025 Holy Cross RB Kayden Andoh, 2025 Holy Cross DB Joshua Brown, 2025 Brother Martin DL Chase Chesser (Nicholls State), 2025 Holy Cross LB Nicholas Digerolamo, 2026 Brother Martin WR Brodie DuMontier, 2027 Holy Cross DB Savoy Guidry, 2025 Holy Cross DB Cedrick Harmon, 2025 Brother Martin RB Sidney Harris, 2025 Holy Cross RB Claude Johnson, 2025 Holy Cross TE/WR Derrick Johnson Jr. (Boston College), 2026 Brother Martin WR Rex LeBlanc, 2026 Brother Martin WR Rowan Lipscomb, 2025 Brother Martin DL Nathan Malek, 2025 Holy Cross OL Noah Remetich, 2027 Brother Martin WR/ATH Easton Royal, 2025 Brother Martin OL Caleb Smith (Nicholls State), 2026 Holy Cross RB Ke’Rynn Smith, 2025 Brother Martin DB/RB Treshoun Ware, 2025 Brother Martin LB Jadon Weber,

Recent History: Brother Martin has won four straight, with the past two seasons determined by a combined 10 points, since a 7-3 Holy Cross win in 2018.

Massey Prediction: Brother Martin (59%), 24-20.

Jerit Thoughts: Not the sexiest matchup on paper considering the records, but another Catholic League battle with the chance to go down to the wire with major stakes on the line. Holy Cross was the No. 1 seed in the Division-I Select bracket in 2023 and now enters the final night of this regular season on the outside of the playoff bubble looking in. This is another “gut feeling” or “vibe check” prediction more so than a particular edge, but (just like Evangel upsetting Parkway on Thursday) I’m leaning toward the top seed from a year ago scrapping a way out of tonight with a win and extending its season.

Opelousas Catholic (8-1, 5-1) at Catholic-P.C. (9-0, 5-0)

Friday, 7 p.m., at NRG Field

Rankings: Opelousas Catholic (No. 152 overall Massey, No. 16 Division-IV Select power ratings); Catholic-Pointe Coupee (No. 103 overall Massey, No. 5 LSWA Class 1A, No. 2 Division-IV Select power ratings).

Last week: Opelousas Catholic beat Berchmans Academy, 48-6, at home. Cahtolic-Pointe Coupee beat Sacred Heart, 31-12, on the road.

Players to Watch: 2026 Opelousas Catholic DB, ATH Rowen Bergeron, 2025 Catholic WR/DB Brooks Capps, 2026 Opelousas Catholic QB Kross Gillen, 2025 Opelousas Catholic DB Roy Henry, 2026 Catholic LB Cohen Higginbotham, 2025 Catholic OL/DL Rory Lambert, 2026 Catholic QB/DB Jude Morison, 2026 Opelousas Catholic WR Roderick Tezeno, 2025 Catholic LB Luke Vosburg.

Recent History: Opelousas Catholic has won regular-season meetings the past three years: 27-8 in 2021, 30-8 in 2022 and 55-30 in 2023. The teams didn’t meet in 2020, but Catholic-P.C. swept a pair of 2019 meetings, 44-10 in district and 13-0 in the playoffs.

Massey Prediction: Catholic (57%), 34-28.

Jerit Thoughts: Two talented small-schools teams: one undefeated on the season, more highly ranked and with home-field advantage, and the other with recent control of the series and no fear hitting the road. Catholic-Pointe Coupee has gotten this far, one of the state’s final 14 unbeaten teams, despite battling injuries and their impact on an already small roster number and, through that process, may be even stronger because of it. The Hornets have to at least slow down a potentially explosive Opelousas Catholic offense, but should be able to do so enough in front of a really strong Class 1A crowd to secure win No. 10.