Point After Podcast Season 2 Ep 7

Alex and Jeff talk about the latest games, trends, and predictions with this week's high school football with Hunter Bower, GeauxPreps.com.

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KTBS 3 Sports and Jeff Harper present the #3Fever Point-After Podcast, a local show highlighting high school football in the ArkLaTex. Alex Anderson and Red River Head Coach Jeff Harper give you a weekly look at teams to watch, interviews with some of our area's top recruits, and all the information you need to be prepared for the Friday night lights . Join us every Thursday morning wherever you get podcasts for the KTBS #3Fever Point After Podcast.

Hey, welcome to another episode
of the three favorite point after podcast.

I'm your host, Alex Anderson,
joined as always by my co-host

of the Central Offensive Coordinator Jeff
Harper.

Now coach Harper, you had visions of Red
Lobster cheddar biscuits in your head

last week, and we forgot to say
what our picks would be.

But I did write them down.

We did it all off air
and it was another bad week for me.

I had one right.

I had Shreve over Airline,
but you had Evangel over Northwood and Oak

Grove over Haynesville.

So the lead grows for Coach Harper.

Well, I mean, those were pretty easy
picks, to be honest with you.

I don't think it had anything to do
with any special inside knowledge.

The Shreve game really did impress me and

shocked me at the same time
because of how well airline was playing.

But hats off to two captains Shreve
Now we get to deal with them Friday,

so that'll be a fun one. Yeah, for sure.

We'll talk a little more with our guest
about Captain Shreve and all that stuff.

But yeah, really
an incredible performance.

60 points on airline.

I don't think anyone saw
that type of performance coming.

We knew the game.

You know, it was kind of a either or.

There it was.

I didn't think airline
was going to blow them away either, but

certainly impressive stuff, Coach,
you're in a different location.

We were talking off air.

I did want to point out
you got the Griffin's game ball

right there
behind you. That is special, right there.

Oh, yeah, man.

Yeah.

That was one of the highlights of Eli's
playing career meant a lot to them.

And it's one of the things
that's in a glass case sitting there

on the ledge and appear in the
in the man cave.

So big deal for him.

Well, we gave one out to your friends
a bit today.

Actually. Cody
Wilhite was our Player of the week.

Daniel went out and deliver that.

So the tradition continues.

We got a lot to talk about today.

That's why I wanted to bring in a guest.

We've had him on the show before.

Our I'm sure anyone who cares about

high school football
in the state of Louisiana knows them.

It's the owner of Go Preps.

It's Hunter Bower, Haynesville
native here on the show with us.

Hunter, thanks, of course, for joining us.

And things have been growing
for your website over the past year or

so since we last talked.

Yeah, thanks for having

me on a thoroughly enjoyed
coming on last year

and talking some high school football
and glad you had me back.

But uh, but yeah it's

you know fort short years ago
perhaps has seen a lot of growth

and we're very thankful,
uh, if not for the,

the coaches and the student athletes
and the fans,

we wouldn't be where we are today.

So just very blessed to be where we are
and to be able

to serve the student athletes
and and the schools of this state.

Yeah.

And I know so many people around
the state are so thankful.

You know what I get?
I hear people all the time.

Oh, did you check go prep,
did you see what go preps did?

And um, and anyone that isn't familiar,
I always make sure to send them your way.

You were one of the best.

And it's so special to have you here to
talk about high school football this week.

A lot to talk about.

I did want to start with you
about the vote we saw last week

down in Baton
Rouge. You covered it really well.

I just
really wanted to get your opinion on it.

I mean, it's such a hot button issue, But,
you know, it seems like every time

it is put up to a vote,
the vote always goes the same way.

Yeah.

You know, I guess it just depends on what
side of the fence you want to lean on.

But I'll take it as a victory
for the student athletes last week.

As far as the vote goes, you know,

when the split occurred ten years ago,
there just were a lot of gaps

in certain things as far as, you know,
what's a select school,

You know, how do we how do we do
a correct version of the playoffs?

And I think what they like to say
has done over the last year

has tried to correct that.

And I think they've done a really good job
with the playoffs and not just football.

The playoffs have been
a lot more competitive throughout,

you know, baseball, basketball
and whatnot.

And then, you know,
I think they've created the issue

when it comes to what a select school is.

Ten years ago,
you didn't have a lot of charter schools.

You didn't have a lot of schools
that instituted bandit components.

And not to say that,

you know, some schools in the state
were taking advantage of that.

It's just the way
the education system has,

I guess, really transformed into.

So but what they've done
over the last year and,

you know, certainly with the vote
last week, 95% of the membership

showing up and,
you know, nearly 70% of them

supporting the select definition
and what the playoff format is,

uh, certainly speaks volumes as to how

they want to see things going forward
as of right now.

Yeah, absolutely.

And you know, like you
said, almost 70% voting that way.

It's tough to argue with that.

You know, for me,
there are some individual cases.

There's no perfect solution to this.

I mean, you're looking
at talking about schools like Northwood.

And in Huntington, I feel like they may be

are kind of
on the wrong end of that definition.

I know.

I know.

Northwood has been very outspoken,

their principal
very outspoken against it. There.

But it is such a tough way.

There's no perfect solution to this.

I was curious to get your thoughts
on a school like Northwood or Huntington

that I guess meets that definition.

But, you know,
we're not really that definition

for them doesn't necessarily
apply to football or athletics.

Yeah, you know, it's

it's really a slippery slope and,
you know, it it doesn't just affect them.

It affects a lot of schools
around the state.

But, you know, then again, uh,

when the private schools were

pretty much voted out ten years ago,

they didn't really have as much of a
say so over that either.

And, you know,
a lot of people have been talking about,

well, you know, one A's are having to play
two ways and boys are having to play.

