PONCHATOULA - Fans attending Friday night's Ponchatoula-Fontainebleau game could be home in plenty of time to give candy out to the trick-or-treaters.

"They are a wing-T, run-oriented team, and a lot like us in that we try to run the ball as much as possible," Ponchatoula head coach Mike Baiamonte said of Fontainebleau.

"The game won't last too long, that much I can tell you,” Baiamonte said. “There probably won't be too many passes thrown in this game. They are a physical bunch on both sides of the ball - run-oriented on offense and run-stopping on defense. It could be a very interesting night here at The Swamp."

Ponchatoula (3-4, 1-4) will be out to snap a four-game losing streak in District 7-5A. Last week the Green Wave was tied with St. Paul's in the third quarter before the Wolves scored two quick touchdowns. Ponchatoula was still in the game before being held at the St. Paul's 1-yard line and the Wolves held on for a 42-28 victory.

"In the third quarter, we lost the field position battle and St. Paul's did a good job of taking advantage of it," Baiamonte said. "It kind of got to the point where we couldn't overcome that third quarter alone."

Joseph Green ran for 210 yards and two touchdowns for the Green Wave.

Fontainebleau (4-3, 2-3) had less success offensively in a 44-7 loss to Slidell, the Bulldogs' third loss in four games since opening the season 3-0. The Bulldogs were held to 156 yards, 114 on the ground, and were kept out of the end zone on offense. Fontainebleau's lone score came on fumble recovery in the end zone by Justin Church in the fourth quarter.

Addison Melancon was 6-for-20 passing for 42 yards and an interception, while Perrin Sims ran for 41 yards and Vinnie Tonaget for 33.

Baiamonte said the Green Wave will have to play responsibility defense against the Bulldogs wing-T. Offensively, Ponchatoula must have a repeat of last week, when it was able to hold onto the ball and sustain drives.

"We didn't turn it over as much as we had in the past," Baiamonte said. "Hopefully we can come in this week and find a way to play mistake-free football and find a way to get this win because each one is important to us right now."

Ponchatoula is still in the playoff hunt with home games against Fontainbleau and Hammond remaining. The Green Wave is 39th with a 9.00 rating, .83 behind No. 32 Central Lafourche.

"Starting last week, we kind of made this a three-week season," Baiamonte said. "We came out last week, the kids played real hard and we played some pretty good mistake-free football. We weren't perfect, but we were a lot better than we were the previous three.

“We told them on the bus ride home, we have two games left. If you can find a way to win those last two, your chances of being a playoff team are pretty good."

Hammond at Slidell

Hammond's District 7-5A game at Slidell Friday night figures to be a contrast in offensive styles.

Hammond will be trying to establish its rushing attack behind Torian Weber. Slidell, conversely, would rather travel by air behind quarterback Blake Forbis.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the Tors and Tigers will also go into the game with different goals. Hammond (0-6 overall, 0-4) is looking to break through for its first win after losing to Mandeville 34-0 last Friday.

Slidell (4-3, 3-2) is trying to stay in the hunt for the district title. The Tigers, who defeated Fontainebleau 44-7 Friday, are tied for second with St. Paul's and Covington, a game behind Mandeville and Northshore.

Hammond got 80 rushing yards from Weber against Mandeville but were held to 158 yards overall.

"It's no secret that we are going to try to run the ball," Tors head coach Rusty Barrilleaux said. "We tried to do that last week but we didn't have the type of play we wanted up front in order to establish that.

“Everybody up front has to have a hat on a hat every play and allow no penetration. Last week, we didn't do a very good job of that. They were able to get down the line of scrimmage and shut down our run game. This week, we have to come off the ball harder and stay on our blocks a little longer to give our guys creases to run the ball."

Slidell, which shut out Hammond 30-0 last season, allowed 114 yards rushing to Fontainebleau but held the Bulldogs out of the end zone offensively. Fontainebleau's only score came on a fumble recovery in the end zone.

Slidell, on the other hand, did not have much trouble finding the end zone against Fontainebleau. Forbis was 16-for-20 passing for 238 yards and four touchdowns, while also running for 63 yards and a score. Forbis (1,324 yards, 12 TDs on the season) spread the ball around, hitting six different receivers.

Armand Williams led the Tigers with 105 yards on five catches, three of them for touchdowns, while Tyler Ziegler, Zachary Johnson and Travis Markey had three catches apiece. Jaron Wiggins added 59 yards on nine carries as the Tigers racked up 460 yards of offense.

"They are pretty high-powered," Barrilleaux said. "They have some great athletes and they run the offense real well. (Forbis) sits back and finds the open guy. He has some really good targets. And as usual, Slidell is big. They normally have some big guys and this year is no exception."

Pass defense will be an emphasis this week for Hammond, which allowed Mandeville's Andy Bertoniere to pass for 400 yards and two touchdowns Friday. The Tors did hold Skippers to 28 rushing yards on 22 carries and came up with three goal-line stands.

"The bad thing about it is, Slidell does not like to run the ball," Barrilleaux said. "They like to chuck it around, and that is what we are going to see, no doubt about it.

“Anybody who watches the film knows where our weaknesses are and they are going to try to exploit them so we have to have a great week of preparing that and be in the right spot at the right time."