The Louisiana high school football playoffs are heating up, with underdogs defying the odds, powerhouse teams flexing their dominance, and individual stars shining under the bright lights. This week’s matchups offered everything from nail-biting finishes to unexpected blowouts, setting the stage for high-stakes quarterfinal showdowns. As the race to the state championships narrows, these eight key takeaways capture the action, drama, and standout performances defining this season’s playoff intensity.
In Division I nonselect, No. 6-seeded Southside rolled to a 47-0 shutout of No. 22 Walker and can reach the semifinals for the first time if the Sharks can upset the reigning state champs.
The Sharks (9-2), who will travel to No. 3 Ruston next, are led by running backs Ramon Singleton and Justin Williams. Singleton has rushed for 1,239 yards on 187 carries with 13 TD. Williams has 1,074 yards on 161 carries with 10 scores. Quarterback Parker Dies is averaging 8.2 yards per carry with six TD. The Sharks were 4 of 5 passing for 82 yards and a TD against Walker.
Three lower seeds advanced to the quarterfinals: No. 24 Chalmette upset No. 8 Hahnville, No. 21 West Monroe took down No. 5 Mandeville and No. 10 Destrehan blew out No. 7 Northwood-Shreveport, 63-21.
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Malachi Dabney scored six touchdowns in Destrehan’s win, according to Ryan Arena of The St. Charles Herald Guide. Receiver Jabari Mack left the game with an injury after scoring an early TD. The Wildcats (9-3) travel to No. 2 Airline (11-0) in the quarterfinals.
John Curtis Christian finished with a sub-.500 regular-season record for the first time since 1969, but the No. 19-seeded Patriots are doing Patriot things in the Division I select playoffs.
John Curtis, which lost its last three regular season games, beat No. 14 Brother Martin and No. 3 Acadiana to advance to the quarterfinals. Quarterback Reggie Johnson marched the Patriots, who were trailing by five points, 77 yards with less than two minutes remaining and threw a TD pass to freshman Jarvis Stevenson for a 28-27 win, according to Nick Fontenot of The Acadiana Advocate. Stevenson has five catches for 77 yards on the season with the huge touchdown.
The Patriots (6-5) travel to No. 6 Teurlings Catholic (10-1), which defeated No. 11 Jesuit, 31-23. John Curtis lost to Jesuit during district play, 17-10.
Cecilia and Opelousas, who met in the Division II nonselect final last year, defeated higher seeds to keep the chances of a rematch alive. The No. 18 Bulldogs and No. 14 Tigers will meet in the semifinals if both can win on the road again.
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No team had scored more than 20 points all season against undefeated No. 2 Lutcher before Cecilia visited on Friday, according to Reed Darcey of The Baton Rouge Advocate.
The Bulldogs topped that total in the first half of a wild 49-41 shootout. Senior quarterback Diesel Solari accounted for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing). Sophomore Braylon Calais rushed for 113 yards on 15 carries with two TD.
Two UL Ragin’ Cajun commits went head-to-head with Cecilia’s Brent Gordon and Lutcher running back Trenton Chaney, who ran for 194 yards on 24 carries with three TD.
Opelousas kept its end of the bargain by eliminating No. 3 Jennings, 30-19. The Tigers (8-3) travel to No. 6 Plaquemine (11-1), which knocked out No. 11 Northwest, 49-34.
Cecilia (9-3) visits No. 7 North DeSoto (10-2).
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No. 1 Archbishop Shaw hosts No. 8 John F. Kennedy in a highly anticipated Division II select quarterfinal. The Eagles (9-2), who beat No. 16 Loranger 49-14, got three rushing touchdowns in the first half from Michigan commit Jasper Parker.
Parker, the district MVP, finished the regular season with 1,501 all-purpose yards and 22 TD.
John F. Kennedy (7-4) is a dangerous No. 8 seed that lost three games by forfeit. The Cougars got a scare from No. 9 Lake Charles College Prep but held on to win 51-37. JFK had allowed only 20 points during its last six games.
The No. 2 seed in Division III nonselect was ousted when No. 15 Loreauville defeated No. 2 Erath, 28-7, in a rematch of Week One won by Erath. Loreauville exerted control from the outset, stopping Erath on its first possession and taking a 7-0 lead on a 48-yard pass from Hayden Benoit to Gavin Judice.
