By Jake McCoy
This Friday the DeQuincy Fighting Tigers will put their pads on and buckle their chin straps as they all head down Highway 190 to take on the Basile Bearcats in a controlled scrimmage.
DeQuincy is looking to bounce back from last year’s disappointing 4-7 campaign that saw back to back losses to their arch rival Vinton in the week 10 District Championship game as well as the first round of the playoffs. You can imagine the Tigers we’ll be going into the 2026 season with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove.
The Tigers offense will be led by new quarterback Sley Gardner who transferred from Rosepine. They will also have returning receivers Jeremy Gatlin Jr. and Landon Joyce. Defensively Landon Joyce will lead the secondary as the Tigers defense will look to cause problems for opposing teams.
The Tigers opponent Basile will be making the jump to Class 2A this year for the first time in program history. However, they will be competing in one of the toughest 2A districts in the state with teams, such as Kinder, Welsh, and Notre Dame.
The Bearcats are led by first year head coach Josh Andrus who previously served as the head coach at Iota from 2015-21 and brought the program back to it’s winning standard. He certainly has a way of reestablishing excellence in a football program so it’s safe to say that DeQuincy will have a quality preseason test this Friday against what is expected to be a very well coached Basile squad.
We encourage the community to come on out this Friday and support the DeQuincy Tigers!
Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Leroy Soileau Stadium in Basile.
Geaux Tigers!