It's like schools are having to do it
for ten years

and with the three
and four A's combined together.

So, you know, whatever you do,
you're never going to make anybody happy.

Doesn't matter if you bring everybody back
together, keep them split.

Somebody is not going to like it.

But like I said, moving forward,
I think the format that we have now

is the most beneficial
for the student athletes.

Um, so we'll see. We'll see how it goes.

You know, the January convention comes up
and they always have proposals.

So we'll see if somebody has a
has a good idea on how to proceed.

And coach Coach Harper,

did you have anything to add
before we move on on the split situation?

No, I think I think that he's right
and we talked about it last week.

The ones that benefit the most from it
are the kids.

So I was all for it.

The only thing that, you know, it's always
been an issue is when you have schools.

Like when I was at Loyola, we were small
and we were playing you

lab in the playoffs.

And so that that that didn't really make
for a very competitive playoff deal.

But at the same time it made sense
how they were trying to break it up.

So either way, you're going to have
somebody

on the outside looking in,
wishing it work better for them.

But I think that's probably the
the best solution moving forward.

Yeah.

And again, I mean, we go back to it's
almost 70% of representing schools

there voted for it.

So it's just tough to argue
with that number.

That's that's a
that's a big majority there.

We talked about our games
that we picked last week.

I guess since we do have Hunter here,
we got to start Oak Grove in Haynesville.

I was I was all on the tours on this game.

I gave you Oak Grove coach.

It did not go the Golden Tornado's way.

I guess we'll start with Coach Harper.

Tough game for Haynesville.

But you know, obviously
they're going to have another shot

here as we go down the stretch.

Yeah, I mean, here's the thing
with Haynesville, they're they're good.

They get some really, really good talent
and they're well coached.

And it's not a place
that you want to travel

and play on a Friday night,
especially when you're

getting close to the playoffs and,
and then in the playoffs.

And so I'm sure Coach
Franklin and his staff learned from it

and probably had some things
that could could have gone their way.

And a lot of times the score doesn't
reflect really how the game's played.

I haven't really been able to see,

you know, anything about it other than
the fact that Oak Grove won the game.

So either way, man, you know, it's a
it's a it's a season game.

And I think it was wait
six and anything could happen.

Especially, I believe the game was played
at Oak Grove.

So it's not an easy place to play.

And I guarantee you Oak Grove
doesn't want to have to travel

to Haynesville
to play there on a Friday night.

So in the end they learned from it
and they'll bounce back and

it'll only make them better.

I don't, I don't
I don't see any time where Haynesville

falls off the wagon because they lose
a week, six game on the road

against a really quality opponent
defending state champs

then Hunter
they came out first play they scored.

Talk to me about your tornado.

Yeah I mean certainly what coach said
I mean just

that's a tough matchup week
six you're in between district games

but I'll tell you what you know
Haynesville has been they've been down

the last couple of years
which crazy to say Haynesville down.

You hardly ever hear that but you know

I think there were two block points

in that in that game

and I think that's when it really started
to kind of get out of hand.

So it almost seemed like Haynesville

and Oak Grove were at each other's throat
right there for a few minutes.

And then Haynesville
just had a couple of errors

and I think got the best of them.

But, you know, always I think

it's funny, I think the final score
was like 61 to 27 or something like that.

I don't know if the those two have scored
that many points

in their last seven matchups
against each other,

that it's usually a traditional Smashmouth
football game.

There was to see Oak Grove 60 points.

It just was crazy but but yeah no no doubt
I think it's

I think it's good for Haynesville.

I think they know what you know,
where they have to compete,

at what level they have to compete.

I mean give Oak Grove
the props they deserve.

I mean, their defense state champion.

So we'll see.

You know,
I think Haynesville bounces back there.

I think they're top two or three
in the power ratings right now.

So, you know, if they can just continue,

they still got some tough games
ahead of them as well,

especially with Homer
at the end of the year.

So heads up to Haynesville,
they'll be okay.

And who knows, you might see Haynesville,
no growth again in the playoffs

here soon.

Certainly we'll have to see that in.

Yeah, the block punts game
kind of just got out of control there

down that stretch
but excuse me, Haynesville was going blow

for blow with him at the beginning.

So yeah, that would be a great matchup.

Obviously the biggest surprise locally
and really kind of around the state

I would assume would be,
you know, captains brief.

They also scored 60 over airline
a school record of points,

which was hard for me to believe
that 60 points was the record.

We'll talk to Coach about it too but
but I did wanna start with you, Hunter.

Kind of more of an outside perspective
from a statewide perspective.

How surprising was this Shreeve win
and are people around the state

maybe kind of looking at the Gators now
and thinking like, okay, they,

they might have something going here?

Well,

me being from northwest
Louisiana was not a shock to me at all.

Just because that's
how tough that District 158 is

around the state.

I think it was shocking
just because airline was undefeated.

But and that's the thing about Coach
Kirby and Captain Shreve is,

you know,
they tend to fly under the radar.

They had an early season loss to Calvary,
so it seemed like a lot of people

not really written them off, but,
you know,

just kind of forgot about Captain Shreve
and and look at them now.

I mean, they they performed really well

last week.

They've got a really good running back
And Jamaal and Otis

he's top five in the state
in rushing yards

so they got a lot of weapons
and nothing against airline.

They've got a lot of weapons too, I think.

And you know coach Harper
he Macon testified of this but

I mean district
15a week in, week out, it's no slouch.

I mean, it's one of the toughest digger's
districts, I think, in Louisiana.

So I don't know.

It it wasn't really shocking,
but it was shocking to see that Captain

Sri put up 60 points in a tight game
like I thought it would be a tight game.

So in coach, you get to see the Gators
here on Friday night.

