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

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Louisiana's high school football playoffs kick off this weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The LHSAA's third 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>This season is also the first in a new two-year classification cycle, so a few notable programs have changed divisions, which we'll note as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Check out the Division-II Non-Select capsule below.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top 5 seeds: </strong>No. 1 Franklinton, No. 2 Lutcher, No. 3 Jennings, No. 4 Franklin Parish, No. 5 Iowa</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lower seeds to watch: </strong>No. 10 Belle Chasse, No. 11 Northwest, No. 14 Opelousas, No. 18 Cecilia, No. 19 Bastrop</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023 champion:</strong> Opelousas</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023 runner-up:</strong> Cecilia</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top prospects: </strong>2026 Franklin Parish LB/TE [player_tooltip player_id='740982' first='Chris' last='Addison'], 2025 Opelousas [player_tooltip player_id='710273' first='Corey' last='Amos'] Jr. (Ole Miss), 2026 Franklin Parish DL [player_tooltip player_id='1602194' first='Tavon' last='Bell'], 2027 Cecilia ATH [player_tooltip player_id='934555' first='Braylon' last='Calais'], 2025 Lutcher WR/RB [player_tooltip player_id='710286' first='Trenton' last='Chaney'] (Louisiana-Lafayette) 2026 North DeSoto QB [player_tooltip player_id='401978' first='Luke' last='Delafield'], 2026 Franklin Parish QB/ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1237615' first='Dezyrian' last='Ellis'], 2025 Opelousas RB [player_tooltip player_id='710072' first='D'Shaun' last='Ford'], 2025 Cecilia DB [player_tooltip player_id='913904' first='Brent' last='Gordon Jr.'] (Louisiana-Lafayette), 2025 Opelousas DB [player_tooltip player_id='912270' first='Landon' last='Hammond'] (Tulane), 2025 Woodlawn (Shreveport) ATH [player_tooltip player_id='291090' first='Brandon' last='Henderson'], 2025 Lutcher DL [player_tooltip player_id='710270' first='Reshad' last='Sterling'] (Houston), 2025 Rayne WR [player_tooltip player_id='291094' first='Kylin' last='Wheeler'] (Nicholls State)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sleeper prospects: </strong>2025 North DeSoto WR [player_tooltip player_id='710281' first='Cole' last='Cory'], 2026 Opelousas DL [player_tooltip player_id='920639' first='Jamarion' last='Daugherty'], 2025 Bastrop WR [player_tooltip player_id='710772' first='Antron' last='Mason II'], 2025 Plaquemine RB [player_tooltip player_id='1596887' first='Tyrese' last='Mosby'], 2025 Cecilia ATH [player_tooltip player_id='145333' first='Diesel' last='Solari'], 2025 Northwest DL [player_tooltip player_id='1598246' first='Davon' last='Thibodeaux'], 2025 DeRidder WR [player_tooltip player_id='1644701' first='Uriah' last='Wade'], 2025 Wossman DB/ATH [player_tooltip player_id='710771' first='Richard' last='Wilson Jr.']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Intriguing first-round matchup: </strong>No. 14 Opelousas vs. No. 19 Bastrop</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Most intriguing possible second-round matchup:</strong> No. 3 Jennings vs. No. 14 Opelousas </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Overall Storyline:</strong> Franklinton, with its first No. 1 seed since 2009, leads the most wide-open bracket of any division with more than half the field appearing to have realistic potential to reach the title game. More of those top contenders are concentrated on the bottom half of the bracket, led by second-seeded Lutcher, the lone undefeated team entering the postseason. The Bulldogs' path to the Superdome includes last year's champion Opelousas and runner-up Cecilia as notable lower seeded teams at No. 14 and No. 19 after facing tough schedules and working through some injuries. Similarly, No. 7 North DeSoto is getting back healthy heading into the playoffs where the Griffins have made deep runs the past two years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->