The News-Star from Monroe, Louisiana • Page A8

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30 OFF ONLINEUSEPROMOCODE SHOPCLR 7002001030580121 OURBIGGESTCLEARANCEBLOWOUTEVER! 100 MILLIONINNEWMARKDOWNS MN-1000632722 Sterlington plays Madison Prep of Baton Rouge at 8p.m. Friday. Neville goes up against New Edna Karr High School at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the 4A finals while West Monroe takes on Landry-Walker of New Orleans at 7 p.m. Saturday for the Class 5A championship.

Two other north Louisiana teams Haynesville and Logansport play for the 1A title at noon Saturday. This marks the first time ever that three public schools have come from the same parish to play for astate title in the same football season. northside community is very businessman Gary Roberts said. realize this doesn't happen by accident. You have to have the support, and it has been Roberts is a former Neville player and coach that has gone through the Superdome experience from all levels.

is very proud of their Roberts said. hope everyone realizes how fortunate we are to be a people with schools that have the support needed to give these kids an once-in-a- lifetime Neville is going for history as it tries for a third consecutive state title, something the school has never accomplished. West Monroe won three titles from 1996-1998 but has not made any finals apperanc- es in five years. That changes on Saturday, and the community has been at a fever pitch with its support throughout the playoffs. have had the same seats for 20 years Scott Foust said.

is really amazing and humbling, as a parent, to see now the support of the community around our team. You drive by at 5:30 p.m. and there are huge lines to get in every The West Monroe community has rallied around the Rebels again, which includes son quarterback Robert Scott Foust. I seen in years people (senior quarterback) Robert Scott (Foust) used to spill Coke down their backs when he was little. They are back in the stadium now, and they tell me are so excited for Robert Sterlington has had the longest drought of the three teams as the Panthers make their first finals appearance on Friday since 2002.

The Sterlington school office sold out of its allotment of tickets very fast all three schools sold out and a large group of parents and supporters braved the cold conditons Thursday morning to send off their team to the Big Easy. Jennifer Elee was there to support her son, offensive lineman Kyle Elee, and the rest of the Panthers. was an awesome Elee said. are so excited for these Elee agreed that last one out of town please remember to turn off the lights. have sold thousands of T-shirts and Elee said.

are ready to Connect with Cody on Twitter Dome Continued from Page 1A NEW ORLEANS Anger and anguish were evident in a New Orleans courtroom Thursday as a friend of the man on trial for killing retired Saints star Will Smith repeatedly insisted that Smith and his friends were the aggressors following an April 9 traffic crash that was followed by heated words and multiple gunshots. Kevin is a longtime friend of second-degree murder defendant Cardell Hayes. And he was a passenger in Hummer when it ran into Mercedes SUV. attacked this man from the said of Smith as he was questioned by Orleans Parish Assistant District Attorney Laura Rodrigue. Pointing to Hayes, he added: no point in time honest truth I ever see the man get angry or attack anyone at the scene of this repeatedly said Hayes displayed no hostility or aggression.

got a loaded .45 in his Rodrigue said. Questions and answers sometimes drifted from facts of the case to the effects of the shooting on those left behind. Rodrigue showed and the jury a picture of one of three children and lamented that Smith live to see the approaching 8th birthday. said. already missed his Hayes has been jailed since the shooting.

At one point a woman could be heard crying in the area of spectators where widow, Racquel, who was hit in the legs by gunfire, was sitting with supporters. At another time, defense attorney John Fuller angrily leapt to his feet and demanded a mistrial after Rodrigue read remarks, attributed to that Fuller was a who people off on technicalities when State District Judge Camille Buras denied the motion. later said the remarks were taken out of context. Unlike other witnesses, gave no indication that the April 9 argument had cooled before shots were fired. He agreed with previous witnesses that Racquel Smith had tried to push her husband back and calm him down.

was throwing her said. The defense dispute that Hayes fired the shots. At issue is whether he was the aggressor or he legitimately feared for his life and safety in the dispute that followed the crash. said he and Hayes were set upon by Smith and following the crash. They did not realize who Smith was at the time of the shooting, said.

