TIOGA – A huge District 3-4A contest looms on the Friday horizon.

The DeRidder Dragons (2-1, 1-0) will venture out of Beauregard Parish, journeying to Rapides Parish to square off against the very solid Tioga Indians in a pivotal league matchup.

Tioga enters the contest with a record of 5-1 and a district record of 2-0, having knocked off both Leesville and Peabody in league play.

DeRidder is coming off a hard-fought win over Peabody, the first game the Dragons had since coming off of a 2-week Covid-19 quarantine.

The Indians have been one of the luckier teams in Rapides Parish when it comes to Covid-19 tripping up their season. They were forced to find an opponent in the week before district play began, but that has been about the extent of it for the Indians.

DeRidder, on the other hand, lost a game due to Hurricane Delta and two more due to Covid-19. Fortunately, this will be the Dragons fourth game of the season, which will allow them to be in contention for the playoffs.

Tioga features a very prolific passing game, with 4-year starter Blake McGehee leading the way. He has a number of weapons at his disposal, but his favorite target has been Ethan Christman.

As for the Dragons, they are led defensively by Quincy Archield, who had a fumble recovery for a touchdown last week. The Black Shirt defense has been stellar for most of the season, even holding Jennings' standout Trevor Etienne to a season-low 62 yards.

Offensively, the Dragons will look to quarterback K.J. Gooden to be the offensive leader. Gooden has a live arm and shifty moves when he does run, providing DeRidder with a great threat under center.

Isaiah Roberson is the leading rusher for DeRidder, having crossed the century mark in all three games, while Ashton Broussard is a favorite target of Gooden's in the passing attack.

This article originally appeared on Leesville Daily Leader: Dragons travel to take on Tioga