Man, I guess talk to me about your
your opinions on that game and I guess,

you know, obviously you were taking them
seriously before, but now you know,

the game prep
as you get ready to face them now.

Well,
we have the film from from that game.

And so, you know, airline made mistakes,
which they haven't done yet this year.

They've been, you know, so
good in all all three phases of the game.

And, you know, it was interesting,
Coach Scott had just said,

you know,
the really good game plan against us and

and they have it rolling
and then they come out

man and he's got these darling ups
and trick plays

and and they didn't
they didn't really hit in a couple of them

you know, turned into big plays for sure.

Even so that's very uncharacteristic
of the airline.

And same time, Captain Shreve,
you know, they had

they had the banner kid in their QB
with Savage out with an injury.

And it really look like
I mean on film and look

and I'm not I'm not making a comment on
coaching your scheme I'm not doing that.

So I want to make sure anybody who listens
this podcast knows

I am not making a statement about scheme
coaching game plan,

but it looked like airline was prepared
more to defend the pass there.

Certain things that that that Shreve
was doing offensively

with motion in the back out
and in some of the coverage

just kind of roll into the back

and they were running quarterback run
game off of it

and those are those are indicative
of you know they're playing coverage

to keep everybody in front,
make sure that they're there their sound

and that and you know, the banner kid
made him pay for that.

So I think he had four rushing
touchdowns on the night and it had a big,

big night run.

The run of the ball,
the the Otis kid is to me, him and

Manning are the two the
the bit and running back are the two best

running backs in our district right now
just they just getting after it.

And so a very, very impressive
win for sure Even at the same time,

I don't think that that game
is going to define

what airline is going to be
the rest of the year.

I know that they're going to learn from
because that game's real close.

You know, if there's not
a couple of things that go shrimp's way.

So hats off to three,
and it'll be interesting to see

what happens moving forward
when it comes down to, you know, playoffs

and all that kind of stuff with that
with that type of game happen in week six.

And that's a great point coach
you make there, because

when they had Savage in this success that
they've had over the past couple of weeks

it was throwing the ball.
I mean, that's what they were doing.

But Courtney
Boehner gives them a different look.

And they started with Boehner
to begin the year.

He had a rough go at Calvary.

They put Savage
and they were going back and forth.

But yeah, I mean,

obviously you have to quarterbacks
that do different things very well

and it worked for him
having the running style against airline

so look good on coach Kirby
good on that Shreve team

You know they're so talented
We hear it You know we

we heard in our countdown to Friday
football fever fast physical, fearless.

They did it.

I mean, that's exactly the kind of stuff

that Coach Kirby
was saying in the beginning of the year.

And you see it play out here.

So Shreve at you guys, negative Central
this week, airline

at Horton on a Thursday night.

That is always fun
when those two teams meet.

I won't give the whole speech
about my homecoming senior year airline.

We won a last second field goal. Anyways,

let's get to

a big game this week,
our game of the week Evangel.

We saw them
look good against Northwood again.

Evangel North DeSoto.

I want to get both of your opinions
on this.

I guess we'll start with coach,
because I can see your camera right now.

Well,

this is a great matchup
and it happens to be probably I mean, this

I believe this is the, you know, really
for for the district championship.

I know Northwoods going to come in
and say, wait, not so fast.

But, you know,
this game is definitely going

to pave the way for who's going to win
district huge,

you know, north DeSoto sound
and they're good in all three

phase of the game so is evangel
and the angels hot right now

and they got it rolling and remember
now we've been saying this

for the last four years about evangel
these kids have been starting

since they were freshmen.

The majority of them have been playing

since they were freshmen
building to this point.

And they are they're not going to want to
drop this one.

I know this is a really big game for them
in North Dakota's got it rolling,

so I don't even really know
how to pick this one

just because I've seen both teams
and both teams are really good.

And so

is it being played at of Angel
or is it being played at North Dakota?

Which what where is it being played?

It is at Evangel, so we will be at nine.

And you got the turf,
you got the new uniforms, you got

you got the you got the scoreboard,
you know, the big old Jumbotron.

Oh, man.

That's going to be a that's going to be
a fun game by game to watch for sure.

And Hunter, for you,
I know locally we've talked about Evangel.

They're kind of this moment
that they've been waiting for

with all those kids,
even starting since freshman.

But, you know, watching North DeSoto,
I've been using kind of their streams

of their games
have been getting that up top angle.

I mean they just
their offense is so powerful, I guess.

What do you see from this honor?

Yeah.

So, you know, I was actually talking
scuse me.

I was talking to Coach Dunn today.

And, you know, he said this is the team
that of angels been waiting on.

You know,
most of these kids have been well,

a lot of them probably been starting
since they were freshmen.

You know,
they had a rough couple of years. And

but anyways, you know,
they have two losses against

really two really good teams.

And they probably should have beaten
Neville earlier in the season.

Uh, a good defensive front offensively,
they're playing with a lot of confidence

right now.

Um, you know, and I was looking
through the statewide stats

while coach was talking and it's, it's

pretty obvious that this is going to be
an offensive battle you know,

two quarterbacks in the top 15
uh, in passing in

Peyton Fulgham and, and um,

Luke Delafield
and then receiving you've got, you know,

Parker Fordham is leading the state,

but then you've also got a couple of North
DeSoto receivers as well.

Just goes to show you how much talent
is going to be on that field Friday night.

You know, North Dakota's had their numbers
like the last few years.

Dennis Dunn, who was, you know,
one of the architects of putting together

those great Evangel teams over the over

those years, the national championship
teams and state championship teams.

He knows how to build a program
and he knows how to sustain a program.

And that's
what he's doing in north DeSoto right now.

I did ask him, I said, does

it ever feel weird going back to a place
that you helped build?

