The LHSAA’s new-look football postseason will send Woodlawn High to New Orleans on Friday for a first-time meeting with Brother Martin in one of the state’s most intriguing first-round matchups.
The No. 20 Panthers (4-6) will visit the No. 13 Crusaders (5-5) for the 7 p.m. kickoff at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans City Park.
The winner will advance in the Division-I select bracket to face No. 4 St. Augustine (8-2) the following week.
Woodlawn and Brother Martin have never met in a regular-season or postseason football game in the schools’ history.
The unfamiliar foes spent the past nine years on opposite sides of the LHSAA’s split playoff system, which began separating “select” and “nonselect” schools into different brackets in 2013.
But the organization adjusted both its distinctions of “select” vs. “nonselect” this year and format overall, trimming slightly from nine tournaments to eight.
The top 24 teams in the Division-I select group earned playoff berths.
Seeds Nos. 1-8 will enjoy opening-round byes this weekend, with seeds Nos. 9-16 hosting Nos. 17-24.
