By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

With the boys playoff brackets completed, action tips off this weekend with seven teams from the River Parishes vying for a state championship.

In large schools, East St. John and Hahnville will be playing in the bi-district round. HHS, and their 25-6 record, will play host to Byrd, the only wildcard team to make the 5A bracket. ESJ (19-15) will travel to play Bonnabel, who have played just more than 20 games due to the shortened schedule and damage to the school, hovering right around .500 all season long.

Lutcher’s boys team (6-19) was also affected by the hurricane fallout from last year, as their district shrunk down to three teams. The Bulldogs got an automatic bid in the post-season tournament and face up first against Rayne, of Acadiana Parish.

For district 2A, St. Charles and St. James have qualified, and are set to face Springfield and Episcopal respectively. The Comets will be on the road for the match-up as a wildcard seed after capturing a share of the district title last weekend. A three-way tie between SCC, St. James and Donaldsonville was settled this week with a coin toss to determine the seeding. St. James won the toss, and will play host to wildcard Episcopal of Baton Rouge.

West St. John enters the post-season as a favorite to challenge for the state championship, after falling just short in last year’s title game. This year, the Rams have gone 21-6 and captured their fifth consecutive district championship. They will be matched-up against Hanson of Franklin.

Reserve Christian rounds out the River Parishes as they look to win their fourth state championship in five years. They started Thursday night in the bi-district round with a victory over the Louisiana School for the Deaf. That win will likely put them up against Plainview in the regional round.