Division-III Non-Select Preview Notes | LHSAA State Championships

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The LHSAA's annual Prep Classic football state championship event kicks off Thursday with the three Division-IV matchups, plus a Division-III Non-Select night-cap, kicking off a slate of eight title games in three days.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prep Redzone Louisiana will break down the overall storylines, paths teams took to reach the Caesars Superdome, programs' histories and players to watch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Division-III Non-Select game will wrap up Thursday's three-game schedule.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>No. 1 St. James (10-2) vs. No. 6 Sterlington (10-4)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top-seeded Wildcats are back in the state championship game, making their first consecutive appearances since 1959 and 1960, and focused on completing their mission after last year's heartbreak. St. James entered the season young, but talented and has been notably battle-tested at this point in the season, including non-district games against good higher-classification opponents. Meanwhile Sterlington entered this season not considered one of its likeliest years to compete for a state championship, then suffered an early three-game losing streak. But the Panthers have responded in impressive fashion and have been dominant the bulk of the postseason and now have a change to keep disproving doubters by reversing some recent history against the Wildcats. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Paths</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. James</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>— First-round bye</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>— Beat Donaldsonville, 48-6</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>— Beat Pine, 26-7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>— Beat Union Parish, 43-36, in a rematch of last year's championship</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sterlington</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>— Beat Patterson, 63-12</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>— Beat Lakeside, 49-18</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>— Upset Oak Grove, 43-39</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>— Beat Jena, 48-14</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Recent Meetings</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The teams will meet for the third time in the past five postseasons with St. James winning last year's semifinal at Sterlington, 28-17, and a 2020 second-round game at home, 28-7.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Players to Watch</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. James</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2027 DB [player_tooltip player_id='934578' first='Jye' last='Blain'], 2028 QB [player_tooltip player_id='1291430' first='Ja'Juan' last='Jackson'], 2027 RB/ATH [player_tooltip player_id='914038' first='Kendrick' last='Joseph'] Jr., 2026 RB Kani King-Young, 2026 WR [player_tooltip player_id='401966' first='Jakias' last='Villanueva'], 2025 DL Caleb Williams, 2025 DB [player_tooltip player_id='1220962' first='Jarrell' last='Williams'], 2026 LB [player_tooltip player_id='920681' first='Nolan' last='Zenon']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sterlington</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2025 DB/WR [player_tooltip player_id='1221218' first='Travis' last='Adams'], 2027 QB [player_tooltip player_id='1610173' first='J-Rob' last='Breen'], 2027 RB T.J. Burch, 2025 RB/LB [player_tooltip player_id='1221214' first='Gaven' last='Evans'], 2025 RB [player_tooltip player_id='1596765' first='Hagen' last='Herring'], 2025 K/P Aidan Parker</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Matchup to watch</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sterlington has been absolutely rolling through the playoffs scoring 43 or more points in each of its first four games and averaging more than 50 per contest. The Panthers have seen a slew of players involved in that effort with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1596765' first='Hagen' last='Herring']</strong> and <strong>T.J. Burch</strong> having some of the bigger games. St. James needs to slow that down considerably to help limit pressure on its freshman quarterback to potentially get caught in a shootout. Senior defensive lineman <strong>Caleb Williams</strong>, senior linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='914127' first='Chaidyn' last='Parker']</strong> and junior linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='920681' first='Nolan' last='Zenon']</strong> are among the leaders in the box for the Wildcats.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>State Championship History</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. James: 5-6</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>— Wins in 1959, 1960, 1966, 1979, 2019</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>—&nbsp;Losses in 1937, 1994, 1996, 2007, 2015, 2023</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sterlington: 2-3</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>—&nbsp;Wins in 2016, 2021</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>—&nbsp;Losses in 2002, 2003, 2018</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->