And, you know, you know, Coach,
he was really I liked what he had to say

in that, you know,
he has nothing but great memories there.

And he was part of something special
and he'll never forget that.

But, you know, he has to set that aside
when they go to battle Friday night,

because like coach said, this is probably
for the district championship

if, you know, if things don't work out
in Northwood's favor.

But it's definitely going to be a battle
and it's going to be great

to see the best of Denniston
against Danny Durr on Friday night.

Yeah, so fun.

We're really looking forward to this one.

I mean, two basically district
championships in back to back weeks

in our games of the week

or at least two battles for first place
would have been a better way to put that

there's a game on the schedule
before we kind of

just move on
to some more general questions for Hunter.

There's a game on the schedule this week

that if we didn't
have a game of the magnitude,

not the sort of an evangel,
I would love to make it

our game of the week
because these matchups are always fun.

We'll start with you.

The Magnolia School of Excellence
versus plain dealing.

Somebody getting their first win
Friday night.

Yeah, poor plain dealing. You know,

I was talking to Coach Franklin

at Haynesville the other two weeks ago
before they played playing Dylan.

And, you know,

I think they had 15 kids

that were going to be on the sidelines
and two or three of them

were from the seventh
and eighth grade levels.

You know, it's
so you have to give those kids

props, though, because to be able
to go through a whole season 15,

16 kids at a time
and just fight through every game,

whether you win or lose,
I mean, that's just props to them

and then having to go up,
you know, in a tough, tough one.

Won a district that includes
Gainesville, Homer, Arcadia, Glenbrook.

I mean just week in and week out.

It's very tough. But, you know,

you hate to

pick a winner because you want somebody
to get their first win, but

it would be really special,
I think, for playing, dealing

just because of the situation there
in and the lack of participation

in what Coach Walker's
trying to do over there and sustain

a program that, you know, really is

a traditional program
that they've had some success in the past.

But yeah, no,
but it's it's interesting to see.

I think it's at playing.

And if I'm looking at my schedule right,
so maybe they can get

their first win of the season,
it'd be great for them

and coach your opinions on that game.

That's, that's
that's the Kim Anderson game of the week.

My wife going to shoot that one. So coach,
what do you see?

Man I kind of agree with Hunter on playing
dealing with love it for those kids.

Yeah, I mean I'm impressed with with

just the fact
that they're out there doing it with,

you know, seventh and eighth graders
on the sidelines against

16, 17, eight year olds, 18 year olds.

And that's that's impressive, number one.

And number two,

people don't understand how hard it is
to practice when you only have 15 kids.

You can't simulate a scout team.

You have to half line everything.

You got to be very careful
about your contact in practice.

When you sit down and you break down film,
you know, we're breaking down film

with 120 dudes in a, you know, ready room
and they've got 15.

And I'm just, you know, hats off to them.

I'm impressed.
I hope that they can pull it out.

And same thing with Magnolia.

I mean, they've been,
they've been on people schedule in

and just getting whipped but
still showing up and competing every week.

And so either way, man,

I don't I don't have I don't have a team
that I feel like is better than the other.

I feel like it's just come down to
who wants it more on Friday night.

Both of them fight for the first win

and whoever wins, I'm gonna be excited
for either team there.

Reminds me of a few years ago.
We had a Griffin's game.

It was Booker T and Woodlawn,
and neither had won a game going into it

and it was Beatty
W that ended up winning it.

And I mean, just the emotion

from that team after the game, just,

just finally, you know, getting in the win
column early, especially, it's

something, you know,

it's high school sports at its finest
that that raw emotion coming

together, getting these kids to believe
in that one goal and and achieving it.

It really is awesome.
So I'm looking forward to that game.

I mean, I know that it's not, you know,

the big time matchups
that we talk about here.

But again, it's just so fun.

And I'm happy that one of these teams
will get to experience that,

that winning feeling.

But a lot of huge,
huge games to talk about.

But I do want to get into
some general questions

with Hunter
just about go preps and and kind of

I guess maybe your operation I don't know
how much we talked about this last year.

My memory's not great but how many people
do you have working for you and how does

how does your operation
kind of work on a day to day

basis of not just covering northwest Louis

Yeah, well, you're looking at him.

This is the only person.

Uh, it's it's a labor of love.

You know, we like I said,
when we started out four years ago,

you know, the ultimate goal
was just to serve the student

athletes of the state and,
you know, be able to inform everybody.

There wasn't really that one central hub
that you could go

and get power ratings and get schedules
and look at, you know, stats or whatever.

You had to go to this website
or go to that website.

So, you know, I think with the progress
that we've made over the last four years,

it's it's been eye opening to me, really
just the support that we've gotten.

And, you know, through partnerships
that we've made,

especially with the NCAA and,
you know, will be able to take their

the will
be in charge of their championship events

as far as photography this year.

That just goes to show you
how much we've grown.

But, yeah, you know, on a Friday night
sitting here gathering scores

and upload them into the the database
and churning out those power ratings.

Yeah, you're looking at this.

This old guy, my wife,
she sits down and she'll help me to

she'll call teams and, and,
and things like that to get results.

But you know, we have people
around the state that help us,

especially on Friday nights.

They'll call in and, you know,
they'll call around and they'll scroll

social media for us and stuff.

But as far as full time,
yeah, it's it's just me.

But but like I said,
I love it's my full time job.

This is what I do day in and day out.

So being able to get to talk
to the coaches

and get to talk to student athletes

and and tell their stories, that's
that's the main thing.

And, you know, we did a play of the week
for football today, defense

Defensive player of the week.

And it was for a kid at the Jefferson
Rice Charter down there around

in the New Orleans area.
And he was just ecstatic.

His coach was ecstatic because they don't
really get that kind of coverage.

