LHSAA Playoff Brackets: Storylines, Prospects | D-III Non-Select

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Louisiana's high school football playoffs kick off this weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The LHSAA's second postseason under a tweaked format features eight brackets — four "nonselect" and four "select" —&nbsp;full of impressive teams and prospects and intriguing matchups and storylines.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We'll give a quick preview of each, including the top five seeds, two lower seeds to watch for a potential run, up to eight top-ranked prospects, up to five sleeper prospects, an intriguing first-round matchup, a most intriguing potential second-round matchup and an overarching storyline entering the tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Check out the Division-III Non-Select capsule below.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top 5 seeds: </strong>No. 1 Jena, No. 2 Sterlington, No. 3 St. James, No. 4 Union Parish, No. 5 Bogalusa</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lower seeds to watch: </strong>No. 11 South Plaquemines, No. 12 Loreauville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2022 champion:</strong> Many</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2022 runner-up:</strong> Union Parish</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top prospects: </strong>2024 St. James WR [player_tooltip player_id='285273' first='Kobe' last='Brown'], 2024 Many DL [player_tooltip player_id='285615' first='Swazy' last='Carheel'], 2027 Sterlington DB [player_tooltip player_id='465348' first='Devyn' last='Downs'], 2024 Sterlington OL [player_tooltip player_id='405723' first='Mitch' last='Hodnett'], 2024 Many RB [player_tooltip player_id='139481' first='Jeremiah' last='James'], 2025 Pine OL [player_tooltip player_id='914088' first='Jackson' last='Jones'], 2024 Donaldsonville DB/ATH [player_tooltip player_id='139485' first='Raiyen' last='Oatis'], 2024 Many DB/ATH [player_tooltip player_id='139482' first='Tylen' last='Singleton']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sleeper prospects: </strong>2024 Caldwell Parish OL [player_tooltip player_id='538384' first='Eli' last='Head'], 2024 Jena WR/ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1211999' first='Zykerrik' last='Hunter'], 2024 Bogalusa WR [player_tooltip player_id='421619' first='Desmond' last='Ramirez Jr.'], 2025 Westlake DB/ATH [player_tooltip player_id='912261' first='Kevin' last='Rideau Jr.'], 2025 Union Parish LB/DL [player_tooltip player_id='710084' first='Tyquereis' last='Wilson'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Intriguing first-round matchup: </strong>No. 8 Amite vs. No. 25 Donaldsonville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Most intriguing possible second-round matchup:</strong> No. 8 Amite vs. No. 9 Jewel Sumner</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Overall Storyline:</strong>&nbsp;One of the most wide-open brackets, if not <em>the</em> most wide-open, is led by a Jena program that finished the regular season undefeated for the first time since 2017 and earned its first top seed since the implementation of the power rankings system. The Giants are led by a strong senior core eager for a better showing than last year's second-round loss, with the same opponent potentially the same opponent in 2021 champion Amite in their path in the quarters. The shifted bracket groupings have three programs to have won championships in the past two years (Amite, Many and Sterlington) all in this division, plus perennial powers St. James and Union Parish who won most recently in 2019 and 2013, respectively, although the Farmers have reached title games the past three years. Four of the 12 first-round matchups in this bracket last year were upsets. And almost every week of this tournament appears poised to include one or more notable rematches of recent playoff history or battles for earlier this season, which can often mean additional curveballs or chaos.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->