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After earning a first round bye, the Lafayette Christian football team will get their postseason officially underway on Friday night. The Cougars have a date with reigning stage champion Unity in the GAPPS state semifinals at home.

This game will serve as a rematch from the regular season matchup between the two teams that the Cougars won in late Sept. by a score of 38-26. It was a game that the Cougars hosted on a Saturday after Hurricane Helene pushed the game back. 

Lafayette Christian will be looking for a better start than its game against the Lions earlier this season in which the away team took a 14-6 lead after the first quarter. The Cougars had to rally in the second half after trailing 20-18 at halftime. 

This is not the same Unity team that won a state championship a season ago, but the Lions are still a formidable team. Unity comes into the game having lost just two games all season, one to the Cougars and the other to state championship favorites Pinecrest Academy who subsequently gave the Cougars their only loss of the season so far.

The Lions come into the game having won four straight games, including a 33-20 win over Central Christian in the opening round of the state playoffs a week ago. 

Lafayette Christian had to rely on both their passing and running game against Unity the first time out though the Cougars could end up relying more on their passing game this time. David Karvelas led the comeback, throwing for 217 yards and rushing for 125 yards and five total touchdowns. The only slight blemish for the senior was the two costly interceptions he threw, but that comes with the territory. Karvelas is a gunslinger and it has allowed him to develop into one of the best quarterbacks in GAPPS. The senior threw for 1,813 yards and ran for 610 yards with 38 total touchdowns and 10 interceptions. 

Running back Noah Childree had his best game of the season against Unity, totalling 105 yards on the ground, but has been fighting an injury in recent weeks that has left him limited. 

A player that the Lions will have to key in on is Johnathan Ross. After being a role player a season ago, Ross has blossomed into a star playmaker as a junior. Ross leads the team with 707 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. Ross is also a key cog on defense where he finished fourth on the team in total tackles with 49. 

Cody Batistini enjoyed a breakout year in the secondary and leads the team with 88 tackles while also hauling in two interceptions this season. Batistini is not the only Cougar defense that Unity will have to be wary of. Junior defensive end Eli Carroll, an all-state player a season ago, leads Lafayette Christian with 16 tackles for a loss and 5.5 sacks. 

The emergence of junior Bradley Miller in the special teams department has also been key for the Cougars in recent weeks. Miller joined the team partway into the season, making his debut against Pinecrest on homecoming night. The junior soccer player now handles kickoffs, punting and PATs and was critical for the Cougars in their region championship triumph over Young Americans in double overtime that secured a region title for Lafayette Christian.

There is a lot on the line for the Cougars on Friday night as a win would see them host the winner of Young Americans vs. Pinecrest for the GAPPS 9-man state championship on Nov. 22. With their eyes firmly planted on a championship run, the Cougars get their playoff campaign started at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night.