Lutcher quarterback D’Wanye Winfield accounted for five touchdowns while a stingy Bulldogs defense derailed Hahnville early on in a 35-14 win for LHS at the Dog Yard Friday night.
Hahnville’s defense battled hard against a Lutcher team that has posted eye-popping offensive stats all season long, but the Tiger defenders were on the field much of the night as Hahnville’s offense did not start clicking until the second half. HHS garnered just three first downs before halftime, leaving the defense to withstand an avalanche of Winfield runs – four of which went for touchdowns, including three in the first half.
Hahnville head coach Daniel Luquet said his team has had difficulty with slow starts too often this season, and that it’s something the Tigers need to correct in a hurry.
“We just don’t start fast. I’ve got to get us better on offense,” Luquet said. “We’re leaving our defense out there to die. They scored 21 points in first half, and we had three first downs. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot … we just start so slow. And if you start slow against good football teams, you’re not going to win football games.”
Luquet said the Tigers’ defense did all it could on Friday, but was simply on the field far too long.
“Winfield is a great player. There’s zero doubt about it. But if our offense is on the field for 40 plays and theirs is for 75, that’s 30 more snaps for your defense than they should be. We have to play better on offense to give our defense a rest. They’re playing their tails off … Lutcher puts up 49 in the first half on everyone they play. We have a young group here, but right now we’re just not doing the things we need to do.”
Lutcher (6-1), which entered Friday night ranked No. 8 in the Class 4A poll, led 21-0 at halftime and effectively put the Tigers away on the Bulldogs’ first drive of third quarter, which was capped by an 8-yard touchdown by Winfield. That drive was set up by a Bulldogs’ interception on Hahnville’s first drive of the second half.
“Coach (Dwain) Jenkins told us we’ve gotta jump on this early,” said Winfield, who has now accounted for 39 total touchdowns this season and has more than 1,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. “Don’t let them get any excitement going – take their heart from them.”
Hahnville (3-4) got on the board with an answer as HHS quarterback Ryan Gregson found Dakota Williams for a 23-yard touchdown pass, making it 28-7.
Early in the fourth quarter, Winfield got his first touchdown through the air on the night, as he connected with Tylin Johnson in the endzone on an 18-yard touchdown pass.
The Tigers finished off the night’s scoring on Gregson’s second touchdown pass of the second half, as he found Romell Hardy for a score in the redzone.
Jenkins, who has been Lutcher’s head coach since being chosen as the retiring Tim Detillier’s successor in 2016, said the Bulldogs knew Hahnville took pride in its physicality, and said his team entered Friday’s game up to that task.
“We knew what they’ve been trying to do physically after a tough start. We saw the clippings, about being more physical than the other team, and we took it as a challenge,” Jenkins said.
Winfield’s five total touchdowns, Jenkins said, were par for the course for an athlete who has been sensational all season long.
“In our biggest games, we believe we have the best player on the field – and we let him work,” Jenkins said.
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