By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

When Lutcher fell behind 7-0 Friday night against St. Louis, it allowed the Saints fans in attendance to dream of an upset win over the No. 6 seeded Bulldogs.

But Gavin Webster and the Lutcher offense ensured that those dreams would remain just that.

The senior quarterback rushed for 256 yards on 14 carries and accounted for four touchdowns as host Lutcher raced to a 40-10 victory in the Class 3A regional round.

Lutcher (9-2) will now travel to No. 3 seed Amite on Friday night in the quarterfinals.

Webster passed for one touchdown and ran for three. He completed 10-of-20 passes for 86 yards, but threw three interceptions along with them.

Still, those turnovers wouldn’t spoil a night where the Lutcher offense rolled up 477 yards, 391 of those coming on the ground.

The defense wasn’t so bad, either. The Bulldogs held St. Louis (8-3) to only 131 yards of total offense, and no points in the second half.

After Stephen Sylvester scored on a 3-yard run to put St. Louis ahead 7-0 after the Saints returned a Webster interception to the Bulldogs 3.

Webster got most of those points back after a 1-yard scoring run a short time later, but the point after attempt was no good.

A St. Louis field goal extended the Saints lead to 10-6. But right before halftime, Webster capped an 80-yard drive with a 9-yard scoring pass to Jarvis Landry. It put Lutcher ahead 12-10 at halftime.

In the second half, the Bulldogs blew it wide open. Daniel Taylor scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter to make it 18-10, and a two-point pass from Webster to Shane Naquin extended the lead to 20-10. Webster scored on a 20-yard pass later in the period to make it 27-10.

Two long runs slammed the door. First, Webster scored his third and final rushing touchdown, breaking loose for a 56-yard score. Then, Landry did the same from 44-yards away, securing the 40-10 final score.

Lutcher turned it over four times and was penalized nine times for 80 yards, so it wasn’t a perfect night. But 391 rushing yards mitigated much of that, and Lutcher could breath easy — all the way to the quarterfinal round, in fact.