North DeSoto football's magical season comes to end vs. Lutcher in LHSAA championship
NEW ORLEANS – Peter Pan’s flight in Disney’s Magic Kingdom is a fun ride for both young and old. The same could be said for North DeSoto football’s trip to the LHSAA Non-Select Division II state championship Saturday afternoon in the Caesar’s Superdome.
Sure, all 300-plus football teams begin the season with the goal of advancing to a title tilt, but only 16 make it.
Few outside Stonewall expected the Griffins to make it this far prior to this season’s kickoff. The Griffins were picked to finish fourth in District 1-4A. But here were the undersized Griffins on Saturday meeting Lutcher, winners of eight previous titles, for North DeSoto’s first crown since the school opened in 1982.
The magical season ended on a down note, however, as the Griffins fell 28-25 to the Bulldogs — but it didn’t happen without a fight. The Griffins were still scoring when time ran out.
“We are no longer the best kept secret in Northwest Louisiana,” North DeSoto coach Dennis Dunn said. This game could have gone either way. And I think the best is yet to come in Stonewall. This isn’t a one-year wonder. This is a program that is now established as one you’ll have to be ready for.”
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North DeSoto (12-2) led for three quarters, but committed five turnovers and didn’t get any in return from the Bulldogs (14-1). The loss kept Dunn from becoming just the 10th coach in Louisiana high school history to win a state title at two different schools.
Dunn built his credentials running the Evangel football program for 14 years and made connections not only throughout the state, but across the country. His teams never lost a district game and he secured nine state titles. The resume included a 1999 USA Today national championship and 19 prep All-Americans, including Josh and John David Booty, along with Brock Berlin. His record at Evangel was a mind blowing 200-39. He continues to add to the resume in Stonewall.
The Griffins scored their final TD with a minute left on a 5-yard pass from freshman Luke Delafield to Christopher Falls. It wasn’t enough, but it left seniors, like receiver Sam Odom, who joined the program when Dunn was hired four years ago, philosophical.
“We knew when we got here that with coach Dunn, we’d have a winning culture,” Odom said. “We have something special here. The players bought in, and you saw it this year.
The Griffins took a 13-7 lead into halftime thanks to Delafield’s best pass of the season, a trick play and a defense that stopped Lutcher twice on fourth down attempts deep in Griffin territory. The trick play had Dale Howard taking a toss from Delafield and then hitting Brian Banks for a 22-yard score.
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Senior safety Hunter Addison was named the title game MVP for North DeSoto after recording 16 tackles, including 13 solo.
“I love the brotherhood we had this year,” Addison said. “I’ve never been part of something like this before. I’ve never seen a team bond or play for each other like this one. This was special.”
North DeSoto made it to the LHSAA quarterfinals twice under previous coach Scott Abernathy but hadn’t advanced to the semifinals or finals until the 2022 run.
Jimmy Watson covers Shreveport-Bossier area sports. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: LHSAA football championships 2022: North DeSoto loses to Lutcher
