Ask any Louisiana high school football coach what it means to still be playing during the Thanksgiving holidays, and the answer is always the same. They will tell you that it means that this has been a successful season. 

That is because playing the day after “Turkey Day” means that a school has advanced to the quarterfinals of the LHSAA postseason, just two games shy of completing the journey on the “Road to the Dome”, referring to the Superdome in New Orleans, LA where the state championships of each “select” and “non-select” Division is played.

For Jonesboro-Hodge High School playing during the Thanksgiving holidays has an extra special meaning as well. It means the Tigers get another shot at defending Division IV state runner-up and 2025 District 1-1A champion Haynesville, who is the top-seeded team in this year’s postseason as well. 

“Anyone who follows ‘small school’ football knows that to win our division’s state championship, you have to go through Haynesville,” said Blankenship. “We are looking forward to having another shot at beating them.”

Some may feel that Blankenship’s statement is just something that he is supposed to say. After all, who looks forward to playing Haynesville, the perennial power of what was Class A and now Division IV football? 

The record shows that since the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) was founded in 1921 that through the 2024  football season that Haynesville has won 17 state championships (the last being in 2014) and 11 times have finished as state runner-up, including the last two seasons. 

Added to the impressive credentials is that 47 straight times, Haynesville has made the playoffs, a streak that runs from 1979 to this season trailiing only John Curtis and Kentwood High Schools for most ever in the history of the LHSAA.  

Since beginning play in 1907, Haynesville has won 862 games while losing only 310 and playing to a tie 34 more times, which tabulates to an incredible 73.67 winning percentage. 

The majority of those victories come from father Alton “Red” Franklin and son David Franklin, who have led the Golden Tornado program since 1967, with “Red” as the elder Franklin was called, having a 34-year tenure and David taking the reins in 2002. Combined, the pair has 14 state titles and 6 runner-up finishes. 

As far as the series history between JHHS and Haynesville goes, the Golden Tornado holds a 24-12-2 advantage, including a 46-0 victory in 2024 and a 43-0 win earlier this season, running their winning streak against the Tigers to 11 straight dating back to the Tigers’ last victory in 1980.

That was the season that the two teams played each other twice in the same season, as well, with JH and Haynesville playing to a 14-14 tie during the regular season and JHHS winning 26-25 in triple overtime in the playoffs. 

Both teams come into the contest riding long winning streaks with #1 Haynesville completing an undefeated 10-0 regular season and winning their second round contest against Claiborne Parish rival Homer by a 36-19 margin. The District 1-1A champion has scored 553 points while giving up only 91 for an impressive 50.27 – 8.27 margin of victory per game average.  

Jonesboro-Hodge, seeded #9 in the Division IV bracket, comes into the matchup with a 9-3 mark and having won six straight games, including a 44-20 victory over North Central and a 39-33 triumph over Vinton in the playoffs. The last loss suffered by the Tigers was the week six match-up against Haynesville. 

So how in the world does Jonesboro-Hodge feel like it has any shot at this Haynesville team that has already given the Tigers their worst loss of the year the last two years in a row? 

“We are not the same team that played Haynesville the first time around,” Blankenship quickly stated. “The first time we played them, we didn’t have Landon (Boston), and Jaquan (Qualls) was just really starting to get his feet wet. 

The points are valid ones.  Boston, who was forced to miss five games with a hamstring injury, has been a dynamo on both sides of the ball since his return, rushing for 648 yards on just 67 carries over the last six games for a 9.67 yards per carry average. More so, his presence in the backfield gives the Tigers a devastating one-two punch. When coupled with Quarterback Dakota Knox’s running capability, which has seen the senior signal caller rush for 1164 yards this season, the Tigers have demonstrated a tremendous ground game that seemingly gets better each week, culminating in 301 yard rushing against North Central and a season best 411 yards churned out on the ground against Vinton where both Boston and Knox rushed for over 190 yards each. 

Qualls has been another major factor in the Tigers’ late-season success. After playing only spottily in the first four games, the Sophomore has become a force on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Qualls has led the Tigers with 284 receiving yards over the last five games for an 18.93 per catch average. Included is his scoring five touchdowns. Defensively, he has 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery, and constantly breaks up passes from his cornerback position. 

Earlier in the season, when the two teams met, the Tigers gained just 121 total yards and only 53 yards on the ground, while Haynesville ran at will, going over and around Tiger defenders when they had the ball as the Golden Tornado front line wreaked havoc with the Tigers’ front line. Blankenship expects a different story this time around. 

“I am extremely pleased with the way our line play has come around,” said Blankenship. “They are playing the best they have as a group all year, and I fully expect them to give Haynesville the best battle they have seen so far.”

One final reason the Tigers have a chance to “shock the world,” as some say a JHHS victory would do, is that the team as a whole has much more confidence in their ability to win than the first time we played them.

“We have had so many games where we have fallen behind and come back and won that the guys have learned that they have what it takes to win, no matter what the situation,” beamed Blankenship. “Always before when we played Haynesville, we hoped we would win but felt like we had to do everything right.. This time, we have the confidence we can win even if things go against us during the game.” 

That might make all the difference.