Tradition of Champions: Seven River Parishes Teams Headed to Louisiana High School Playoffs

by: Lori Lyons // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

There are some things you can always count on every year in Louisiana: August will be hot, there will be at least one tropical system in the Gulf, and there will always be teams from the River Parishes in the Louisiana high school playoffs. 

This year is no exception. There was even a hurricane which wiped out most of the action in Week Two.

The River Parishes, the area along the Mississippi River northwest of New Orleans, includes eight schools in the parishes of St. James, St. Charles, and St. John the Baptist. This year seven of those eight schools along the river earned spots in the playoff brackets which were released by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association this week. Only East St. John, who finished with a record of 2-7 and at No. 35 in the Division I non-select power rankings, was left out this time. The last time all eight teams made the playoffs was in 2019 and only St. James brought home a title that year.

Collectively, the eight schools or their predecessors have won a total of 35 football state championships. Lutcher leads the way with eight titles. Hahnville has won six. Destrehan, St. James, and West St. John (including its predecessor Second Ward) have won five. St. Charles Catholic has won three, East St. John has won two (including one as Leon Godchaux/Reserve), and Riverside Academy has won one. 

In 2022, three River Parishes teams – Destrehan, Lutcher, and St. Charles – brought championships home. But in 2023, Riverside, St. Charles, and St. James all finished as runners-up.

After being the lone team out in 2023, the Hahnville Tigers return to the Non-Select Division I bracket as the No. 8 seed. Under first-year coach Greg Boyne, who spent more than 20 years as an assistant coach at Destrehan,  including a dozen years as the offensive coordinator, the Tigers finished 7-2, with losses to Class 4A powerhouse E.D. White and his former team, Destrehan. Hahnville will host No. 25 seed H.L. Bourgeois (5-5), a team the Tigers defeated  42-0 in Week Five.

Destrehan, which hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2012 and is just two years removed from its last state title, is the No. 10 seed in the Non-Select Division I bracket. The Wildcats (7-3) will host No. 23 seed Ouachita Parish (4-5). 

Lutcher, which has seen post-season play every year since 1991, finished the 2024 season 9-0, ranked No. 1 in the Class 4A in the Louisiana Sports Writers Poll, and as the No. 2 seed in the Non-Select Division IV bracket. The Bulldogs have a first-round bye and will play the winner between No. 15 Pearl River and No. 18 Cecilia next week.

St. James, the 2023 state runner-up in Non-Select Division IIII is ranked No. 4 in the LSWA Class 3A poll but is the No. 1 seed in the non-select Division III bracket with a record of 7-2. The Wildcats, who have made the playoffs 12 years in a row, received a first-round bye and will play the winner between No. 16 Baker and No. 17 Donaldsonville next week. 

There was never really any doubt that 2023 state runner-up St. Charles Catholic would make the playoffs, even though the Comets faced one of their most challenging seasons as a newbie in Class 4A with a brutal schedule. St. Charles went 0-4 before finally defeating Class 5A Terrebonne 25-19 in overtime. The Comets finished their season 3-6 as the No. 12 seed in the Select Division II bracket. They will host No. 23 Northside (4-6).

Riverside Academy, last year’s Select Division IV state runner-up, continued its winning ways under second-year coach Lee Roussel. The Rebels finished the season 6-2, with losses to Class 5A Terrebonne and Vermilion Catholic, the undefeated and No. 1-ranked top seed in Class 1A – but the team the Rebels beat 34-7 last year to reach the finals. Riverside is the No. 7 seed and has a first-round bye. The Rebels will host the winner between No. 10 Hamilton Christian and No. 23 St. John next week. 

The longest streak of playoff appearances in the River Parishes belongs to West St. John, which has made the post-season every year since 1986. This year the Rams overcame a slow start, the hurricane, and numbers to finish 6-3 and earn the No. 10 spot in the Non-Select Division IV bracket. The Rams, under second-year coach Derron Thomas, will host No. 23 Arcadia (4-6).