And not no fault of the media down there.

It's just so many schools.

But to be able to recognize those kind of,

you know, those those kids
and to give them that kind of publicity,

it's really special.

But but yeah, man, you're looking
I am the sole guide.

This is it right here.

So blame blame me
if for all your power rating inquiries.

Oh, we were talking about off air.

You know,
sometimes it just happens that way.

I mean, you know, we only service
just one little corner of the state,

and it's impossible to get everywhere

to, you know, highlight every single guy.

Right?

We send a camera out
and it's you know, this camera is going to

maybe three games in a night.

So we're talking about you're maybe

getting a quarter of action
from each game. And. Right.

Whatever happens in that quarter,
that's what we show.

Yeah, we'd love to have access
to the full floor and show you the

the play that won it at the end,
but it's just not always possible.

So I know that that's

I think that's something that
everyone covering high school football

in any part of the country faces for you
when you started this thing.

I mean, jeez, I can't imagine
you thought it would it would grow

it maybe at the pace that it did.

Yeah, no doubt.

You know, last month
we we had a million views.

And I think the last two weeks we've we've
hit 40,000 views in two or three nights.

So you know, and that's it's just crazy
because the first year

we were maybe getting a,
you know, a couple thousand views.

Of course,
we kind of started right before football,

so we didn't have much a lot of time
to promote it.

But just the traffic.

And, you know, the funny thing is, Alexis,

we have done a lot of this
just kind of grassroots.

We we haven't really done
a lot of advertising.

It's all been word of mouth.

Of course, once you know, once
it gets out in the high school community,

it really does blow up because,
you know, the parents and the coaches and

the student athletes care
and they want to see where they're

where they're ranked at or, you know, what
their stats are and things like that.

But, you know, we're we're not done
growing.

I hope, you know, within the next
2 to 3 years

we've got a couple of people on staff
full time and we're able to

maybe do some live streaming
and things like that.

So we really we're still in the baby
stages.

We're still trying to grow this thing.

And I think that's what I forget
a lot of times.

And I have to kind of bring myself

back down to earth is,
Hey, you're only in year four baby steps.

Let let's let's keep it simple.

But, you know,

one thing we've been really proud of is
is certainly our power ratings coverage.

And, you know, you can maybe ask
Coach Harper about all that.

But, you know, I feel like
if we do a really good job of trying to,

you know, keep keep people up to date and
be accurate, we work with like you say.

Well, and and we consult with them a lot

regarding power ratings
and things like that.

So we try to have a good working
relationship with them in

trying to get people informed of where
their teams may be come postseason.

So it's been a journey so far.

We're not done yet.

A lot more, a lot more still to come.

We're just trying to try to get there
very slowly, very slowly and successfully.

Yeah, I feel that.

I think everyone that has a passion
like that is guilty

of getting a little ahead of yourself
and thinking, you know, maybe too big.

I mean, I do it every Friday night.

I'm trying to fit,

you know, 30 games into an hour, but
also have a guest and also do top plays.

And then I look at the clock and I'm like,
okay, I'm 5 minutes over.

Here we go.

So that's just the way it goes.

Coach, I know you guys are in the coaching
community.

I know you're probably checking
those power ratings all the time.

Yeah, I mean,

in fact,
it's the first place that we go to.

We're not really getting
a ton of information for my HSA.

So you got to gather your own intel
to kind of look at their schedule

and look at the win loss record
of so many different people to be able

to have an idea of what what your
your power rating is going to be.

But I think the question that I think
most people would probably benefit

the most from just from you,
Hunter, is what how do you come up like?

I know that coaches understand it,
but how do power what ratings work?

Like, you know, walk us through
how a team gets a power rating.

That way they can understand a formula.

They can understand how schedules matter,
how they you know, how to play up points

and how much you get for a win,
how much you get for a win against a,

you know, a team

with no wins versus the team
that's got six wins, so on and so forth,

maybe you can break that down for
our people so that they have a better idea

that they understand that you aren't
the one that's

putting them in these rankings.

Their schedule in their win loss
record is putting them in these rankings.

No, absolutely.

That's that's a really good question.

I'm glad you asked that.

You know, and that's one thing
I want to say, but before I even get

started is the power ratings,
whether I put them out,

whether the electricity puts them out,
whoever puts them out,

they are from a mathematical formula.

And I'll put out I'll describe it
here in a minute.

There is no

there is no human element.

There are no opinions.

I hate to burst everybody's bubble, but

at 2:00 in the morning
and trying to figure out

which team
I want to put up against another,

it's kind of funny.

I have to share the story real quick
so, you know, I was I was born

and raised in Haynesville and of course,
naturally, Homer is our our rival.

And, you know, I started doing the power
ratings with GO preps,

and I think there was one year
it was before it was before Homer

became what they are now,
they were still struggling a little bit.

So I think maybe week eight or week
nine of the football season,

Haynesville is above them in the power
ratings and I get probably three

or four emails from Homer people that week

who knew who I was
and who are where I was from,

and they want to know why I was
put in Haynesville in front of Homer.

Is it just because I was from Haynesville
and things like that? So

no, I follow the formula.

I promise you guys, I promise no. So

power
rankings are different for every sport,

but I'll go through it with football
since we're doing that right now.

So you know what, what you do is

you say we'll take Haynesville in Homer,
so say Haynesville plays Homer,

If Haynesville beats Homer,
they'll get ten points for that win.

If they if they lose to a homer,
Homer would get the ten points

then if there's any, if you play
well now they change.

That used to be classifications,
but now it's division.

So if you play a team
that's in a higher playoff

division than you are, you get two points
for each division played up.

So if Haynesville played

West Monroe, there would be two divisions.

So that would be four play up points.