Maddox Savoy didn’t reach the end zone, but he moved the chains with 155 yards on 27 carries for an offense that had 23 first downs and outgained the Bobcats by 200 yards.
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Loreauville (6-5), which began the year 0-4, travels to No. 7 Jena (9-3). Blake Delcambre relieved Benoit at quarterback during a drive and capped it off in two plays, completing a long pass to Blaise Romero and keeping the ball himself for a 30-plus yard TD run.
Lafayette Christian, like John Curtis, worked its way through a sub-.500 regular season. The Knights faced a challenging schedule that included Archbishop Rummel, Archbishop Shaw, Central-BR, Evangel Christian and a Westgate team that was fully loaded with Jaboree Antoine at the time.
The No. 9 Knights avenged an earlier loss by beating No. 8 Notre Dame in Division III select, 35-28. Ball-hawking defensive back Chris Helaire and LCA will have to upset No. 1 Dunham (11-0) and five-star QB Elijah Haven to keep their streak of consecutive title game appearances alive.
Junior quarterback Braylon Walker dissected the Notre Dame defense for 103 yards on 11 carries with four TD. He completed 14 of 17 passes for 187 yards and a score.
In the regular season loss to Pioneers, Walker rushed for 44 yards on 15 carries with a TD. This is the third time in eight years the Knights have lost a district game and avenged it in the playoffs, according to statistician Hayden Lessard. LCA did it in 2017 (Vermilion Catholic) and 2022 (Teurlings Catholic), beating both in the semifinals.
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No. 7 Catholic-New Iberia (10-1) and QB Luke Landry travel to No. 2 Isidore Newman (9-0) in another marquee D3 matchup. Landry has passed for 31 TD with only one interception. The Greenies will counter with QB Eli Friend.
Jeanerette pounded No. 13 Grand Lake, 46-24, in Division IV nonselect. Sophomore running back Devine Duhon, who was sidelined by injury late in the regular season, returned and accounted for 261 yards and six TD. The No. 4 Tigers (8-2), who host No. 12 General Trass in the quarterfinals, were also without quarterback Zyon Colar for a loss to Central Catholic.
The nation’s top running back, five-star LSU commit Harlem Berry, and the ninth-seeded St. Martin’s Episcopal Saints were handled by a St. Edmund offense that has produced zany numbers all year.
Quarterback Kane West completed 12 of 14 passes for 237 yards and two TD and rushed for 73 yards on 11 carries with five TD. But that’s not all. The strongman converted eight two-point conversions in the 78-37 win.
Tailback Henry Summerlin went over the 1,600-yard mark for the year with a 326-yard effort for the No. 8 Blue Jays (10-1), who travel to No. 1 Vermilion Catholic (11-0) and 2,100-plus yard rusher Jonathan Dartez in the Division IV select quarterfinals.
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West, who threw touchdowns on approximately half of his regular season completions, has 14 rushing TD. He scored five two-point conversions in a win over Opelousas Catholic.
With upset wins, stellar individual performances, and underdogs rewriting expectations, this year’s Louisiana high school football playoffs are shaping up to be unforgettable. The stakes only get higher as the quarterfinals loom, promising more drama and excitement ahead.
RUSTON, La. (KNOE) – Louisiana Tech University’s College of Education and Human Sciences announced it has established a new Center for Literacy and Learning designed to expand evidence-based reading support for children and professional development for educators across North Louisiana.
The university’s Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership said the launch of the Center for Literacy and Learning at Louisiana Tech, also known as L3, will provide diagnostic assessments, tutoring and workshop opportunities, combining academic research with hands-on clinical practice.
“As literacy rates and reading achievement continue to present challenges across Louisiana and the nation, the Center for Literacy and Learning is rooted in supporting evidence-based instruction, applied research, and community partnerships,” said Dr. Dustin Whitlock, interim department head of Curriculum, Instruction, and Leadership.
Officials said planning for the center began more than a decade ago as faculty sought to expand literacy services for local schools and the surrounding community, but the effort faced delays due to space and funding challenges.
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University leaders said momentum increased after faculty partnered with the Louisiana Department of Education and literacy experts nationwide to create a professional learning course for Louisiana K-3 educators. The course, “The Science and Art of Teaching Reading,” focuses on structured literacy practices aligned with Science of Reading research. Louisiana Tech said funding connected to the course and the state education department helped make the center possible.
