• By SCOTT HOTARD
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Sep 5, 2009

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DUTCHTOWN — If you didn’t know better, you might have mistaken Austin Roussel for one of his game-breaking, offensive teammates.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Lutcher High School linebacker scooped a Dutchtown fumble, looped the width of the field and coasted 38 yards for six points.

That play, no doubt, changed the course of an often hotly contested season opener.

And that play, Roussel said, was no accident.

“We always practice that — blocking as a defense,” Roussel said after Lutcher’s 33-14 win before an overflow Dutchtown crowd. “We take care of each other.”

That’s how you win three state championships in the six years, as Lutcher has. You perfect the little things.

Sure, Lutcher, playing its first game after moving up from Class 3A — where it won those titles — to 4A, got plenty of production from its trusted, publicized playmakers.

Senior quarterback Gavin Webster rushed for 130 yards, passed for 151 yards and accounted for two rushing touchdowns and another through the air. Junior receiver Jarvis Landry, who went to Dutchtown Middle School with some of the DHS players, made seven catches for 89 yards with a touchdown and also rushed for a score.

In the end, though, cashing in on turnovers made the difference.

Dutchtown, an annual 5A playoff contender, fumbled three times. All three miscues led to Lutcher touchdowns.

“That’s the biggest play in football,” Lutcher coach Tim Detillier said of forced turnovers. “We preach it every day.”

Were it not for the turnovers, Dutchtown may have been on the brink of upsetting a team that entered the season ranked fourth in the 4A poll.

Lutcher, with 13 starters back, created a buzz in the River Parishes with last week’s 25-0 blasting of defending 5A champ Destrehan in the jamboree.

DHS, with only a handful of senior starters, lost to Dehnam Springs in its jamboree.

A mismatch? Nope.

Lutcher went without a first down in the first quarter as Dutchtown took a 7-0 lead on quarterback Leon Blouin’s 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-goal.

“A big 5A school?” Roussel said. “We knew they’d be good.”

In the second quarter, Lutcher’s offense went to an up-tempo attack. A quick, 65-yard march for a touchdown made it 7-6, with the extra point no good.

Back came Dutchtown, buoyed by a trick play.

Eric Reid, an LSU commitment, took a direct snap as the up-man out of a punt formation. His 25-yard gain on fourth-and-3 — one play after Effrem Reed picked up 13 yards on third-and-long — put the Griffins at Lutcher’s 37.

Two plays later, Blouin and running back Troy Lewis botched an exchange on first-and 10 at the 25. Lutcher recovered, leading to the Bulldogs’ second touchdown and a 14-7 halftime lead.

After another Lutcher score late in the third quarter, Reed, who finished with 121 yards in his debut as the Dutchtown feature back, slipped a tackle on the first play of the possession and raced 77 yards for a score.

Reid ended Lutcher’s ensuing drive when he leaped in front of Landry, one of the state’s top juniors, to swat away Webster’s fourth-down attempt and give Dutchtown the ball at its own 30 with 10:25 remaining.

Reed carried for eight yards, then lost the ball.

Roussel scooped, found a wall of blockers and scored for a two-touchdown lead.

“It would have been second-and-2 for us,” Dutchtown coach Benny Saia said. “That would have been a fun one to call.”

Blouin and Reed fumbled an exchange three plays into Dutchtown’s next possession. Lutcher did what the Bulldogs had done all night — converted it to points.

Webster found Landry for a 17-yard strike, the finishing touches on a game that — a few minutes earlier — appeared destined for a riveting close.

“I’m disappointed we lost,” Saia said., “but I’m proud of he way we played. There’s talent on this team. We just need some experience.”

Lutcher 33, Dutchtown 14

Team    LHS     DHS

First downs      21        10

Yards rushing   210      222

Yards passing   151      52

Passes (C-A-HI)          17-24-0           1-5-0

Punts-avg.        4-47.0 3-34.7

Fumbles-lost     1-0       3-3

Penalties-yards 14-116 5-34

SCORING SUMMARY

Lutcher 0 14 6 13—33

Dutchtown        7  0 7  0—14

DHS: Leon Blouin 1 run (Grant Auzenne kick)

LHS: Gavin Webster 5 run (kick failed)

LHS: Webster 9 run (Jarvis Landry pass from Webster)

LHS: Landry 3 run (kick failed)

DHS: Effrem Reed 77 run (Auzenne kick)

LHS: Austin Roussel 38 fumble return (run failed)

LHS: Landry 17 pass from Webster (Austin Brack kick)