Friday Night Lights Return: Acadiana’s Top High School Football Matchups This Week

LAFAYETTE, La. (103.3 The GOAT) — It's that time of year: High school football is back, and no one does it quite like South Louisiana.

At almost every Class, 1A through 5A, Acadiana has tremendous athletes and talented schools, each of which is looking for a shot at the playoffs and a state title. There have been some surprising coaching changes, some new talent being discovered, and a lot of great rivalries ready to pick back up.

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The Friday night lights turn on this week (though, for some, it's Thursday night lights), and there are some amazing games already lined up. Here are the highlights of the week:

Teurlings vs. Opelousas: Two teams that made a run into the playoffs last year will meet on Thursday night, each looking for some early momentum. What's more, both teams have new head coaches, which means we'll be seeing something different than last year.

Acadiana vs. Ruston: The Wreckin' Rams will be without Matt McCullough at the helm for the first time in a very long time this year. New head coach Doug Dotson takes over for a program that came up just short in the playoffs last season. What will these Rams look like under his leadership?

St. Thomas More vs. Carencro: It's Cougars vs. Bears as both teams with long histories of football tradition look to prove themselves this season. STM is looking to advance further in postseason play this year, while Carencro turns last year's young team into this year's standard of excellence.

Kaplan vs. Ascension Episcopal: Another matchup between two local teams with new head coaches, this matchup will test the historically hard-nosed Kaplan athletes against the typically quick-paced Ascension squad.

A full list of this week's games is below.