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BATON ROUGE —The Louisiana High School Athletic Association voted Monday to restrict the playing of high school football games until high school athletics reaches Phase 4 of reopening.

In Phase 3, football teams may begin practicing and participate in 7-on-7 intra-squad limited contact drills. This essentially involves all of the players on a regular offense with the exception of offensive guards and tackles. All offensive players have to align themselves according to regulation football (two receivers on the line of scrimmage and other receivers within at least one yard off the line of scrimmage).

Full contact using helmets and shoulder pads will be allowed in Phase 4.

The LHSAA is following a phased reopening plan that differs from the White House’s three-phased Opening Up America plan. The LHSAA phases are based on guidelines from the White House, CDC and the National Federation of High Schools.

Louisiana high school sports are currently operating under Phase 2 guidance, in which football players are only allowed to work on individual conditioning. Some local schools have made an effort to limit the amount of athletes working out at any given time by splitting students into groups.

Decisions on allowing fans into games will be up to the individual school districts.

As of noon on Monday, the state of Louisiana is currently reporting 79,827 COVID-19 cases.