Lutcher was 5-0 coming into tonight’s game, fresh off of a shutout victory in their last 3 games. E.D. White was 5-1 traveling on the road to Lutcher High, their only loss being to Jesuit. These were two of the most dominant teams in their respective area/district, and the potential playoff matchup did not disappoint and came down to the wire with under a minute left in the game.
After not allowing points in the previous few weeks, the E.D. White offense made sure that Lutcher knew that this would not be that kind of game and that they would have to step up to try to stop their explosive offense. After a great run by RB Braelyn Jennings, Cardinal QB Grant Barbera would dive into the endzone, breaking that streak instantly. But the defensive captains on the Lutcher’s sideline made sure that no one overreacted and kept their heads on straight, as they know the kind of dominance that they can terrorize opposing offenses with. One score would not shake this team’s confidence.
Lutcher would tie the game at 7 and send the defense which has been their backbone all season back out on the field. They would get a stop 3 plays in a row, forcing a quick punt from the Cardinal offense. Their offense would come back even quicker with QB Zach Jenkins, on the second play of the drive, taking the top off down the sideline to RB Trenton Chaney for a 65-yard touchdown pass that would ignite the sideline and home crowd. This score would push the lead out to 14-7.
E.D. White was in this game the whole time and their offense was able to move surprisingly well against the stiff Lutcher defense. But the defense was able to stand up tall when needed and force stops. The Cardinals offense was forced to take a field goal with 51 seconds left in the first half, which made the score 14-10 going into the break. But you could tell that E.D. White wanted to finish this drive in the endzone.
This game was very close throughout all four quarters, and it felt like the kind of game where one play/mistake could cost either team the game. That mistake came in the third quarter for E.D. White on a 3rd & 16 when Lutcher LB Tariot Snowden intercepted the Cardinals’ quarterback and returned it down within the 10-yard line. This set up the offense for one of their easier scores of the night on a quick, no-huddle, 2-play drive. Trenton Chaney would finish the drive for the Bulldogs again for his second score of the night.
The Nicholls commit at RB for Lutcher was huge for them tonight, but his biggest play of the night came late in the 4th, right after E.D. White cut the lead down to 20-13. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Trenton Chaney took a 94-yard run all the way to the house delivering the knockout punch and putting the Bulldogs back up two scores with a 27-13 lead.
The Cardinals’ offense had woken up and felt the pressure at this point in the game. While their drive was not one play like the previous Lutcher drive, they were able to move the ball quickly and score with 3 minutes remaining in the game. This put them in a great position, down 7, all they needed was one stop from the defense and they would have a chance with a little bit of time left to try to tie the game.
After some penalties back and forth that cut a 3rd & 9 down to 4 and then back up to 9 after a false start by the Lutcher offense, E.D. White had one more chance to get the ball back before the end of the game. But as he did all night, Bulldog RB Trenton Chaney was able to fight through tackles and it came down to a close spot but he was ruled down past the marker to gain the first down, sending the home crowd into a frenzy and taking any sliver of hope that the Cardinals had at coming back away.
Lutcher remains undefeated in one of, if not their toughest challenge of the regular season. They are sitting at 6-0 and are looking to continue their dominance for another year. E.D. White moves to 5-2, but with 2 very tough losses on great performances vs Jesuit and Lutcher, they look forward to just staying in the position to win these big games and getting the cards to eventually fall in place.
Check out my postgame interview with Lutcher HC Dwain Jenkins below:
