Slidell High goes up against Holy Cross in a battle of Tigers tonight at L.V. McGinty Sr. Stadium.

In their last meeting two years ago, Holy Cross beat Slidell 28-21.

Slidell is coming off a 14-6 loss to Northshore in the Slidell jamboree as the Panthers scored two touchdowns in the final 3:04 for the victory.

Slidell running back Jaron Wiggins runs in the open field, while dodging defenders during last week's jamboree game against Northshore at SHS. (File Photo by Chris Kinkaid)

Holy Cross lost to Mandeville 22-7 in the Covington Jamboree.

Holy Cross moved down to Class 3A from 4A. They were in District 9-4A, which included Pearl River and Salmen among others. Now the Tigers compete in District 10-3A, which has Ben Franklin, Carver, Clark, Cohen, De La Salle, John McDonogh and McMain.

Barry Wilson, who enters his eighth year as the Tigers’ head coach, said the team will play a lot of freshmen and sophomores. He feels it’s a good game for Holy Cross.

“They’re a good football team,” Wilson said. “When you play a 5A team, you show up and play your best. Hopefully we can show improvement. You have to play people that are good to improve. They’re well coached and Artie (Liuzza) does a great job with them.”

Offensively, Slidell runs the spread with senior quarterback Randal Meyer calling signals. Last week, Meyer threw for 98 yards and a 47-yard first half touchdown to senior wide receiver Armand Williams.

Williams is one of Meyer’s targets. The other wide outs for Slidell include seniors Derrick Comeaux and Zack Clark along with junior C.J. Hampton.

The running back is senior Jaron Wiggins.

They will be going against a Holy Cross defense that runs odd and even fronts.

Wilson said his top defenders are junior middle linebacker Brenton Bowman, sophomore weakside linebacker Trey Hooper and junior lineman Stephen Kleamenakis.

Offensively, Holy Cross runs a spread offense, which can change. Holy Cross has a two-quarterback system. Junior Ryan Deemes gets the start and freshman Tucker Herzog will also get in.

Running back Devin Smith is one of four seniors on offense.

The wide receiving corps includes sophomore Joel Pichon, seniors Louis Colin and juniors Taylor Eymard along with Darryl Watson. Wilson said Pichon is a great basketball and possesses a good amount of tools to be a good football player. Wilson said Pichon is learning the game.

Defensively, Slidell is multiple.

SHS coach Artie Liuzza said Holy Cross does some different things with the spread than Slidell does.

Last week, Slidell’s unit kept Northshore off the board for nearly the entire game. They didn’t force any turnovers, but they forced two punts and a turnover on downs. Also, Kenyon Adams recorded a sack, which led to a missed field goal attempt.