By CHRIS LANDRY

The Daily Iberian

LUTCHER – Defending Class 3A state champion Lutcher may not take wins for granted, but the Bulldogs don’t hide their desire to become the first team in school history to win back-to-back state championships.

Lutcher took the first step in its latest attempt to capture consecutive state titles Friday night with a 35-7 win over Catholic High of New Iberia.

“It’s an honor,” said LHS coach Tim Detillier. “We’re one of 16 teams left (in the 3A playoffs).

“(Winning another state crown is) one of our goals. We’ve never hid that. No team in Lutcher history has gone back-to-back.”

The Bulldogs (9-1) came off a bye week looking sharp, with quarterback Blaine Gautier hitting Marche Michael with a 25-yard scoring pass on

Lutcher’s first offensive possession.

“I think a lot of people in town were concerned because we were off lastweek,” said Detillier. “I actually didn’t say a word to the team about it. I thought it might be a problem, but it didn’t hurt at all.”

Gautier led the ‘Dogs to another first-down touchdown with a nine-play,

59-yard scoring drive on their second possession. The LHS senior scored the

first of his three rushing touchdowns on a one-yard run at the 1:03 mark of

the opening period to cap the drive, making it a 13-0 Lutcher lead.

Lutcher scored on its third possession as well, with Gautier’s three-yard

scoring run finishing off an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Gautier and Jarvis

Landry connected for the 2-point conversion that made it 21-0 with 8:21 leftin the first half.

“They were just a better football team than us,” said Catholic High coach Craig Brodie, whose team finished the season 5-6. “No. 17 (Gautier) is just unbelievable.

“We were playing the defending champs in 3A, and it looks like they’ll be one of the favorites to win this year.”

Gautier was an efficient 12-for-15 through the air, passing for 120 yards.

He also led the Bulldogs with 98 rushing yards on 12 carries. Daniel Taylor added 46 yards on nine rushes and Gavin Webster had 42 yards on five carries.

Michael had three catches for 32 yards, while tight end Tyrus Harris had two for 45.

Reginald Jackson returned the second-half kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 28-0 lead just a few seconds into the third quarter.

Jackson also had four receptions for 38 yards.

The LHS defense, meanwhile, limited Catholic High to 24 yards passing and had as many interceptions (two) as CHS had pass completions.

“We had a solid performance from all three phases,” said Detillier.

Gautier scored his final TD on Lutcher’s first offensive possession of the second half, throwing for 18 yards to Harris and rushing for 33 yards to inside the Panthers’ 1 to set up his own one-yard touchdown run at the 6:08 mark of the third quarter.

Catholic High averted the shutout with a fourth-quarter scoring drive keyed by sophomore quarterback Taylor Bullock.

Bullock had an 11-yard completion to Travis Blaize and ran four times for 52 yards in a six-play, 63-yard scoring drive. Bullock set up his own two-yard

TD run with a nice 36-yard gain on the previous play.

Bullock ran for a team-high 72 yards on 13 carries. LSU commitment Ryan St.

Julien added 48 yards on 11 rushes.

Lutcher plays host to District 9-3A rival St. Charles Catholic in a regional playoff game on Friday.

“We had a few mental mistakes (against Catholic High),” said Detillier. “We can’t do that this time of year.”