Dutchtown seeks to bounce back from average season

Guy Mistretta is entering his sixth season at Dutchtown.

The Mistretta family is all about winning at the highest possible level. Bucky Mistretta, Guy’s father, won a pair of state championships at Ascension Catholic. The younger Mistretta has experienced great success as the head coach at Dunham, at Livonia, where he won a state championship in 2014 and at Redemptorist, where he won a state championship in 2005.

Dutchtown is looking to bouncer back from what was an average season in 2021.

The outlook is promising.

The Griffins return 11 starters, including four on offense and seven on defense.

Senior Pierson Parent (5-7, 160) returns at quarterback but junior Ethan Aucoin (6-1, 185) could play there as well. If Aucoin starts, Parent could move to wide receiver.

Also at wide receiver will be junior Tyler Adams (6-0, 184).

Junior Dylan Dicharry (6-3, 210) is the tight end.

The running back is junior Gary Dukes (5-10, 175), who replaces Dylan Sampson.

Up front, both starting tackles return, including seniors Wayne McKinney (6-3, 268) and Ethan Fields (6-3, 310). The new starters at guard are junior Jaden Green (5-10, 235) and Hunter Lowry (5-11, 255). The center is sophomore Christian Gautreau (6-1, 225).

The Griffins are very experienced on defense, though not so much up front where only junior end Zyan Tremont (6-2, 272) returns as a starter. Joining Tremont will be senior end Braylon Richard (5-11, 197), tackle Baron Cosey (5-10, 212) and junior nose guard Diego Spears (6-1, 281).

The clear strength of the defense is at linebacker, where all three starters return in seniors Anson McCaffery (6-0, 205) and Dickson Agu (6-1, 210), along with junior Carter Hanberry (5-10, 185).

The safety position is strong with both starters returning in seniors Kade Kling (6-0, 180) and AK Burrell (5-10, 180). Junior cornerback Kaden Mackey (5-9, 175) is back to start as well.

Parent returns as the punter while sophomore Corbin Roussel (5-7, 165) is the kicker. Mackey will handle returns.

The schedule opens with three straight opponents from District 6-5A, starting at home against Northshore before the Griffins travel to The Swamp to face Ponchatoula and to Covington. Week four has Carver playing at Dutchtown.

District 5-5A play begins on Oct. 6 at home against Walker before the Griffins host Live Oak. Road games at St. Amant and Denham Springs follow before the regular season finale at home against East Ascension.

Mistretta is accustomed to winning and winning big. Dutchtown figures to be improved over a year ago. How well the Griffins fare largely depends on how quickly the offense comes together.

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