You'd add that to the formula,
then you would take the opponents wins,

then you divide it by the amount of games
that that opponent has played.

And then because it used to be,
I think you used to be

just divided by ten, but now you do it
by how many games that opponent has played

and then at the end you multiply it by ten
and you get your power rating

and that's for each game.

And then you take the average of each game

at the total of each game
and you average that.

So it and we have a
we have a if you go to our website

and go to our football power
ratings, there's a link there

and it is called football power ratings
one on one.

It describes to a T how to get the
formula, how it works that are dotted up.

But it really is simple.

Once you sit down and just look it over
and read, it's really not that hard to do.

I mean, anybody could do
it if they had a calculator.

But, but yeah,

that's what a lot of people, they,
they see these opinion polls

and then they see the power

and I think they get a little mixed up
and they think that the opinion polls

are the power ratings.

And the power means that the opinion polls

and which I can't blame them,
there's like 45 polls out there.

I'm one of them. So

but but yeah, no,
I mean, it's really simple.

Like you
said, it's different for other sports.

Baseball, softball, basketball.

They had different formulas
as far as what's counted

and and you know, maybe multiplied by.

But but yeah, no, that's basically it.

There's some wrinkles
that get thrown into it

if there's a tie or a double forfeit.

But we usually try to,

you know,
pray that we stay away from those

because that'll keep you up for for
a night or two trying to figure that out.

It's funny.

My next question was
why do you have hot and so low, I guess

have to strike that out now. Thanks.

Yeah.

Why do you have such and such so low?

And who do you know?

But no, and that's really what it is.

You know,

if you go and look at the power
any you know, a lot of people say,

well, airline I mean Captain Shreve beat
airline was airline above Captain Shreve.

It's like and I have to explain,
just because you beat that team,

you still have to factor in everybody else
you've played up until that point.

It doesn't matter
if you beat that team or not.

That's how the formula works.

It just means that maybe airline
has played

a much stronger schedule
than Captain Shreve overall.

And so I think that's what confuses
a lot of the

the people that view the
the power ratings on the website.

And and, you know, we do it from week
one to week ten.

And, you know, a lot of people
really don't start paying attention to it.

Coaches do every week.

I know because I hear from them,
but a lot of people don't really

look at them until about around this time
week six, week seven,

because that's
when it starts to take shape.

But it's funny.

I mean, it's
fun to see how it progresses from week one

and how teams either improve
or they maybe slide down week by week.

So it really is it's really cool to see,

you know, how a team may be strengthens
their schedule by who they play.

And and you'll see a very different power
in use next year

as far as the reclassification goes
because you'll have,

you know, teams that maybe were in one
division, they'll be playing a division up

or a division down.

So that's just the ever changing power

rating situation here in Louisiana.

Coach,
I think I might have cut you off there.

You got anything else for Hunter?

No, I mean, he nailed it,
But that's that's the thing, too.

I think people have to understand
is there is an art form to scheduling.

And if you're a small school, like
when I was at Red River, perfect example,

we had Manny in our district.

Well, Jess was really good
about scheduling five opponents.

And so you look on our schedule last year

we had Paul in week one
and we had Parkway Week two.

So being a two way team, we're playing,
you know, you get to play at point

to .58 teams regardless the outcome,
of course you want to win.

I'm grateful they'll want to play us
because number one, you know,

that was big for our budget, too
It was big for our playoff opportunities.

And so there is a
there is a a a formula that goes into it.

But if you're chasing a team like Manny
schedules nine games and they also have,

you know, two big five opponents
on their schedule and a four opponent,

you know, we had to chase them down
and we had to play all ten.

We had two fives and a four, and they
still were sitting right there at the top,

you know, in the power ratings.

And that's just that's just brilliant,
to be honest with you.

When you're at small school
and and you're good enough

to go out and beat everybody
in in any classification,

but also schedule that
well so that you could stay at the top

and then to have the switch to where now
three, eight and two air combined

going into the you know, into the playoffs
that year, that was a big deal.

It was a big deal When we look
and all of a sudden in our power ratings,

we got pine
and we've got, you know, Amy and we've got

we've got Union Parish and it's just like,
what in the world is happening here?

I was glad that we had those five schools
and the for a school on our schedule.

So people don't understand that it's it's

not just wins and losses
and it's not somebody's opinion.

You know

what go preps does is it
gets gets everybody a head start on what

the schedule
what the playoffs are going to look like.

And I've been impressed on her
because last year I don't even think

that you had one game Rome
just in our bracket like you nailed it.

So it's impressive what you do
And as coaches and just fans in general,

high school football,
we are grateful for what you do

and the platform that you have
and how you spotlight schools and student

athletes from all over the country,
all over the state.

It's a it's great.

It makes a big deal about what's going on
and it makes it fun for the kids and

makes it easy for us coaches.

Yeah, I agree.

Yeah, go ahead, Hunter. Sorry.

No, I shouldn't say that.

No, I appreciate it, Coach.

And, you know, like I said, it
wouldn't be possible without the coaches

and the student athletes and their support
and again, I did want to reiterate that,

you know, prior to this year,

play up
points were based on classifications,

and now they're based on division.

So think

as far as how
the divisions are sorted out,

I think you're going to see much more
level power

ratings in those respective divisions.

You won't see maybe a for a school
getting a lot of points

when they're probably in the same division
as those

schools,
you know, maybe same father for a school.

So I think you're going to see the power
is much level, much more level this year.

And I think you're going to get even
better playoffs than last year.

I really do.

Well, that's very exciting.

Like, like I said, I echo
what Coach said there, Hunter,

but the work you do is really amazing
and it's such a to so many people

across the state TV guys,
coaches, players, parents, everybody.

It's it's a website
that's bookmarked on my computer.

