14 local teams participated at St. Edmund High School for the Tri-Parish 7v7 Tournament presented by Gridiron Football, and the 7v7 tournament did not disappoint. Starting from 3:00 P.M. all the way to 8:00 P.M., every team was fighting for the right to come out as 7v7 tournament champions, and in the end, only one team came out on top. That team happened to be the ultra-talented Opelousas Tigers led by Jimmy Zachery.
Coming off a great 2022 campaign, the Opelousas Tigers got the offseason off to a great start by having a dominant showing at the tournament. The Tigers went through pool play undefeated in three games and because of that, earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs, but the game off did not put any rust on a hot Tigers team that defeated Port Barre 17-9 in the Quarterfinals and St. Edmund 49-12 in the semifinals before meeting the Iota Bulldogs in a matchup of undefeated teams for the championship trophy.
The matchup of undefeated teams certainly lived up to the hype as the Iota Bulldogs, led by head coach Ray Aucoin, struck first and jumped up to an early 16-6 lead, but the Tigers were resilient and battled all the way back to pull within four at 16-12. As time was winding down to the last couple of seconds, the Tigers ultimately scored on the last play of the game to come from behind to not only complete the comeback but to end up with the championship trophy undefeated.
There is no question about the talent that the Tigers have as they are headlined by some of the state’s top 2025 prospects in RB D’Shaun Ford, LB Corey Amos, WR Korey Fontenot, and QB Zackeus Malveaux, but what was most impressive about the Tigers’ unbeatable run was how everybody came together and got the job done.
“We pushed these guys hard. I demand a lot out of my guys. I am just proud of them. We dug deep and found a way to win. We talk about this all the time about who is going to make a play and who is going to step up in the moment. I got to say I am so proud of my guys and now, we are champions.”
Opelousas High School Head Coach Jimmy Zachery
Although the Tigers made it look easy, it was definitely no easy task as there was a lot of great competition throughout the tournament.
As mentioned before, Iota had themselves a great day as well led by their 2025 quarterback Peyton Renfro. They also went through their pool undefeated and earned a bye. In the playoffs, the Bulldogs went through Sacred Heart 28-20 in the second round, Acadiana Christian 28-12 in the Quarterfinals, and Opelousas Catholic 32-16 in the Semifinals before coming up just short in the championship game.
Also making the final four were two of the top 1A private school programs in the state of Louisiana in Opelousas Catholic and tournament host St. Edmund High School. The Blue Jays of St. Edmund won their Quarterfinal matchup in one of the best games of the day as the home team was able to squeak out a 36-34 victory over Westminster Christian Academy (Lafayette) in overtime led by their 2025 QB Kane West and star 2026 RB Ke’von Johnson.
In other playoff matchups, Port Barre defeated Beau Chene 20-12, Westminster Christian Academy (Lafayette) defeated Ville Platte 22-8, Acadiana Christian defeated Northwest 17-14, Sacred Heart defeated St. Edmund’s freshman team 24-17 before losing to Opelousas Catholic in the Quarterfinals 28-20, and finally, St. Edmund’s varsity team defeated Berchman 39-8 in the first round.
While the veteran programs like the ones represented in the final four put on a good show and were competing for the title, it was also an opportunity for upcoming programs like J.S. Clark, Westminster Christian Academy (Lafayette) and Berchman’s Academy to compete and give themselves a measuring stick against some of the more established programs.
Finally, a team that definitely impressed was Acadiana Christian, which is a team that has been one of the best homeschool programs in the state. They matched up well against some of the top LHSAA programs in the Opelousas area. Leading the way was their 2024 quarterback Samuel Tullos and 2025 wide receiver Kamorie Boyd as the duo connected for seven touchdowns throughout the day.
All in all, it was a great tournament, and every team got a lot out of the day’s action. For St. Edmund head coach James Shiver and the whole Blue Jay community, it was a great day.
“It was a lot of work, but it was fun. We had 14 teams here. A lot of the teams do know where our school is and do know where our campus is, but it is really good to see them here. We had a lot of people out here today. We do it for the kids, for the community, and just to put our school out there. That’s what we do.”
St. Edmund High School Head Coach James Shiver
It was a fun day to be a part of for Gridiron Football and we cannot thank Coach Shiver and the whole St. Edmund staff enough for allowing us to be a part of the great event. For complete coverage of the event including scores, standings, pictures, and streamed games from the tournament, continue to scroll below!
Here are the scores and standings from the tournament. Special thanks to Virginia Shiver for the assist with all the scores from the tournament!
Standings (Before Playoff Play):
Pool A:
Opelousas: 3-0
Ville Platte: 1-2
Sacred Heart: 1-2
Acadiana Christian: 1-2
Pool B:
Northwest: 2-1
Berchmans Academy: 0-3
Pool C:
Iota: 3-0
St. Edmund (Blue): 2-1
Beau Chene: 1-2
JS Clark: 0-3
Pool D:
Westminster Christian Academy (Lafayette): 2-1
Port Barre: 1-2
St. Edmund (White): 0-3
Scores:
3:00 (Pool Play)
Opelousas 19 Ville Platte 6
Iota 28 Beau Chene 8
3:30 (Pool Play)
Sacred Heart 26 Acadiana Christian 20
St. Edmund (Blue) 31 JS Clark 6
Westminster (Lafayette) 20 Port Barre 12
Opelousas Catholic 17 Northwest 14
4:00 (Pool Play)
Opelousas 19 Acadiana Christian 16
Opelousas Catholic 31 Berchmans Academy 16
St. Edmund (Blue) 46 Beau Chene 0
Westminster (Lafayette) 28 St. Edmund (White) 18
4:30 (Pool Play)
Ville Platte 8 Sacred Heart 7
Northwest 12 Berchmans Academy 6
Iota 34 JS Clark 12
Port Barre 21 St. Edmund (White) 6
5:00 (Pool Play)
Acadiana Christian 9 Ville Platte 8
Northwest 12 Westminster (Lafayette) 8
Iota 23 St. Edmund (Blue) 18
Opelousas Catholic 36 Port Barre 12
5:30 (Pool Play)
Opelousas 15 Sacred Heart 9
Beau Chene 16 JS Clark 0
St. Edmund (White) 31 Berchmans Academy 12
6:00 (1st Round Playoffs):
Opelousas Catholic 31 JS Clark 16
Port Barre 20 Beau Chene 12
Sacred Heart 24 St. Edmund (White) 17
Acadiana Christian 17 Northwest 14
6:30 (1st Round & Quarterfinal Games):
Opelousas 17 Port Barre 9
Iota 28 Acadiana Christian 12
Westminster (Lafayette) 22 Ville Platte 8
St. Edmund (Blue) 39 Berchmans Academy 8
7:00 (Quarterfinal Games):
Opelousas Catholic 28 Sacred Heart 20
St. Edmund 36 Westminster Christian (Lafayette) 34 in overtime
7:30 (Semifinal Games):
Opelousas 49 St. Edmund 12
Iota 32 Opelousas Catholic 16
8:00 (Championship Game):
Opelousas 18 Iota 16
Check out some of the games that were live streamed throughout the day plus post tournament interviews and reactions below! Make sure to like us on Facebook!
Finally, check out all these great photos taken by Andy Bryson and Will Strother! Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and keep up to date with everything football only on our website at www.gridironfootballusa.com!
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