The Last Ride: Father-Son Bond Between Dwain and Zach Jenkins Shines in Lutcher’s Anticipated Season

by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

Dwain Jenkins still revels in the moment nearly two years ago.

With Lutcher leading by 14 points in the waning moments of its Division II non-select state playoff game at West Feliciana in 2022, Jenkins inserted his son Zach into the game at quarterback for one final kneel-down.

Zach Jenkins executed the play, sealing the Bulldogs’ 35-21 victory and then taking off for his team’s jubilant sideline, presenting the game ball to his father. 

“He gave me the ball knowing we were going to the dome,” said Dwain Jenkins. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”

Lutcher capped off a memorable 14-1 season with a 28-23 victory over North DeSoto for the school’s ninth state championship, the sixth that Jenkins was a part of since 2003 as either the team’s offensive coordinator or head coach. 

There would be no grander send-off for father and son than a state championship in 2024 – one that would make Lutcher one of seven schools with double-digit state crowns– when senior Zach Jenkins takes over as the team’s starting quarterback position. 

“It’s been a long wait, but I feel like it’s definitely going to be worth it,” said Zach, a pitcher on Lutcher’s Class 4A state title team and freestyle swimmer the previous two years. “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life, growing up around Lutcher football and just seeing all of the success over the years. Just waiting to see when it’s going to be my turn to be a part of that success, and now it’s finally here. I get to go out and continue the greatness of Lutcher football.”

Dwain Jenkins was already Lutcher’s offensive coordinator under head coach Tim Detillier when Zach was born. The family still has pictures of then quarterback Blaine Gauthier holding a young Zach after the games, evidence of just how much he’s grown up around the Bulldogs’ football program.

It’s been commonplace for Zach to be a regular at either practices or games, getting a crash course on Lutcher football and the tight-knit community. 

“It’s going to be real special for us,” Zach said. “I feel like he’s been waiting for this also. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time and now it’s finally here. We’re going to try and keep it going for as long as we can. We don’t want it to end anytime soon.”

The added bonus for Dwain Jenkins will be that in addition to Zach starting at quarterback, his youngest son, Alex, is a freshman safety this season.

“A lot of time my obligations have been to other people’s kids and working with other people’s kids,” said Dwain, 91-44 overall and 66-29 in his career at Lutcher. “It’s never allowed me to coach my own sons. I need to continue to cherish the opportunity I’m getting to coach both of my sons at the same time. I haven’t been able to do that at any point in their lives.”

Said Zach:

“This is the only time we’ll be on a team together,” he said. “Hopefully this could become a special season for us.”

Growing up around Tremendous Influences

Zach follows in the footsteps of his father, who was Lutcher’s quarterback under Detillier. He was selected the Sugar Bowl/Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Player of the Year in 1996. 

That’s where the comparisons end.

Dwain was a taller, leaner quarterback who went on to graduate from LSU and obtain his master’s from Ohio University.  

Zach is 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds and played sparingly two years ago behind D’Wayne “Lunch” Winfield, the author of Lutcher’s state-title team in ’22 and UL-Lafayette signee. 

Even his father wasn’t certain about his son’s future position, even going as far as to say it would probably be somewhere other than quarterback.

“It wasn’t anything we pushed for,” Dwain said. “At the end of his freshman year, we tried to push him out of it and push him to receiver going into his sophomore year. Quinn Smith (the ’23 starter at QB) broke his leg in the spring scrimmage, so we had to move Zach back to quarterback, and was the backup the whole JV season.

“Although the dad in me didn’t want him playing quarterback, the football coach in me knew that was best for our team,” Dwain said. “Just the way he handled that whole season, and went to play in some games that sophomore year.”

Zach had an idea that quarterback was in his blood. That began at a young age, hanging around his father, when Lutcher was in the midst of deep state playoff runs, practicing during Thanksgiving week which translated into the team advancing to the quarterfinal round.

There was something about that week that resonated with Zach, just being out of school the entire week and attending morning practice created an indelible memory. 