I can promise you that I reference it
often I did want to ask you

one last thing before we let you go coach
and I'll do some pics after you go

some teams may be like
we know our airlines and streams

in north DeSoto, Sotos and stuff,

but maybe some teams
that we should look out for now

as we're getting closer to playoffs
past the halfway point of the year.

Yeah, you know,

certainly if you go there
and look at the power ratings,

you'll see all the
the traditional channel schools.

You have your residence in your Nevilles
and your Zachary's and your John Curtis's

and Sterling tunes and your Kentwood kids
and things like that.

But I was trying to pull up the

the list
I put out today of undefeated teams

because there's a lot of teams on there
that you might look at and go,

I don't know,
how are they still undefeated?

But they've really
they've got really good teams.

I mean, you look at things like Darren
Woods, who's who's undefeated right now.

They play
they're going to play against Loyola Prep.

I think that's going to be a good game
this week.

But, you know,
Saint Mary's down in Natchitoches.

They they always

they're always one of those teams
that tend to fly under the radar as well.

But they're really good 118

And then Cameron Crowe won the state
championship a couple of years back.

I think they're going to have a team
on that select side to challenge the

the John Curtis's and the brother Martins
and the world and the Holy Cross is,

you know, washed out.

Christian is certainly a team
that you have to look forward to to see

and maybe not in the Superdome,
but in the Final Four.

But then you just continue to look at that
list.

You got bunker, you got East Saint
John Pine, you've got Northlake Christian.

These, you know, these are some teams
that you're probably going

to be seeing from the quarter
finals on come November.

Even, you know, you've got the finish
state champions in Saint Charles.

I think Ruston is going to
maybe get back to the Superdome this year.

They've got a really good team.

So it really is broad

this year
as far as you know, who may be contenders

and who's going to make a strong run
at the Superdome.

And that's what I really like about this
new playoff format, is it gives everybody

that opportunity without hindering
and watering down the playoff format.

So and then, you know,
certainly the the NCAA's of the world

who are trying to get back
to the Superdome as well.

But yeah, certainly
those teams that I name

a couple of those, you've
probably never even heard of them before.

But I promise
you, you're going to remember their names

towards the end of the postseason.

In some of them might be holding up
a trophy in the Superdome,

just it just goes to show you
how much how talented Louisiana

is and how that how great our student
athletes in the state are.

And, you know, I would put our student
athletes up against anybody,

any other state in this country.

I really do think we have some of the best
student athletes out there.

And I see it all the time.

Even in northwest Louisiana alone,
you watch NFL on Sunday,

strong chance you're going to see a guy
just from northwest Louisiana, much less

the entire state. You're definitely going
to see a Louisiana native.

And yeah, totally,
totally agree with you there, Coach.

If you don't have anything else
for Hunter,

we'll go ahead and cut him
loose and get to our picks.

Now, I do appreciate you, Hunter.

Thank you, brother.

All right, guys,
thank you all so much. Of course.

Thank you. And hey,

we need to make a deal here before a year
passes and we have you on again.

Let's get you in studio.

Let's get your co-host
in an episode of The Fever Man.

Sounds great. Just let me know when.

Yeah, we'll make it work out.

Man 100 power go preps dot com.

If you haven't checked it out,

I would be surprised if you're listening
to the show and you haven't checked out.

Go Perhaps. But if you haven't, go
check it out. Hunter Thanks again.

You are the best. Love
having you on the show, man.

Thanks, guys.
Have a good one. You too, man.

All right, Coach.

I got a man I got to.

I got some ground to make up here.
I don't know what I'm.

I don't know what I got.

You'll be fine.

I think we might think
it might already be over.

Okay, so we got some games.

Obviously, we start.

We start with DeSoto and Evangel.

I would like North DeSoto in this game.

Well, I don't disagree with that pick,

man. They're good. They're really good.

Delafield is good.

Cole Corey out there as one of receivers
is one of the best in the state.

You know, they they
they're playing for something.

They were in the dome last year.

They were so close to winning it at all in
this game

is one of those games
that they are going to be fired up for.

But so is the banjo and it's at home.

And so I'm going to take the Eagles,

you know,

not so much that that it's it's my pick.

It's because, you know,
I would love to see I'd love to see.

EVANGEL Yeah.

You know, just just get it rolling and
and get that big win over North Dakota.

I know that it's a you know, you got your
former coach and all that kind of stuff.

At the end of the day,

that Evangel crew, they've been playing
what most of those guys

for a start for four years
and that's one that they won.

So I'll take the Eagles in that game.

Yeah.

For me with the Griffins, I think it's

because I've been cutting
all these highlights on these streams

and seeing the above angle and watching
how just how dominant they've been.

And it's all three phases.

It's not just the offense,
they're doing it every way.

But yeah, I mean, I'm with you
with this Evangel squad.

You know, I went out,
I did their countdown story.

I love these kids.

They are just so down to earth
and just great kids.

I mean, you think of a guy like Gabe
relevant.

He's a bona fide superstar out there.
He was.

He was as sweet as could be.

Just humble kid.

Very thankful
to even be getting interviewed.

And yeah, I love both these teams.

I mean, it's so nice to just have Evangel
back in that conversation.

Yeah, I think this is going to be
a ton of fun and I'm going to Griffins

and I'm hoping that Coach Dunn
can give me some much needed points here.

Okay, I know what I'm going to do
for the third game,

but I'm looking through the list
for the second game and I'm in.

I'm I don't want to
I want to branch out from one five.

I was thinking Parkway Bird,
but I want to branch out.

What about Loyola and Narbonne Woods?

Loyola taking on unbeaten

Narbonne Woods, The fliers playing a lot
better with Bryce Carpenter under center.

What do you think there?

I'll give you that.

I'll give you a first pick.