Megan Hunt, a teacher at A.E. Phillips Laboratory School, was selected to lead the center. Whitlock said Hunt brings a strong background in foundational literacy instruction and is working toward becoming a certified UFLI coach.
“Mrs. Hunt’s skill and expertise allow her to support both students and educators through high-quality literacy instruction and professional learning,” Whitlock said.
Hunt said the center is aimed at building long-term support for literacy instruction through collaboration with districts, families and community partners.
“Literacy affects all aspects of life and is ultimately how people access opportunity and how communities grow stronger,” Hunt said. “When children become proficient readers, it represents more than just academic progress; it changes the trajectory of their lives.”
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Local school leaders also praised the partnership. Michelle Thrower, K-2 facilitator for Lincoln Parish Schools, said professional development and resources connected to Louisiana Tech have supported literacy growth in the district.
“Our collaboration with Louisiana Tech has been a cornerstone of our success in elevating literacy proficiency across Lincoln Parish Schools,” Thrower said, citing DIBELS growth tied to the UFLI Foundations curriculum in K-2.
Louisiana Tech said the center will operate through three main components:
The Literacy Clinic
The Literacy Institute
The Literacy Resource Center.
The center is expected to provide individualized assessments, targeted intervention services, literacy workshops and educator professional development.
Officials said the components will be developed in phases over the next few years.
For more information, Louisiana Tech said the public can contact Dr. Dustin Whitlock at whitlock@latech.edu.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday that Louisiana was one of the few states chosen for a $134 million rare earth element initiative in a move that would give the U.S. more independence from China, Reuters reports.
ElementUSA has been awarded about $67 million for a rare earth refining facility projected to cost $850 million in St. John the Baptist Parish to ramp up its production of core material for military vehicles, naval ships and aircrafts.
Louisiana’s rare earth element initiatives are aimed at relocating the critical American minerals supply chain for electric vehicles, renewable energy and national defense. The minerals include bauxite residue, which is a waste product from aluminium production. The plant is expected to produce roughly 150-1,000 metric tons of rare earths annually.
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Oklahoma was also chosen to receive grant money for a refining facility in Tulsa.
A Department of Homeland Security watchdog report revealed that staff members at an ICE detention center in Louisiana used a prohibited chokehold to “gain control” of a person being held there and stabbed another in the hand with a pen when an officer could not close the door to a housing unit.
The newly released findings about Winn Correctional Center in central Louisiana follow the DHS inspector general’s review of video of the use-of-force incidents as part of an unannounced facility inspection. The report, which was published on the DHS website, also noted that the officer who stabbed the detainee with a pen was disciplined.
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Staff members failed to maintain safe and sanitary conditions, the report says, noting leaking vents and ceilings with insulation falling through. Staff members used napkins and Styrofoam containers to collect the water from the leaks, according to the report.
Scrutiny of conditions inside ICE detention centers that house more than 60,000 detainees has been growing.
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Earlier Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended his agency’s detention standards on Capitol Hill amid complaints about ICE’s Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. That center has been the site of frequent protests.
Rep. Tim Kennedy, D-N.Y., accused Mullin of leaving detainees without food or medical care.
Mullin rejected the claims. “You can say all you want, but don’t accuse me of something that’s not accurate,” he said.
The inspector general made nine recommendations, ranging from environmental health and safety standards to proper handling of use-of-force incidents and maintaining food service standards.
ICE is working to address all of the issues, including by providing additional staff training, a spokesperson for the agency said.
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“These minor infractions included failing to provide detainees exercise equipment, record keeping errors and leaking vents. Another infraction included providing a shared computer for legal research that would allow other detainees to see other detainees’ case information,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for DHS said the report shows that the facility complies with detention standards.
“ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens,” the spokesperson said.
Winn Correctional is one of the largest ICE detention centers in the country, housing more than 1,500 men. It opened in 1990, and ICE took it over from the state in 2019.
The report was produced after an unannounced inspection by the DHS inspector general, whose office recently got an infusion of $20 million and plans to boost its inspections from four to six per year to potentially as many as 40 to 60.
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ICE lists 70% of the 1,500 detainees at Winn as having “No ICE threat level,” meaning they do not have violent criminal histories.
Winn is an hour north of Alexandria, which is one of four hubs for ICE deportation flights around the country.
