The Pine Raiders football team had a nice season last year that ended earlier than they've become accustomed to. The Raiders lost a large group of players to graduation but they aren't going to let that hold them back and have goals of another great season.
Coach Bradley Seal returns for his 16th season as head coach and is the longest tenured head football coach in the parish. He will also fulfill the offensive coordinator roles. Seal will also oversee the backs, while Jake Brownlee will coach the offensive line, Jonathan Shelby the defensive line, Jason McKenzie the receivers and defensive backs, Larry Williams the tight ends, Hunter Temples the inside linebackers and Peyton McDaniel the quarterbacks. Coach Seal noted, “We added Ross Lambert as more of a strength and conditioning role and he'll help in different ways also.”
2025 review
The Raiders had a solid season in 2025 as they again qualified for the playoffs where they bowed out in the first round.
The season began with wins over St Thomas Aquinas and Independence before losing to Franklinton. The Raiders reeled off three straight wins against Pearl River, Varnado and Albany. They then lost a tough one to Amite followed by another tough loss to Sumner. The Raiders again bounced back with wins over Bogalusa and Springfield before losing to Kaplan at home in the first round of the playoffs.
This season, the Raiders will scrimmage Sumner before participating in the Lakeshore jamboree against Lakeshore and Coach Seal knows those will be a challenge. "We're going to know who is who after those two."
The Raiders will begin their regular season at Varnado and Pope John Paul before their first home game against Franklinton, followed by Pearl River.
There will be three straight road games at Loranger, St Helena and Northlake before a home game against Amite on Thursday of the Fair. Pine will go to St Thomas Aquinas before their final home game against Independence.
Coach Seal feels that the non-district portion of the schedule is solid and will be challenging.
"We have Varnado, and I thing Coach Owens is doing a good job of turning them around. After that we go up to 3A and Pope John Paul and 4A with Franklinton and Pearl River and then we go 3A with Loranger. So that's some challenge with the numbers, the depth and that's going to be tough for us but I like doing that. I like playing Franklinton, what Coach Salt is doing there, he has the program back where it needs to be. Pearl River is always a good game for us. The coach at Pope John Paul does a good job, I think those guys get the most out of their program. Loranger will be a challenge for us too."
Coach Seal also feels the district will be tough despite having moved down from 3A to 2A.
"We moved down in classification but we're very familiar with the teams in our district. Amite moved down with us. St Helena is always athletic, Independence is a team that we have played for about ten years and I think they are headed back in the right direction. I think St Thomas has doubled their numbers so they will be improved and Northlake is always a well run program.”
I think the district is going to be competitive."
2026 Offense
The Raiders have made some changes to their offensive scheme from the Wing T to more of a spread offense, although they will run some Wing T from time to time depending on the situation.
The new offense will be quarterbacked by Cooper Thomas.
"He's been in the program since the sixth grade and is very familiar as far as knowing the offense,” Coach Seal. “I'm excited about him. I think he is ready for the challenge."
The running backs have a solid nucleus with Braxton Newman.
"It starts with Braxton Newman, he's a returning starter and he's a consistent guy, you know what you're going to get from him. Jabari Robinson will get some carries. Isaiah Mathrews will get some touches also but will be working other positions as well," said Coach Seal.
Tyre Benard will lead the receiving group. Beau and Braden Bickham return on offensive line. "They're vocal leaders of the team and set a standard that we try to meet."
2026 Defense
The defense also has numerous new starters. "I think that the guy who will set the tone on defense is Cade Knight --- he had a really good spring for us. There are a lot of new guys that we're excited about on the defense." Tyre Benard returns in the secondary.
Coach Seal feels the Raiders will overcome their inexperience as they go. "We're kind of one of the younger teams that I've coached here but that shouldn't bring our expectations down. I think it is a talented group. I think that we have a lot of exciting parts of our team. I think that early on is going to be critical as far as getting everyone up to speed. But I think that we are a team that will improve week to week."
The Raiders and Coach Seal have built a solid program at Pine. With that comes expectations and the Raiders should live up to the expectations once again. If the Raiders can gain experience and steadily improve throughout the season they should once again be in the running for a district title and another playoff run.
