Lutcher overcomes Berwick; Morgan City falls

The Berwick Panthers certainly had opportunities during the first half of Thursday’s District 9-3A contest against Lutcher.
While the Panthers (1-4 overall, 0-2 in district) used a turnover on a touchback to score on offense and cut Lutcher’s lead to 14-6, Berwick had chances throughout to match or take the lead against the visiting Bulldogs.
The visiting Bulldogs pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Panthers 28-7 for a 49-13 victory.
“They’re a good football team,” Berwick coach Mike Walker said. “Dwain (Jenkins) does a really good job over there. Year in and year out, they’re a good program, and we have to make sure we don’t help those guys out. Still way too many penalties on the offensive side and the defensive side tonight, too. When you give a good team multiple chances, they’re going to make you pay and tonight was the tale of making us pay.”
The opportunities began from the start as Berwick recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and had possession at the Lutcher 24, but the Bulldogs held on four downs to take over.
While Lutcher (3-2, 1-1) scored touchdowns on consecutive drives later in the half on a D’wanye Winfield 3-yard pass to Roy Forrest with 3:48 remaining in the first quarter and a 43-yard run by Ra’Saun Storks with 2:15 left in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead, opportunities still were there for Berwick.
Berwick cashed in on the next Lutcher turnover as after Winfield fumbled near the goal line for a touchback, Berwick converted the turnover into points as Cru Bella connected with Jayden Milton on a screen pass that Milton turned into a 54-yard touchdown reception with 9:30 remaining in the half to cut Lutcher’s deficit to 14-6.
While Berwick’s defense forced a Lutcher punt on its next possession and recovered a Bulldog fumble on the following possession inside the Berwick red zone, the Panthers simply could not capitalize.
Lutcher scored a touchdown on its final possession of the half on a Storks 10-yard run with 1:02 remaining for a 21-6 halftime lead after Noah Detillier, who was 7-for-7 on point-after attempts, made his third of the evening.
In the second half, the Bulldogs scored on four straight possessions combined in the third and fourth quarters to put the game out of reach with a 49-6 lead.
Berwick scored the game’s final touchdown with 10 seconds remaining on Andre Engleton’s 3-yard run, and Jude Vasquez added the point-after attempt for the final margin.
Lutcher totaled 560 yards of offense (384 yards rushing and 176 passing).
Berwick had 144 yards of offense (92 rushing and 52 passing).
Bella led the run and passing game as he rushed eight times for 29 yards, while he completed 7 of 20 passes for 92 yards with one touchdown.
Milton was his top receiver with two catches for 61 yards and a score.
Engleton added four carries for 20 yards and a score.
Assumption
defeats MCHS
Assumption’s special teams turned Thursday’s District 8-4A game into a block party against Morgan City.
Assumption’s punt return unit blocked three punts and returned two for touchdowns during a 44-0 win over the Tigers in Mustang Stadium.
Senior Shae Thibodeaux blocked a punt in the first quarter, and junior Dontrell Thompson scooped it up and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. Sophomore Randall Wise blocked another punt, which Thibodeaux recovered and ran 50 yards for a touchdown. Sophomore Ty’Jai Jones had the third blocked punt for the Mustangs.
Assumption (3-2, 2-0) controlled every portion of the game on its senior night, taking leads of 22-0 after the first quarter, 37-0 at halftime and 44-0 at the end of the third quarter.
Assumption quarterback Sage Rivere threw two touchdown passes on a 32-yard strike to Jaden Tyler and a 28-yard pass to D’Ante Davis. Ja’Keice Gilton had a 5-yard touchdown run, and Marcus Mollere scored on an 8-yard run.
Assumption’s defense forced four turnovers, all fumbles.
Morgan City (0-5, 0-2 in district) finished with 20 yards of offense and had 10 plays stopped for negative yardage. Junior Charlie Wells intercepted a pass for the Tigers.
“Coach Menard and his staff do a great job,” Morgan City coach Chris Stroud said. “They have a great football team. Our kids played for four quarters. We’re so banged up with injuries.
"We’ve got young kids. Assumption has a lot of talent. They did a good job. We’re young. We have to keep building.”
Additional reporting by Chris Singleton of The Houma Courier/Thibodaux Daily Comet.