Edddie Bonine

by Hunter Bower // GeauxPreps.com Owner

BATON ROUGE – LHSAA Executive Director Eddie Bonine announced some alterations to the high school football playoffs and who can qualify for a postseason appearance after meeting with the association’s Executive Committee on Tuesday.

Below are a few key decisions and other notes made by the Executive Committee regarding the football playoffs:

• The minimum number of games that a school must play to qualify for the state football playoffs is four. If a program does not meet the minimum, they will not be allowed to advance into the postseason.

• As of now, playoff brackets for both select and non-select will remain the same as far as the number of participants. If a school has COVID-related issues and an in turn not be able to play, the team will have to forfeit and its opponent receives a bye into the next round.

• Only ten teams through all classes and divisions have not met the four-game minimum in order to advance into the playoffs. 

• District champions will not be recognized this season. In the past, a team who was crowned district champion received an automatic bid into the playoffs regardless of position in the power ratings.

• The Prep Classic is still scheduled to be played on December 26-28 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. As of now, there has been no decision made on what the attendance limits will be for the event.

• Bonine did note that spectators will have to buy individual tickets to the Prep Classic instead of an all-day pass. This is due to the Superdome having to be cleared after each game so that crews can sanitize the stadium.

The state football playoffs are scheduled to begin the week of Thanksgiving and will have the traditional rounds for both select and non-select.

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