DRAWING A BEAD—Hammond DBs Demetrius Maryland (24) and Tyler August (2), here trying to corral Amite’s Thomas Hart (10) during last week’s loss to the Warriors, will try to help Hammond get in the win column Friday when the Tors open 7-5A at Fontainebleau. Photo by Mike Kiral

The preliminary pop quizzes for District 7-5A for Hammond and Ponchatoula are over. Now, Ponchatoula head coach Mike Baiamonte knows the real exams are about to begin.

Ponchatoula, coming off non-district wins over Walker and Live Oak, opens district play Friday night against Northshore in The Swamp.

"I like where we are sitting," Baiamonte said. "I thought coming into the season that those were two games that we should win. I'm happy that we are in this position. But I also know now we start getting into those tests. The district is a tough one."

Hammond (0-1) is at Fontainebleau for its District 7-5A opener. The Tors lost to Amite in its season opener 41-0 last Friday, but the final score was kind of misleading. The game was 7-0 at the half and 13-0 midway through the third quarter before the Warriors capitalized on three Tors turnovers.

< B>Northshore at Ponchatoula

< B> Baiamonte picked Northshore as one of the district favorites going into the season and the Panthers have done little to disprove him through the first two weeks of the season, rolling through East Jefferson (15-0) and Bonnabel (41-19).

"Northshore is a great team, well-coached," Baiamonte said. "Their program has turned the corner over the past couple of years. They are really starting to win games so Friday will be a great test for our kids."

The real test for the Green Wave defense will be containing junior quarterback Jervious Epherson. Epherson, who missed most of the 2007 season with a foot injury, rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns against East Jeff, then threw for one touchdown and ran for another against Bonnabel.

"I think he will be the best offensive player in the district," Baiamonte said. "I know he is going to present a big challenge for my defense this week."

Epherson runs a spread offense that also features Channing Wise, who ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns last week.

The line is led by massive tackle Chris Faulk, who has committed to LSU. Faulk also plays defensive end in the Panthers' 4-3 set. Other defensive players to watch include end James Wigstrom, linebacker Chris Wade and defensive back Jimmy Wentworth.

Ponchatoula will counter with running back Joseph Green. Green has run for 361 yards and six touchdowns, including a 271-yard, four-touchdown effort against Live Oak last Friday.The Green Wave ran for 380 yards in the game.

"From a defensive standpoint, we have to prevent the big play and they have a lot of big-play capabilities," Baiamonte said of the keys to the game. "Offensively, we have to keep doing what we have been doing — run the ball effectively and stay away from turnovers.

“There is no reason to give them an extra possession, that's for sure, because of their offensive threats."

< B>Hammond at Fontainebleau

< B> Hammond will look to build on the effort of those first 30 minutes against Amite when it opens District 7-5A play at Fontainebleau Friday night.

"It gives us some confidence but it was still 41-0," Tors coach Rusty Barrilleaux said. "We did a lot of things wrong and we need to step back and see how we can better ourselves. Basically when you go from a third quarter with five minutes left down 13-0 and you finish the game and its 41-0, we have to look at what we did wrong and correct those mistakes and play four quarters.

“As coaches, we definitely tried to do some things differently this week in order to get them prepared physically and mentally for four quarters of football. But it was definitely something to build on, definitely something to show that you can do this. It just has to be done for 48 minutes."

Barrilleaux said the Tors will definitely have to play four quarters against Fontainebleau. The Bulldogs (2-0) blanked Douglass 31-0 last week after holding off Jesuit 30-28 in the opener.

Fontainebleau is a young squad, but does return its backfield intact from a team that went 6-5 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. One of the wins came at Hammond, 14-10.

The Bulldogs will again use a hybrid wing-T offense. Senior Clay Fritscher, who quarterbacked the Bulldogs last year, moves to running back with junior Addison Melancon moving behind center.

Defensively, Fontainebleau uses a 4-2-5. The Bulldogs are strong up front with the return of end Gerald Gruenig and tackle Darrel Brown.

Hammond moved the ball against Amite last Friday but hurt itself with penalties and turnovers. Justin Betts ran for 54 yards on nine carries. Torian Weber had 17 carries for 46 yards. Trevor Ragan completed 6-of-12 passes for 45 yards.

"We have to read our keys on defense and make sure we know exactly who we have to follow in their wing-T because that is the key,” Barrilleaux said. “If you follow your keys, it will take you to the ball. If we don't do that, it could be a long night for us on defense.

“Offensively, we have to keep the football and control the clock. We have to hold onto it and make sure our stupid penalties are cut out. And we have to try to give a four-quarter effort. That's the key to our success."

Last week's game was Hammond's first action since the jamboree after its first two games against Catholic-Baton Rouge and South Plaquemines were cancelled.

"We've only had one game before hand so it's not like we've had three contests to really look at," Barrilleaux said. "All we have is basically last week, so we still have a lot of things to put on the table and do somethings differently. We really haven't opened up everything that we want to open up and hopefully we will get a chance this week."

After the series of starts and stops schedule-wise to open the season, Barrilleaux said he is just excited to start district.

"We're ready to go," Barrilleaux said. "But Fontainebleau is not an easy place to play. We definitely need to be prepared, play four quarters of football and execute the game plan."