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 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-III Non-Select capsule below.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top 5 seeds: </strong>No. 1 St. James, No. 2 Erath, No. 3 Oak Grove, No. 4 Kinder, No. 5 Union Parish</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lower seeds to watch: </strong>No. 9 Pine, No. 10 Church Point, No. 13 Westlake, No. 15 Loreauville, </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023 champion:</strong> Union Parish (+ 2023 Division-IV Non-Select champion Oak Grove joins the bracket)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2023 runner-up:</strong> St. James</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top prospects: </strong>2025 Oak Grove QB [player_tooltip player_id='291089' first='Jackson' last='Bradley'] (Louisiana Tech), 2025 Pine OL [player_tooltip player_id='914088' first='Jackson' last='Jones'] (TCU), 2026 St. James RB Kani King-Young, 2027 Marksville ATH [player_tooltip player_id='934563' first='Devin' last='Lavalais'], 2025 Oak Grove TE [player_tooltip player_id='291088' first='J.T.' last='Layton'], 2025 Westlake WR [player_tooltip player_id='912261' first='Kevin' last='Rideau Jr.'] (Nicholls State), 2025 Loreauville DL/OL [player_tooltip player_id='710274' first='Dylan' last='Singleton'] (Texas Tech), 2025 Union Parish LB/RB [player_tooltip player_id='710084' first='Tyquereis' last='Wilson'] (Mississippi Valley State)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sleeper prospects: </strong>2026 Avoyelles DB [player_tooltip player_id='1237778' first='Kevin' last='Jones'], 2026 Erath RB/ATH Landon Lemaire, 2025 Union Parish WR [player_tooltip player_id='1221195' first='Chase' last='Meeking'], 2025 Oak Grove DB [player_tooltip player_id='1221030' first='TaMarques' last='Pritchard'], 2025 Union Parish OL/DL [player_tooltip player_id='1237632' first='Ari' last='Slocum'], 2026 St. James WR [player_tooltip player_id='401966' first='Jakias' last='Villanueva'], 2025 Donaldsonville WR Tahj Williby</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Intriguing first-round matchup: </strong>No. 16 Baker vs. No. 17 Donaldsonville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Most intriguing possible second-round matchup:</strong> No. 2 Erath vs. No. 15 Loreauville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Overall Storyline:</strong> The two participants in last year's thrilling and heartbreaking title game, Union Parish and St. James, are again top teams to watch, this time both on the top half of the bracket, while back-to-back Division-IV Non-Select champion Oak Grove joins as one of the top teams to watch in the bottom half of the bracket with the quarterfinal potential of rekindling a local rivalry with Sterlington for the first time this season. Meanwhile, Erath is the No. 2 seed after missing the postseason in 2023 as the top dog of some more resurgent or cinderella teams in the mix this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->