LHSAA Playoff Brackets: Top Storylines, Prospects | D-II Select
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Louisiana’s high school football playoffs kick off this weekend. The LHSAA’s second postseason under a tweaked format features eight brackets — four “nonselect” and four “select” — full of impressive teams and prospects and intriguing matchups and storylines. We’ll give a…
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Continue ReadingLouisiana’s high school football playoffs kick off this weekend.
The LHSAA’s second postseason under a tweaked format features eight brackets — four “nonselect” and four “select” — full of impressive teams and prospects and intriguing matchups and storylines.
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.
Check out the Division-II Select capsule below.
Top 5 seeds: No. 1 St. Thomas More, No. 2 E.D. White, No. 3 Lafayette Christian, No. 4 John F. Kennedy, No. 5 Archbishop Shaw
Lower seeds to watch: No. 10 Madison Prep, No. 12 Evangel Christian
2022 champion: St. Thomas More
2022 runner-up: Lafayette Christian
Top prospects: 2024 John F. Kennedy DB Bernard Causey Bernard Causey 6'0" | 160 lbs | DB John F. Kennedy | 2024 State LA , 2025 Vandebilt Catholic RB Jaylon Coleman Jaylon Coleman 5'9" | 160 lbs | ATH Vandebilt Catholic | 2025 State LA , 2024 Lafayette Christian DL Melvin Hills III Melvin Hills III 6'4" | 265 lbs | DL Lafayette Christian | 2024 State LA , 2024 Lafayette Christian QB/ATH Ju’Juan Johnson Ju’Juan Johnson 6'0" | 195 lbs | ATH Lafayette Christian | 2024 State LA , 2024 Lafayette Christian LB/DL Sandy Lewis Sandy Lewis 6'2" | 235 lbs | LB Lafayette Christian | 2024 State LA , 2024 Evangel Christian DL/LB Gabriel Reliford Gabriel Reliford 6'2" | 270 lbs | DL Evangel Christian | 2024 State LA , 2024 Evangel Christian OL Tristan Santoro Tristan Santoro 6'6" | 270 lbs | OL Evangel Christian | 2024 State LA , 2024 Archbishop Shaw DL Jayden Scott Jayden Scott 6'4" | 240 lbs | DL Archbishop Shaw | 2024 State LA .
Sleeper prospects: 2024 St. Thomas More QB Sam Altmann Sam Altmann 6'2" | 175 lbs | QB St. Thomas More | 2024 State LA , 2024 Archbishop Shaw DB Louis Foster Jr. Louis Foster Jr. 6'0" | 180 lbs | DB Archbishop Shaw | 2024 State LA , 2024 Lafayette Christian DB Ty Lee Ty Lee 6'0" | 180 lbs | DB Lafayette Christian | 2024 State LA , 2024 E.D. White WR Paxton Lynch, 2024 Teurlings Catholic QB Preston Welch Preston Welch 6'2" | 210 lbs | QB Teurlings Catholic | 2024 State LA .
Intriguing first-round matchup: No. 14 Peabody Magnet vs. No. 19 Booker T. Washington (New Orleans)
Most intriguing possible second-round matchup: No. 5 Archbishop Shaw vs. No. 12 Evangel Christian
Overall Storyline: The stage is in most minds set for a rematch of last year’s wild track meet and thriller of a state championship between St. Thomas More and Lafayette Christian. The district rivals met again last week in their third back-and-forth battle ultimately won by the Cougars by seven points or less — an average of five points. Could STM somehow keep so consistently surviving such a competitive series, or would Johnson and company be destined to finally turn the tables and bring their first title home since falling short in 2021 in their push for a fifth straight? Or, with so much attention on that potential rematch, could one of the number of hungry and viable contenders lining either of their paths turn those expectations on their heads? Second-seeded E.D. White has been exceptional throughout an undefeated regular season and would host a potential semifinal against Lafayette Christian. The New Orleans duo of an ascendent John F. Kennedy and resurgent Archbishop Shaw are the other top-seeded teams on the Cougars’ side of the bracket.