A potential "mega championship event" at Cajun Field for select schools will no longer happen.
St. Thomas More athletic director Kim Broussard says the quarterfinals losses by Opelousas Catholic and Vermilion Catholic schools derailed the plans to host a championship event at Cajun Field, which would have hosted three state championship games and as many as six local schools. It will now be up to the highest-seeded team remaining in each select, or private, school division to set a championship venue.
Broussard tells KATC that St. Thomas More will host the Division II championship game at Cougar Stadium if they advance past St. Louis in the quarterfinals. That game would be played next Friday night at 7 p.m.. Pastor Jay Miller, of Lafayette Christian, says the Knights will still play the Division III championship at Cajun Field if LCA knocks off Dunham in the semifinals. Because Louisiana football could still host the Sun Belt Championship the Division III championship would not start until 6 p.m.. Catholic High of New Iberia cannot be the highest seeded remaining in Division III, and will have to play of the road if the Panthers beat St. Charles.
Officials from select schools in Acadiana had formed a plan to play a championship event at Cajun Field, hosting the Division II, III and IV state titles if the highest seeded team in those championships was from Acadiana. That was likely, seeing as the as the top seeded team in each of those divisions was from the area, and the second seeded team in both Division III and IV was as well.
Broussard tells KATC that he worried the loss of the Division IV schools would hurt that atmosphere around the event, to the extent that it no longer made sense from a scheduling and fiscal standpoint. He added that STM players, coaches and fans had always shown interest in playing the championship at Cougar Stadium.
This is the first year since the split where select schools won't play their championships in the Superdome. The decision to break all state championships apart began last winter. This year's state football championships are the first to be affected by the change. The non-select schools, or public schools, will play their state championship football games all in the Superdome.