The Franklinton Demons resume their rivalry this Friday with the Bogalusa Lumberjacks at Demon Stadium. A long and storied rivalry between these two schools, between these two communities that goes back over a hundred years.
The Demons began playing football in 1922 while the Lumberjacks had been playing for several seasons before. During this time Bogalusa dominated the series as they won 15 of the 16 games played before WWII. For a period of time in the 1920's the two teams played on Friday of the Fair as part of "School Day" but the game, and things surrounding it, became heated and it was decided to move the game to be played on Thanksgiving Day.
When Franklinton resumed football, after letting it lapse during World War Two, the series wasn't resumed until the late 1970's. Bogalusa head coach Lewis Murray negotiated a scrimmage with the Demons before later asking them to play in the Mack Barlow jamboree, held annually in Lumberjack stadium at the time. He then managed to get the Demons, in 1977, to schedule their first regular season game with Bogalusa since 1941. The games were competitive then but the Demons didn't win their first game with the 'Jacks until 1980, their first win over Bogalusa since 1926. The Demons also won in 1981 and 1983 before the Jacks again took control of the rivalry.
The Demons ended that in 1991, Coach Donald Currier's final season at FHS, before the Jacks again took control.
Coach Shane Smith ended that streak in 1999 before leading the Demons to an eighteen game win streak over the Jacks from 2001 through 2018. The Lumberjacks ended the streak in 2019 and have won the last four consecutive games.
Some more interesting facts about the series. Bogalusa has had two seven game winning streaks, from 1984 through 1990 and 1992 through 1998 while Franklinton's best streak came from 2001 and 2018. The Jacks are currently on a four game winning streak. The Demons hold 25 wins overall in the series while the Jacks have 38 wins overall and there have been 2 ties. Seventeen of the games have been decided by one score or less. There have been two overtime games, both won by the Demons, and three games won by a single point. Coincidentally all three of those games scores were 7-6, the Demons having won two of those. The series with the Lumberjacks is the Demons longest consecutively played series that is still current, having been played annually for forty seven seasons.
