Football brackets revealed
Lincoln Prep and Ruston learned their respective playoff matchups over the weekend. The Bearcats earned a bye and Lincoln Prep will hit the road in the first round. Photos by Josh McDaniel
No delays. No panic. Football brackets are here.
Despite the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s dealing with an ongoing legal dispute with University Lab, followed up with a press release from the LHSAA on Friday noting that the football postseason could be delayed, the LHSAA moved forward with regularly scheduled football playoff bracket reveals on Sunday afternoon, with Ruston and Lincoln Prep representing Lincoln Parish in their respective fields.
The Bearcats ( 8- 2) earned the No. 3 seed in the Division I Nonselect field — securing a first- round bye for the third year in a row — and will await the winner of No. 14 Zachary (6-3) and No. 19 Sam Houston (6-4).
If Zachary were to beat Sam Houston, the Bearcats would host the Broncos in a rematch of last year’s Division I Non-select state championship and the 2022 semifinals.
Zachary enters the postseason on a twogame losing streak, having allowed 87 points over the last two weeks of the regular season.
Sam Houston, outscored 96-34 over its last two road games of the regular season, made the playoffs as the No. 12 seed last year before losing in the first round.
The only common opponent between Ruston, Zachary, and Sam Houston is Acadiana, whom the Bearcats beat 35-27. Zachary lost to Acadiana 43-28, while Sam Houston fell 59-7.
Ruston enters the postseason on a twogame surge after beating Pineville and West Monroe by a combined 85-0 to close the regular season.
The Bearcats averaged 37 points per game in the regular season and allowed just 24.2 points per game.
Lincoln Prep ( 7- 3) earned the No. 19 seed in the Division IV Select field after a turnaround season, improving from its two wins in 2023. The Panthers will travel to No. 14 seed Central Catholic (5-4) in the first round out of Morgan City. The winner travels to No. 3 seed Covenant Christian (10-0) for the second round.
Central Catholic was the No. 10 seed in last year’s playoffs and made it to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual state champion Southern Lab.
The Panthers averaged 33.2 points per game in the regular season and allowed only 14.1 to opponents.
Jonesboro Hodge ( 4- 6) out of Jackson Parish earned the No. 20 seed in the Division IV Non-select field and will travel to No. 13 Grand Lake (6-3) in the first round. Grand Lake is located south of Lake Charles.
The Tigers are riding a three-game win streak into the postseason, including a 30-29 upset over Glenbrook and a 28-0 win over Cedar Creek to close the regular season.
J-Hodge and Grand Lake’s only common opponent this year is DeQuincy, to whom the Tigers lost in a 38-20 contest, while Grand Lake lost 10-7.
The Tigers are led by junior quarterback Dakota Knox, who’s put up 591 yards of total offense and 7 total touchdowns over the last two games of the regular season.
Game dates and times have not been finalized as of Monday.
