Northshore and Salmen meet up tonight at NHS in the third annual Spanther Bowl, which started following Hurricane Katrina. Kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. Northshore has won both meetings, 24-6 in 2006 and 14-6 in 2007. Last season’s match up was cancelled due to Hurricane Gustav.

There is also a banner for the game. By virtue of their 2007 victory in their last meeting, NHS has held onto the banner.

Northshore coach Mike Bourg has a connection to Salmen. He is a 1983 graduate. He played offensive guard and nose guard for the Spartans. He was a captain his senior year. Bourg also coached there from 1996-1998. He coached the defensive line his first season, before handling the defensive backs and wide receivers his second and third year respectively.

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Both teams are coming off of victories in the Slidell Jamboree. Salmen defeated Pearl River 49-17, while Northshore scored two touchdowns late to defeat Slidell 14-6.

Bourg said Salmen has a really good football team.

“They’re fast and talented like they usually are, but they’ve got size this year,” Bourg said. “When you get teams that are big, they can compete with them.”

Northshore runs the spread offense. Bourg said he’d like to see the unit get more consistent and do a better job of catching the ball.

A welcome sight for Northshore will be the return of wide receiver Adam Chopin, who missed the jamboree with an injury.

Northshore’s other wide outs include, Chase Compton, and Trevor Harrison and Calvin Livas. Last week, Compton caught an eight-yard scoring strike from senior quarterback Jervious Epherson. Epherson also ran in for a five-yard score, which gave the Panthers a 7-6 lead.

Defensively, Salmen runs a 3-4.

Last week, the unit played tough, recording three turnovers, which led to 22 points. They forced three fumbles and recovered two. Isame Faciane returned the first recovery for a touchdown, which gave the Spartans a 14-3 lead. The other turnover was a Chrishawn Dupuy interception.

Offensively, Salmen runs the spread offense.

Last week, they used two quarterbacks in juniors Matt Lipham along with Daniel Sams and got production out of both. Lipham threw three touchdowns to senior wide receiver George Williams, who finished with four receptions for 149 yards. His touchdown catches were four, 64 and 62 yards.

Sams threw one touchdown pass to James Foucha from 15-yards out and he ran one in from 22-yards away.

The running back is Errol Scott. Last week, he scored the game’s first touchdown with a five-yard run.

Defensively, Northshore bases out of the 4-3.

Coach Bourg said the unit played well last week.

“We ran to the ball, but we gotta cut out the mistakes like the penalties and we had a blown coverage,” Bourg said.

The defense forced Slidell to punt three times along with a turnover on downs and they recovered a fumble. Late in the game with the Panthers ahead, 7-6, Eugene Young sacked Slidell’s quarterback and Terangi Phifer recovered it.