Top Performers: Lutcher vs. St. James

&nbsp; Cross-river rivals Lutcher and St. James opened district play with an always- anticipated and -contentious date in mid-October. But the visiting Bulldogs quickly took the air out of the Wildcats’ stadium and team and the drama out of the night with a dominant rushing attack and swarming defense en route to a 41-19 victory. Here were a few of the top performers on the evening from each side, with really no question where to start. &nbsp; <strong>LUTCHER</strong> <strong>D’Wanye’ Winfield (2023)</strong> <strong>6-2, 210 ATH</strong> Simply put, the junior quarterback was the unquestionable story of the night. St. James knew the type of special player was leading its rivals’ offense across the river and into town, but couldn’t seem to even come close to containing him. Winfield ran up and down the field all night almost at will en route to more than 250 yards and five touchdowns. The star nicknamed "Lunch" continued an incredible run of his team’s two playoff games last season and first four games of this season in which he rushed 93 times for 1180 yards and 19 touchdowns and completed 45 of 70 passes for another 654 yards and eight scores. Those numbers average out to 15.5 carries for 196.7 yards and 3.2 touchdowns per game on the ground and 7.5-for-11.7 passing for 109 yards and another 1.3 scores through the air. <strong>Cleveland Parquette (2023)</strong> <strong>5-8, 210 RB</strong> Winfield’s backfield partner racked up enough of his own big, gashing runs, including a first-quarter touchdown, to play a perfect compliment. He break a nearly 50-yard run on the second play from scrimmage to open the floodgates, and the Bulldogs never slowed down from there. <strong>Offensive line</strong> As great of an individual performance as Winfield laid out over four quarters, the impact of the Bulldogs’ big, physical offensive line clearing and sealing lanes was right there hand-in-hand in the dominant performance every step of the way. The senior group of tackle [player_tooltip player_id="136553" first="Sameij" last="Scott"], guard Donald Fleming, center Brandon Boudwin, guard Daron Cooper, two-way lineman Jayden Dumas, junior guard Donovan Arbuthnot, two-way sophomore Caleb Hastings and other set the tone from start to finish and worked well together exploding forward off the ball or pulling to further complicate matters for the Wildcats’ defense. <strong>Tyrek Brown (2023)</strong> <strong>5-7, 165 DB</strong> Similar to the offensive line, the Lutcher defense worked extremely well in unison as a disciplined group quick to the outside and flying all over the field to the ball. One of the standouts was the junior safety, who made a couple nice tackles in space outside to nip quick screens in the bud and also scooped up a fumbled ball, following an interception by fellow junior defensive back Craydon Long, in the third quarter and dash the other way for some additional yards. &nbsp; <strong>ST. JAMES</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137104" first="Alec" last="Mahler"] (2022)</strong> <strong>5-11, 190 K/P</strong> St. James boasts arguably the best kicker and punter in Louisiana, regardless of class or classification, in [player_tooltip player_id="137104" first="Alec" last="Mahler"]. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the standout specialist felt like the only weapon they had going for them for far too much of the game. Mahler continued booming punts to help flip the field and do his best to at least make Winfield and Parquette complete long marches for Lutcher’s points. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="128240" first="Shazz" last="Preston"] (2022)</strong> <strong>6-1, 190 WR</strong> The highly sought-after wide receiver didn’t get many chances to flex the pass-catching muscles that have top programs from coast to coast trying to sign him later this year. But Preston played a lot of defense and showed his physicality, intensity and competitive nature in his work in the box or chasing Winfield down behind the line and around the field. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="188934" first="Jadan" last="Aubert"] (2023)</strong> <strong>5-10, 175 DB</strong> The junior safety joined Preston with a few of his own disruptive plays near or behind the line of scrimmage. Not much went the Wildcats’ way, but Aubert clearly etched his name on a few of the plays that did with his fearless willingness to come downhill with a purpose and show off his own strength beyond his size.