After starting off the 2026 season with so much adversity — from an 0-2 start to losing winnable district games — Southside football was ready to get back to playing its brand of football.
The Sharks truly looked like themselves in Week 7 against Lafayette in a district matchup holding tons of weight. They came to the Mighty Lions’ den and ran through it for a key 35-20 victory.
“This team is growing a lot and we’re real talented,” Southside coach Jess Curtis said. “ A lot of people are counting us out and we like that. Our kids kind of reset and we’re back to work. We have a lot of seniors on this team that have played back-to-back quarterfinals playoffs and that’s what we do at Southside. We’re hard to beat.”
Southside proved to be too tough of an opponent for the a Mighty Lions team that got off to a hot start. Here’s how the Sharks got their groove back against the Lions.
Southside’s Thunder and Lighting
The Sharks opened up the drive doing what they do best, running the ball. Senior running back Justin Williams set the tone, taking snap after snap and steamrolling ahead for yardage. Southside capped off the Williams-led drive with another weapon in the backfield in senior Kollen Francois who kicked the game off with an 11-yard touchdown.
“Kollen’s lightning and we got thunder and lighting back there,” Curtis said. “You got two guys that can run through you and then Kollen he can run around you and that’s kind of our offense. They’re going to give us something everytime.”
Francois lit up the Lions defense every time he touched the ball, rushing for about 80 yards and three touchdowns to lead Southside’s scoring. When it wasn’t him, it was the thunderous rushing attack from Williams that got the Sharks on the board. He rushed for a team-high 218 yards and two touchdowns.
“We’re just fearless out there,” Francios said of Southside’s running back room. “We’re ready to go over whatever’s in front of us and we come every week and we work hard. Even the guys that don’t get the spotlight, we still have people out here working hard and grinding even on our scout team. So this is just us showing out on a Friday.”
Getting the Sharks above .500
While Southside’s thunder and lightening show got the job done on offense, the biggest improvement against Lafayette was on defense. The Lions’ fast-paced offense wasted no time getting on the board in the first half, only needing one play to tie the game up in the first quarter.
Leading the charge was senior quarterback and Dartmouth commit Richmond Saunier, who connected with wideout Brenden Shullaw for a 67-yard touchdown in the Lions’ opening drive. The signal caller did all he could, with Lafayette’s leading rusher, Jaden Celestine, out for the majority of the game due to an injury.
Saunier threw for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns, both of them to Shullaw. The Mighty Lions fought till the final few minutes, but Southside’s defense stood strong. Holding the Lions’ explosive offense to just 20 points was key for the Sharks who will face an even tougher opponent next week against St. Thomas More.
“We had a lot of adversity and we just came out here and played because we knew we needed this win,” Williams said. “We just played our style of football, we played as a team, we plated discipline. And we got out of here with the win.”
With this win, the Sharks move to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in district play. On the flip side, Lafayette falls to 1-3 in district play and in need a bounce back as it faces New Iberia in Week 8.
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Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: 'We're back to work': Southside football outlasts Lafayette in Week 7