Oh, here's the deal, man.

I love the fliers, right?

I mean, that's what
that's where I cut my teeth coaching.

And I'm loyal to that kind of stuff.

To a fault.

You know, I didn't play for Coach Green.

I know him. He's. He's. He's a great,
great coach.

A great man is always,
always been very, very kind to me.

So, you know,
I do know that Narbonne Woods.

Good And in Loyola
is really good on defense.

I'm telling you, man
I mean he knows how to coach

and you know, Brice is playing well.

You know they've got Patrick Gosling

probably one of the kids
that you don't hear enough about.

That kid can play plays, offense,
plays, defense.

I mean, he's he's the real deal.

I don't know enough to to say

Darren Woods is is better
and so I'm going to go with the fliers

give me the Timberwolves
then kind of I'm playing straight.

You're feeling good about that one
because they're undefeated.

I'm playing strategy here.

I know.

I knew you would pick Loyola,
so I'll give I gave you that one.

I tell you, I'm trying my best here, man.

You got to do what you got to do.

Finally.

Come on, man.

Magnolia playing, dealing for.

I'll give it to you First pick or you got
you give me give me the Mariners.

I'll take you. There we go. Okay,
You take the Mariners.

I got the Lions.

Let's go.

PD, not Patrick Dennis.

He's back there to my. To my left.

I felt them move
when I said his initials there.

Yeah, he.

He's. He's our number one
listener of the podcast. He listens.

I mean, he listens live.

He gets the exclusive, exclusive audio.

I don't think he has a IFB
in, so he only hears me.

But anyways, so yeah.

All right.

So there we go.
We've got our three picks in.

We actually did him on air this time, man,
I tell you, we talked

this was almost an hour episode,
definitely our longest of the year.

But it's that time of year, right? We're
getting right here to the nitty gritty.

Playoffs are starting to take shape.

Weather's feeling better.

Hockey season started tonight.

Nothing better than this time of year.

Coach and especially,

I would assume, in the coaching lifestyle,
this just got to be like,

just as good as Christmas.

Yeah,

Christmas is my favorite,
but the fall is the best time of the year.

October, you've got everything.

I mean, you've got playoff baseball,
you've got preseason basketball,

which I don't watch basketball
till after Christmas anyways.

You've got college football,
you know, you've got you've got NFL,

you've got high school football.

I mean, it is you know,
it's the best time of the year.

So, yeah, man, I love it
when the weather starts to change

and it gets chilly at night.
You got to pack a jacket.

I love that.

I love the crisp, cool mornings.

You know, I love seeing the you know,

the leaves change
and the wind blowing a little bit.

I love those country road drives down
to Natchitoches, the Red River.

I love that.

So it best time of the year, man.

No question.

And here's well, not tonight.

They're not playing tonight.

But starting starting next week
we'll have our strong arm

I my direction to have the Buffalo Sabers
games in the monitor.

There.
So I'll be reacting during our show.

We'll have we'll be back to that again.
Can't wait.

Yeah man I got nothing else.

That was a jam packed episode again
go preps dot com for our listeners

for a hunter's website It really is
awesome if you haven't seen it already.

Coach, you're the man.

We wish you the best of luck.

We have
We'll have our Northwestern state crew

shooting that game down in Turpin
Stadium for you Friday night.

Man, I appreciate it.

And I look,
I got to see a little bit there.

The Parkway game for homecoming
when I was with my daughter.

But I made it four one drive of the game.

One drive. Yeah.

And a pull it in.

And we scored
and then they drove the field and scored

and we had that last, that last drive
right there.

And so yeah, I did. I did.

I didn't
get to enjoy too much of our game, but

appreciate you making a big deal about,

you know, seeing my Daughters Queen
and all that kind of stuff.

It was fun, man.

It's my my last kid at home.

We're going to be empty nesters,
so trying to soak it up while I can't.

Well, and that's why I wanted to do it.

I think this is that stuff like that
is what makes this sport so special.

That human element.

You know, we talk about all
you guys on TV and, you know,

we talk about your teams and everything,
but there's a lot more than that.

And we like to showcase that the best
we can.

So we I do appreciate
you allowing us to do that, you know,

letting us kind of in there,

giving us that peek behind the curtain
there is really, really cool stuff.

And again,
congratulations to your daughter

and I'm glad it all worked out.

The only the only part of my plan
that didn't work out is we just didn't

I could not keep my photographer there

long enough
to get you getting out of the truck.

I really wanted that shot of you.

Like getting out of the truck, getting
the shirt tucked in, running in there.

But it was just. I'm glad. I'm glad.

I'm glad you didn't get it, because,
I mean, I got, you know, down to

next to
nothing out there in the parking lot

just to get just to get the coaches
gear on.

I had to get suit off and all that. Yeah.

I mean, it it took a second.

But you know what? I'm going to miss that.

All told you up front.

And my kids, they mean everything to me.

So I wanted her to know, you know,
she sacrifices a lot.

So one thing, coaches, that's one thing
coaches do is they coach

everybody else's kids around
everybody else's kid so much.

And sometimes our kids get neglected.

And I,

I wasn't going to allow that at this point
in time with my daughter being a senior.

So, you know, thank you for

coming and getting
a picture and all that kind of stuff.

That was cool.

And and, you know,
I know other coaches do the same thing, so

I'm just one of many that have sacrificed
a little bit for the kids.

Loved it. It was great to see Eli.

Love, love you guys.

It's so nice to be able
to get a quick little Hey, what's up?

Especially on a Friday night when we're
all so busy, so in search, you're the man.

We'll see you next week.
My brother will see you Friday night.

And to all of our listeners out there,
thanks as always for hanging out with us.

Enjoy your week of high school football.

We'll see you right back here
on the three favorite point after podcast.