The Bulldogs

In many ways, it was fitting for Burnell Joseph to come up with the game's final big play. After all, it was Joseph who scored 12 of the 15 points Lutcher High School was protecting as Notre Dame of Crowley was mounting one last drive.

Trailing by eight points, Notre Dame was down to its last possession when the Pioneers took over at their own 28-yard line. Converting a third-and-25 at their own 45 along the way, the Pioneers used a 20-yard run by Derrick McBride and a pair of 17-yard passes from quarterback Paige Hodges to Trey Meche and Joseph Voiter to reach the Lutcher 8-yard line. On fourth down, Joseph knocked down Hodges' pass at the goal line with 48 seconds remaining to seal the Bulldogs' fourth state title in school history with a 15-7 win at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

Lutcher rebounded from a 0-3 start to advance to the Class 3A playoffs as the 15th seed. The lowest seed ever to win a state title, the Bulldogs knocked off higher seeds in each of their five playoff games to advance to the finals. Four of those victories came against previously unbeaten teams.

Josesph's two touchdown runs were important to the Bulldogs' victory, allowing Lutcher to build early momentum. But his play at the end of the game may have helped an overlooked defense in the playoffs gain a bit of the limelight.

It may have been easy to overlook the Lutcher defense. The Bulldogs went into the state championship game by having won their previous four games by scores of 28-27, 28-23, 44-23 and 20-19.

It would have been easy to overlook the defense, but it also would have been misleading. In several of those playoff encounters, the Bulldogs had to overcome early deficits. While the offense used its big-play ability to get back in the games, it was the defense's propensity to shut down opponents for key stretches of the second half that enabled Lutcher to emerge victorious.

The state championship game in 2003 was yet another example, though the clossness of the contest helped put the defense's efforts into clearer perspective.

Going into the title game, Notre Dame tailback Rick Zaunbrecher had rushed for 1,942 yards and 22 touchdowns. McBride, the Pioneers' fullback, entered the state championship game with 1,255 yards. The Lutcher defense held Zaunbrecher to 66 yards rushing and McBride 99 in the final contest of the year.

The Bulldogs did allow Notre Dame to amass 294 total yards, but Lutcher forced the Pioneers into four turnovers, including three lost fumbles. The first three turnovers came on Notre Dame's first three possessions og the game.

"I can't say enough about my defense that game," Lutcher coach Tim Detillier said. Offensively, we only scored 15 points, but we constantly moved the ball. What was important about that was we had field position and we kept it away from them."