MANY – While the rest of District 4-2A kicks off their league schedules this week, Many will have one more week before their district slate begins.
The Tigers (1-4) aim to snap a two-game slide when they head to Class 2A Avoyelles (2-3) on Friday.
Many’s 1-4 start isn’t how anybody pictured the second season of coach Tyler Hassell to begin, but the Tigers are still in the process of developing replacements for eight all-district players from 2025.
A 37-15 loss to Class 4A Leesville (4-1) might not inspire much on paper, but a deeper look reveals plenty of positives.
The Tigers turned the ball over five times in the rainy conditions, four times in Leesville territory.
Doing that against a squad on the cusp of being ranked in Class 4A won’t lead to victory, but the relative closeness of the score given that fact signals a team that went toe-to-toe with the Wampus Cats and would have been more in the game with fewer turnovers.
Leesville turned to its ground game as Grant Braxton rushed for 318 yards as he continues to establish himself as one of the program’s best-ever.
But the Tigers may not be that far off as the rest of their schedule comes against Class 2A opponents.
Many sat at 2-3 in 2025, although its pair of wins (Logansport and DeRidder) do carry more weight than its lone 2026 victory (East Beauregard).
But the Tigers won four of their next six games, including a revenge win against Red River in the first round of the playoffs.
Many is aiming for that type of turnaround this year.
That starts with a trip to an Avoyelles team that just ended a three-game slide of its own.
The Mustangs beat down Block, 52-0, this past week – ending a stretch of losses to Sacred Heart (48-30), Bunkie (63-24) and Marksville (48-22).
Avoyelles did win six games and host a first-round playoff game in Division III Non-Select this past season, but the Mustangs are striving to return to their previous form as well.
The Mustangs have been to two quarterfinals in this decade.
A worthy test before Many makes the second trip of a three-game road stretch with Red River next week to kick off district action.