Dutchtown football wraps up spring practice
The Dutchtown Griffins completed their spring practices last weekend as they took part in an intrasquad scrimmage.
The Griffins are looking for vast improvements this season after finishing with a losing record last year.
Much of Dutchtown's struggles stemmed from their brutal schedule. In addition to their district and parish rivals East Ascension and St. Amant, they also played three top-five teams in Destrehan, Archbishop Rummel and Catholic.
Their young offense struggled with costly turnovers in many of their losses--like their season-opening upset loss to Lutcher and their first loss to East Ascension in over a decade.
The Griffins headed into the postseason at just 4-6. It drew another tough matchup--this time on the road against seventh-seeded Barbe.
Dutchtown actually led the game, 10-2, late, but the Buccaneers scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to avoid the upset and end the Griffins' season in the first round for the first time in three years.
This year's squad is hungry and ready to put the uncharacteristic disappointments of this past season behind them. Though, they'll face their share of challenges.
The Griffins are fortunate to return some of their best skill-position players, and they'll return two of the best defensive backs in the district.
However, Dutchtown will have to replace two-year starter at quarterback Brandt Fritsche. Jared Sparks saw some action at signal-caller during his junior year.
The Griffins lost all-district running back Kajuan Coleman, but Fitell Bolding will now step in as their feature back. Bolding stepped up this past season as a hard-nosed runner for Dutchtown and earned first-team all-district honors.
At receiver, Cornelius Washington and Avery York should be two reliable targets in the passing game. York split time at wideout and tailback last year while Washington emerged as a reliable big-play threat downfield.
It's on the offensive line where the Griffins may struggle. They lost their anchor and Nicholls State signee Hunter Austin. They'll be relying on all-district guard Mylik McWilliams and Lloyd Cushionberry to pick up the slack.
Dutchtown will have to replace many key cogs of a defense that was one of the best in the district.
They lose top defensive linemen like Michael Tadda and Hunter Hill. They also lose their leader at linebacker Javad Ben.
In the secondary, they will lose arguably the best safety tandem in the state in Stanford signee Justin Reid and Minnesota signee Alonzo Craighton.
But luckily for the Griffins, they return two talented cornerbacks in Coney Durr and Rickey Thomas. Both players have seen plenty of attention from college programs.
Durr has been receiving offers for almost a year now. Some of his 15 total offers include Kansas State and Wake Forest. Thomas has begun to garner some looks as well. Just recently, he received his first offer from Southern Miss.
The Griffins will once again host Lutcher to open next season. They'll also be seeing a new face within District 5-5A with the addition of Broadmoor.