By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

Daniel Taylor gained 283 yards total yards and scored four touchdowns and Gavin Webster passed for 368 yards and four touchdowns as Lutcher rolled to victory in its district opener, 57-12 over Helen Cox on Thursday night at Hoss Memptas Stadium.

Taylor rushed for 176 yards and three scores on 11 carries and caught six passes for 107 yards and a score.

Lutcher gained a whopping 622 yards of total offense, while allowing the Cougars 205.

The Bulldogs led 21-6 at halftime, but broke the game open in the third quarter, scoring 27 points to push the lead to 48-12.

As usual, the Bulldogs cashed in on a number of big plays. Five touchdowns covered 40 yards or more in distance – two of those topped 60, including a 97-yard pass from Webster to Trevor Englade in the third quarter.

Lutcher got on the board at the 4:11 mark in the first quarter on Webster’s 15-yard pass to Landry, making it 7-0.

Four minutes later, Taylor beat the end of the first quarter to score on a 2-yard run, doubling the lead.

The Cougars answered late in the second quarter, scoring with 1:43 left in the first half on a 5-yard Chris Webb run, slashing the lead to 14-6.

But as the Bulldogs have made habit, they would manage to score just before halftime. It took only 35 seconds for Lutcher to bounce back via Webster’s 60-yard touchdown pass to Taylor, making it 21-6.

Then the Lutcher offense really got going.

Twenty-three seconds into the second half, it became a three touchdown lead on Taylor’s 56-yard scoring run.

At the 8:21 mark of the third, Webster connected with Englade for the night’s biggest play, a 97-yard score.

Helen Cox offered a brief answer with a big play of its own, a 77-yard touchdown pass from Lloyd Young to Kendall Scott.

But Lutcher added two more scores before the end of the third – first on a two-yard pass from Webster to Landry, then on Taylor’s 52-yard run with 2:33 left in the quarter.

That made it 48-12. Austin Brack added a 40-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Landry finished with nine catches for 134 yards. Englade caught two passes for 113 yards.

Derick Matherne led the Lutcher defense with 11 tackles. Gavin Howard tallied 10. Jordan Batiste intercepted a pass.