AMITE — The St. James Wildcats have had a very difficult draw this postseason.

The Wildcats were put in a bracket against a tough Catholic team and then had to face the state’s No. 5- and No. 4-ranked teams in Franklinton and Parkview Baptist, respectively.

Yet, despite the extremely competitive draws, the Wildcats are two wins away from claiming the Class 3A state championship.

St. James has defeated all three of its playoff foes, the last being a 55-34 dismantling of Parkview Baptist in the quarterfinals, and is now set to square off against Amite in the semifinals.

Gametime is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at the Amite field.

While the Wildcats draw has been difficult to this point, Friday’s foe may be its most talented opponent yet this postseason.

The Warriors enter the playoffs as the top-ranked team in Class 3A, and so far they have shown just why they earned that No. 1 ranking.

Amite has breezed through the first three rounds and is solid on both sides of the ball.

In the Warriors opening-round game, they cruised to a 48-6 win over Northwest. In the Regionals, Amite’s stingy defense yielded just six points in a 21-point win over Carroll and last week the Warriors overwhelmed Richwood, 31-13.

St. James, though, has been equally impressive this playoff season.

The Wildcats battled to a 35-28 victory over Catholic and defeated the Demons of Franklinton, 21-16, to set up its quarterfinal contest against Parkview Baptist.

St. James simply dominated its foe last week and tallied 41 points in the first half alone.

Tremaine Datremont had another exceptional game last week for the Wildcats as he scored three touchdowns to help lead the offensive assault. Teammate Antonio Phillips had a stellar game as well as he threw for three touchdowns, including a 91-yard strike to Javon Keller, in the first half. Defensively, Jacque Vedol helped pace the attack by returning a fumble for a touchdown. Vedol also returned a kickoff 50 yards for a touchdown.