By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

River Parish fans have a variety of options when it comes to prep football games this Friday, as Hahnville, ESJ, Destrehan, SCC, Riverside Academy and West St. John will all play host to teams in the first round of playoffs.

In Class 5A, the Wildcats lead the pack as ESJ takes the second seed and is set to take on 31-seeded Hammond at Joe Keller Stadium. The Wildcats are coming off of a convincing win against Destrehan for the district title and look to win out in the bottom half of the playoff bracket.

Destrehan dropped to the fifth seed in the Class because of the loss, which pitted them against number 28 Barbe on Friday. Senior quarterback Jai Eugene should bring the Fighting Wildcats deep into the playoffs.

Rounding out local 5A, Hahnville nabbed the seventh seed, which pairs them off with number 26 West Jefferson.

The Comets are coming off of a 7-2 record, but stumbled of late after a 5-0 start. Last week St. James surprised SCC, handing them a 20-12 loss. St. James heads into the playoffs with the fourth seed while the Comets are set to take on number 20 Farmerville.

Also in 2A, Riverside got the seventh seed to see number 26 Port Barre. The Rebels are coming off of a win versus West Jefferson last week and looks to advance into the regionals next week.