Rayne High will enter into unfarmiliar territory Friday when they host No. 2-ranked St. Charles Catholic in the quarterfinals of the 2011 state football playoffs, a place the Wolves haven’t visited since the glory days of Josh Reed.

“We’re just so happy to be here at this point,” comments Rayne High head coach Curt Ware as he prepares for Friday’s contest.

“When you come off such a streak like we had in district to be where we are right now, you can't ask for anything more from these guys.”

The Wolves began the 2011 season with a 5-0 slate, defeating a couple ranked teams, collecting enough power points to attain a state ranking.

But district was another story - falling in five straight games to farmiliar faces.

Ware continues, “I explained it very simply to our guys - run the offense, hold strong on defense and limit turnovers and you’ll see a difference.”

And what a difference it has made. Rayne avenged a district loss against intra-parish rival Church Point with a 22-14 bi-district win, followed by last week’s 30-12 surprise stomping of #10 Bossier City. Both games seeing the Wolves limiting their turnovers to only one each; in addition, forcing their opponents to increase their turnover stats and allowing the Wolves to capitalize their scoring opportunities.

The Wolves will face St. Charles Catholic of LaPlace Friday, the top-ranked team in 3-A with No. 1 Farmerville knocked out in regional play last week.

With their two top running backs out with injuries, the Comets have seen a number of players step up their game.

Speedy running back Jeffrey Hall picked up that slack last week, returning the opening kickoff 76-yards for a touchdown. Hall also intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble and scored a rushing touchdown. He carried seven times for 42 yards and a TD with the Patterson win last week.

Freshman running back Austin Weber was the team’s leading rusher with 68 yards on eight carries and two TDs against Patterson. SCC used seven different ball carriers in the game, gaining 163 yards.

The Comets are led by quarterback Donnie Savoie. He has completed 92-of-139 passes for 1,409 yards and 14 touchdowns. Savoie completed 10-of-14 passes for 132 yards last week.

Sammy Miller was the leading receiver last week catching five balls for 53 yards, while Weber had two catches for 23 yards. Three other receivers had one catch each.

Tickets were scheduled to be pre-sold this week. But, due to the campus closure for the Thanksgiving holidays, tickets will only be available the night of the game Friday. Gate sales begin at 5:30 p.m. at $10 each, on a first come, first serve basis. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Wolf Stadium. Hope to see you there.