“They call him Elliot ‘Ness’ Jones,” said Lutcher coach Tim Detillier of the quarterback of Huntington, the Bulldogs’ first round opponent in the Class 4A playoffs. “He’s a big dude. He’s pretty mobile. And he’s the top quarterback in the state of Louisiana.”

Detillier isn’t just doing a sales job to hype his team. Lutcher (9-1) is indeed the favorite on Friday as the fourth seed against Huntington’s No. 29 ranking. But just last season, the Bulldogs faced Huntington in the quarterfinals after the then-No.27 seeded Raiders upset No. 6 Ruston and No. 11 Haughton. Lutcher prevailed 48-20, but different teams will take the field on Friday and Detillier doesn’t want to see his Bulldogs become another upset victim.

“We definitely have to contain (Jones),” said Detillier, who compares the quarterback to former Kentucky Wildcats passer Jared Lorenzen. “We have to rush his throws, but you also have to contain him because he’s very mobile for his size. We play a lot of man, and I have a lot of confidence in our secondary. But they’re explosive.”

Defensively, Detillier said that Huntington (5-5) likes to pressure and stunt a great deal.

“When you do that, you create big plays and you can give up big plays,” said Detillier.

Jones will likely call upon his top receiver, Desman Ethridge, time and time again.

“They have other threats, but he’s a guy we need to slow down,” said Detillier.

Lutcher will counter with its top receiving threat, Jarvis Landry, who has scored 15 total offensive touchdowns, and top rusher Daniel Taylor, who has scored 13.

Hahnville coach Lou Valdin said that the team his team is faced with on Friday night, West Jefferson, is quite similar to the team that just defeated his Tigers in its regular season finale, East St. John.

“They’ve got a very good offense, very similar to East St. John,” said Valdin. “They have a lot of speed and a great, great quarterback (Shawn Hoye).”

But while one would think Valdin would stress improved defensive play to prevent the No. 18-seeded Buccaneers from mimicking ESJ’s 41-16 win on Friday, he instead offered three words to his offense: catch the ball.

“We’ve got to catch passes,” said Valdin. “We threw two interceptions that came right after key drops. That’s the biggest thing. We’re also going to have to run the football.”

Valdin knows his Tigers (6-3) are in for a test. West Jefferson (6-4) outgunned host St. Augustine 59-56 in the season opener, then fell in a close game to No. 1 seed Dutchtown, 42-35, also on the road. So while Hahnville enjoys homefield, the Bucs are not untested in hostile environments.

“It’s a one game season now,” said Valdin. “Especially when you’re in the middle of the pack, there are no gimmies at all. Nothing will come easy.”

St. James coach Rick Gaille said that his team hasn’t lost its swagger after Friday night’s 46-7 loss to Class 4A top seed Karr. That’s a good thing, as the Class 3A playoffs are no place for a team lacking in confidence.

But as St. James (4-6) prepares to travel to face No. 12 seeded Loranger in a bi-district round game, Gaille said that the mistakes that marred his club against Karr simply cannot be repeated if his team expects to last even a round into the fray.

“Over 12 plays, we turned it over four times,” said Gaille of a stretch in the second half of Friday’s game. “We were down 13-7 at half, then we give up a punt return score, then that. It came down to unforced errors, inaccurate routes, bad handoff mechanics … we know these things are correctable, but its disappointing that we’re in Week 10 and making errors like these.”

Prior to the Karr game, the Wildcats were on a roll, winners of four straight en route to the District 8-3A crown. The offense was rolling, but finding room to roam against Loranger (7-3) could be difficult. The Wolves boast a tough defense that went a seven game stretch this season allowing no more than 14 points and just 55 total.

“Defense is their strength,” said Gaille. “They’ve done a great job, especially against a difficult schedule. Offensively, they’ve had some inconsistency, but also have shown some explosive ability. We have to force them into mistakes.”