Under questioning from Rodrigue, said he tried to restrain Smith for a time but also intervened as two other friends of Smith tried to rush Hayes. He said the last time he saw Smith alive, Racquel Smith was trying to push Smith away from the confrontation. Racquel Smith and witness Pierre Thomas, a friend and former teammate of had testified earlier that Racquel had succeeded in calming Smith, bolstering the prosecution assertion that there was no reason for Hayes to shoot the unarmed Smith. painted a scene of post-accident chaos in which at least two people with Smith displayed hostility. death came at the end of a day when he and his wife had attended afestival in the French Quarter, spent time at a bar and two restaurants.

They, and friends in other vehicles, were heading toward downtown New Orleans when the incidents leading to the shooting be- gan. Video from businesses on New Magazine Street shows SUV stopping short perhaps lightly hitting an orange Hummer, driven by Hayes. Moments later, Hummer rear-ended SUV a few blocks away. Prosecutors say it was a willful ramming. The defense says it was an accident as Hayes was attempting to get a license number and call 911 after the earlier bump.

Hayes was armed when he got out of the Hummer. Smith was not armed but there was a loaded gun in vehicle. The defense says Smith was moving to get the gun when Hayes fired, hitting Racquel Smith in the legs and Will Smith in the side and back. pal: Will Smith attacked my friend after crash KEVIN MCGILL ASSOCIATED PRESS BATON ROUGE- two remaining U.S. House races on ballot be more strikingly different, one a gentlemanly affair with candidates largely skipping attacks and the other a brawl.

The two Republican candidates in the tight runoff for the Acadiana- based 3rd District seat, Scott Angelle and Clay Higgins, have accused each other of lying and disparaged each records. Angelle, a member of the Public Service Commission and third-place finisher in last race, entered the race as the presumed front-runner. been a political figure for nearly 30 years, first in St. Martin Parish and later in the administrations of former Govs. Kathleen Blanco and Bobby Jin- dal.

But what was expected to be an easy waltz to Washington for Angelle has been upended by upstart campaign in an election cycle favoring outsiders. Higgins, a former St. Landry Parish captain dubbed the John ran only 3 percentage points behind Angelle in the November primary, despite having little campaign organization and a fraction of money. been a blistering campaign since then. Higgins, now a reserve deputy marshal in Lafayette, is a local celebrity because of his attention-grabbing Crime Stoppers videos with the office, in which he mocked those suspected of crimes.

running on his personality and on a singular message, to drive out entrenched, machine-driven millionaire career He considers Angelle one of them. campaign represents a real challenge to these people, working- class guy with no money, no machine, no Higgins said. Angelle, who agree to an interview, has pushed himself as a defender of oil and gas, one of the largest industries. described his lifetime in taxpayer-financed offices as valuable public service, not career politics. calling himself His campaign describes Angelle as for Louisiana his entire and says he need the-job like Higgins.

campaign notes that Higgins lives outside the congressional district and says Higgins been caught illegally using public resources to make money under the table for Higgins left the office in a disagreement over the outsized rhetoric and concerns that Higgins was violating office policy with the mugs, T-shirts and other items he sold. Lafayette media have reported allegations that Higgins threatened his first wife and paid child support. campaign has circulated the claims. Higgins says the allegations are lies, blaming an ugly divorce. To criticisms, he says: what millionaire career politicians do.

They attack anybody that gets in their 4th District By comparison, the northwest Louisiana- based 4th District race is downright genteel. Republican Mike Johnson and Democrat Marshall Jones are running on their own backgrounds, rather than swapping barbs. Johnson, the frontrunner, has focused on his decades as a constitutional attorney and his nearly two years in the Legislature, pushing social and fiscal conservative issues. Jones, also a lawyer, is running as an anti-abortion, gun rights Democrat who could work across party lines. The seats are open because Republicans Charles Boustany and John Fleming unsuccessfully sought a U.S.

Senate seat instead of reelection. Louisiana House races have different tones, campaign styles MELINDA DESLATTE ASSOCIATED PRESS.