Block, Sicily Island eye Friday’s showdown

Published 10:19 pm Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Block High School knocked off Sicily Island 8-6 in a jamboree scrimmage Aug. 26.

Now the two LHSAA Class 1A foes will tee it up in a regular season-contest.

Block is set to host Sicily Island at 7 p.m. Friday in a contest for Catahoula Parish bragging rights.

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“It’s a parish rivalry,” Block coach Josh Loy said. “I think people around here are getting excited.”

Loy said he expects both teams to be greatly improved from the last time the two teams saw each other.

“We made a lot of mistakes in that scrimmage and they did as well,” he said. “Watching their game film (last week) they got after Vidalia.”

Sicily Island ended up falling to Vidalia, 34-6. Block, meanwhile, fell on the road to Class 4A Buckeye, 50-30, and Sicily Island coach Donald Money said he saw similarities in the two setbacks.

“They’re coming off a game much like what we had. Buckeye is a 4A team, and they wore Block down kind of like the way Vidalia did us. For the number of players that they have, they have a pretty stout team.”

Both teams are led by their talented playmakers at quarterback. Block’s Zorian Bowie was 13 of 21 passing for 221 yards and three touchdowns last week.

“I think the main thing that was very impressive about him is leadership,” Loy said. “He never let anyone get down, and he was picking guys up. To me, that was the biggest factor even above his play. We’re going to need his leadership more than anything.

Tigers signal-caller, meanwhile, Tyreke Tolliver threw for more than 100 yards on just 14 attempts, including a touchdown pass.

“He’s a good passer, and he makes good decisions. He sees the field well,” Money said. “He’s tough kid, and he’s fast. He can out of the way of defenders and get around them.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Jonesville.