By MATT VINES, Journal Sports
The playoff brackets are set, and 10 Shreveport-Bossier teams will still be donning pads this coming week.
Eight teams will play first-round games, including six of those at local venues.
But who benefited most from their Week 10 performance?
Here’s a look:
Evangel
Much more than just a second straight district title with a win over Haughton, Evangel climbed two spots in the Division I Select polls to avoid the absolutely toughest teams in a potential second round.
The Eagles win means that soared over second-round matchups with St. Augustine, Jesuit, Edna Karr, and Alexandria Senior High.
The No. 12 seed Eagles (6-4) will catch a No. 21 Warren Easton (4-6) program that has played for three state titles (2018, 2019, 2021) recently, but the current version is far from that image.
Warren Easton hasn’t had a winning record in the last four years (including this season).
Should Evangel beat Easton, they will head to No. 5 Archbishop Rummel. Still a team from the vaunted District 9-5A, but the Raiders’ three losses have come to three of those aforementioned teams (Karr, Jesuit, and St. Aug.).
Booker T. Washington
The Lions (7-3) catapulted up the Division II Select bracket by five spots with their 34-21 win at Minden (6-3).
BTW entered at No. 14 and jumped to No. 9, welcoming No. 24 McKinley (4-6) for a first-round date.
The Minden win came despite a Crimson Tide kickoff return for a touchdown put the home team up 14-6.
But the Lions, behind a three-touchdown connection between Devion Stewart and Trammel Howard-Choyce, ended the game on a 28-7 run.
It’s the first win BTW win over the “big three” in district (North DeSoto, Northwood, Minden) since 2019.
Beat McKinley, and BTW heads to the other Booker T. Washington in New Orleans.
Captain Shreve
The Gators (5-4) may not have moved up from their No. 15 spot in the Division I Select standings, but beating rival Byrd, 48-21, allowed Shreve to stay home in the first round.
And set up a rematch with No. 18 Hammond (4-6) – whom the Gators pounded on the road 61-21 in the first round last year.
Shreve is seven points away in a loss to Huntington from a four-game winning streak in which they beat Parkway, Natchitoches Central and Byrd.
Huntington
The Raiders likely made the second-biggest in-season turnaround (Northwood first) in the area.
Huntington (4-6) is on a three-game win streak after handling business against Natchitoches Central (42-28).
What’s the Raiders’ reward? They get a No. 13 John Curtis (4-6) team that’s been through the ringer of District 9-5A along with two out-of-state games.
All five Louisiana teams that beat Curtis have byes in the Division I Select playoffs (St. Aug, Karr, Jesuit, Rummel, and Brother Martin).
Northwood
The Falcons (6-4) couldn’t ascend all the way to a home game with its five-game winning streak, but Northwood did get to No. 19 after not being in the playoff picture at the beginning of the streak.
That streak continued with a 56-14 win against Woodlawn as the winning spree featured victories by an average of 35 points.
They’ll head to No. 14 Cecilia (7-3) in the Lafayette area.
Northwood has two wins in its four playoff trips in Division I Select – and now the Falcons return to a more familiar playoff landscape that yielded a quarterfinals run in 2021.
That’s exactly where Cecilia advanced to in the 2025 playoffs as a No. 13 seed, but Northwood is not a typical No. 19 seed either.
Airline
The Vikings earned a home-playoff game with their 38-35 win against Parkway in a Bossier Parish rivalry.
Airline (7-3) built a 35-7 halftime lead before needing an interception in the end zone to fend off a monstrous Parkway comeback.
The Vikings vaulted three spots to No. 15 to get a home game, which comes against No. 18 Central (5-4) out of Baton Rouge.
Despite Parkway (5-5) losing four of its last six games, the Panthers won’t have to travel far.
Parkway will head to the eastern part of the parish to face No. 11 Haughton, who won the regular-season meeting 55-36.
Calvary, Loyola secure byes
Calvary Baptist and Loyola secured first-round byes in Division III Select with Week 10 wins.
The Cavaliers (9-1) dominated Green Oaks in a district title game, 56-20.
The Flyers (7-3) handled Red River, also in 56-20 fashion.
Calvary earned the No. 5 seed while Loyola held on to No. 8.
The Cavs get the winner of No.12 Baker and No. 21 Helix Mentorship Academy, while the Flyers will have a monumental task against No. 9 Dunham, assuming they demolish No. 24 Fisher.
Dunham hammered Parkway (55-15) in the season-opener at Independence Stadium before the Panthers rebounded with a 42-41 win against Loyola. Dunham lost three games while superstar quarterback Elijah Haven was out with an injury, but have been on a roll since he came back.
Green Oaks tumbled
The Giants (7-2) have been in the top five of Division III Non-Select for the majority of the season, but losing two of their last three games tumbled Green Oaks to No. 12. They still had only the second winning season for the program in over two decades, and won’t be traveling on Friday.
Their last home playoff game was in 2020 when the Giants played as the No. 7 seed.
The Giants will host No. 21 Donaldsonville.
Benton’s win not enough
Benton’s win against Southwood (48-8) boosted the Tigers’ record to 5-5, which puts a team into the playoffs in almost any division.
But the computers predicted a win against Southwood wouldn’t be enough to get Benton into Division I Non-Select, and the Tigers fell just 0.20 power points short of the No. 28 spot.
Chalmette and East St. John, both at 3-7, snatched the last two spots.
Benton will likely point to losses against BTW and Huntington as games they’d like to have back.
Win one, and Benton would be playoff-bound.
Contact Matt at matt.vines@lsus.edu