ST. MARTINVILLE – It could be a rematch of epic proportions when St. Martinvillle travels to Lutcher in a Division II non-select regional playoff game Friday.

Last year’s Class 3A quarterfinal game was not for the faint of heart as the No. 3-seeded Tigers outscored the No. 6 Bulldogs 59-42 at SMSH.

Tanner Harrison and Steven Blanco each ran for 200-plus yards for the Tigers, and Lutcher quarterback D’Wanye Winfield rushed for 221 yards and five TDs.

Harrison graduated, but Blanco and Winfield will reunite Friday. This time, the Bulldogs are the favorite – again as a No. 6 seed – against the No. 11-seeded Tigers.

In last year’s matchup, Lutcher senior running backs Cleveland Parquette and Roy Forrest combined for 176 yards rushing on 16 carries with a TD. Their presence kept St. Martinville’s defense from focusing solely on Winfield. This year, Winfield has accounted for 70% of his team’s rushing output.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior, who is ranked as a three-star prospect by multiple recruiting sites, has produced 1,750 yards rushing and 1,678 yards passing with 53 TDs for the 10-1 Bulldogs.

“I don’t see anything in his game that leaves anything to the imagination,” DeRouen said of Winfield, who holds scholarship offers from Virginia, Louisville, UCF and Grambling State.

“He throws equally well, but they don’t throw it much because they want him to take off with it. He’s going to do his thing. He makes them go.”

In Lutcher’s only loss, a 21-20 setback to St. Charles Catholic in Week 2, the Comets did a good job of gang-tackling Winfield. DeRouen said the Tigers will need to duplicate that strategy.

“The key is tackling,” DeRouen said. “We can’t arm tackle because he’s a big kid. He’s not going to go down.”

Blanco has rushed for 1,998 yards with 28 TDs for the Tigers. Harvey Broussard and Cullen Charles have combined for 1,600 receiving yards with 18 TDs, and Zenon has done an admirable job replacing Harrison at quarterback.

Kicker/punter Alexis Maza has given SMSH its best special teams group in years. In recent seasons, the Tigers were often forced to go for two-point conversions and punts were adventure.

“Maza does a great job with whatever we ask him to do,” DeRouen said. “He’s almost automatic on extra points and field goals. When he does miss, it’s because of a bad snap or hold.

“We haven’t had to punt much lately, but when he does punt it, he has a powerful leg. He gets the punts high and deep so our coverage team can get down there. We’ll need that in a game like this coming up Friday.”

The Lutcher defense has held its last eight opponents to 14-or-fewer points.

“They’re not bad defensively,” DeRouen said. “They’re not huge. They’re not big, but they’re scrappy. It’s almost a mirror of their team from last year.”