“Some of my favorite memories are going to Thanksgiving practice with him and spending time with him,” Zach said. “We woke up early to go to practice, and I got to spend time around the high school football team as a little kid. Being able to learn as much as I could, and just be able to spend as much time with him as I could. That’s some of my favorite memories of just being able to be around him.”

Dwain Jenkins’ up-tempo, spread offenses were tailor-made for Lutcher’s athletic quarterbacks such as Gauthier, Ruston Matherne, and Gavin Webster and eventual NFL-bound wide receiver Jarvis Landry. 

When Jenkins left to become head coach at arch-rival St. James, he had standout quarterback Lowell Narcisse running his offense. The Wildcats flourished with an appearance in the Class 3A state title game in what was Narcisse’s lone healthy season. 

For a young player with aspirations of one day being a quarterback, Zach Jenkins couldn’t have had better role models on how to play the position than the aforementioned players.

“His entire life has been with his dad who has been the offensive coordinator and play caller,” Dwain said. “He’s heard the mistakes that other people have made, the success other people have had, the plays that still haunt me as a play-caller. He understands. He gets it.”

Becoming a Quarterback

Zach’s path toward being a quarterback began to crystallize in the eighth grade when was the team’s starter at the position. He had no better tutor on the finer points of the position than his father who witnessed the possibilities that were ahead for his son. 

“He helped me through that a lot,” Zach said of his dad. “When I came with questions, he would help me out with reading defenses, learning coverages, were to go on certain plays.”

Dwain said that he’s able to get quick responses from his son when looking at practice or game film of certain plays Zach was involved in.

“If it’s a question that comes up about what he was thinking or what he saw, I’m yelling for him to come downstairs,” Dwain said.

Dwain estimated that from the time Zach could sit up on his own, he watched game film in his father’s lap. Whether he comprehended the intricacies of zone or man coverage, Zach’s introduction to football was genuine, and his advancement of the game in football-crazed Lutcher fast-tracked. 

Zach realizes the ebbs and flows of playing football in Lutcher, which won its first state championship in 1975.

“Football’s a huge part of what the town of Lutcher’s all about,” he said. “If there are bad plays and mistakes, people are going to get angry and talk about it. That’s just how it is, they take Lutcher football very seriously. 

“I know what to expect going into this year; the environment and the people around here,” he said. “So far, it’s been nothing but support. They’ve had my back the whole offseason, they’ve been encouraging. It’s a really good town to be in for football. People get behind you and will support you. If you make a mistake, they’ll get mad, but that’s just how it is.”

Ready to Share Final Season Together

The layer of the coach-son relationship that’s been a constant for Dwain has been walking the fine line between the perceived preferential treatment of coaching his son and having the same demands for each and every team member. 

It’s always been his mindset to coach his son as hard, if not harder, than every other team member.

“Anybody who says they coach their kid the same as the others is lying,” he said. “You want to coach him the same way as everyone else, that’s the politically correct thing to say. You’re usually way harder on your kid than everyone else to overcompensate for any preconceived notions that other people have. Unfortunately for him, sometimes he gets the wrath of things other quarterbacks, and other players, can make mistakes on, and he’s not allowed to make that same mistakes even though it’s the first time he’s making it.”

The end of Lutcher’s 2023 season in the Division II non-select state quarterfinals – a 26-10 quarterfinal loss at eventual state champion Opelousas – signified the start of Zach’s pursuit of the team’s starting quarterback position. 

“I need to stop sometimes and remember how special it is,” Dwain said. “At the same time, we both have a job to do this season. He’s been waiting for this opportunity his whole life. He’s seen Dad work with all these other guys that everybody else knows and he knows.” 

With graduating senior Quinn Smith, a pure pocket passer, throwing for 1,101 yards and five touchdowns, Jenkins was more of the team’s running threat. He rushed 67 times for 321 yards (second best to Trenton Chaney) with seven touchdowns. 

Now with a full offseason of his father molding an offense to accentuate his skill set, Zach finds himself in the exact position playing for the team he always dreamed of.

“This year we’re doing signals to go faster and be more efficient,” Zach said. “Being around him, a lot of the times, we’re on the same page and sometimes we have different views on things. But eventually, we get it right for what it takes at the exact moment. A lot of the time we’re on the same page, thinking the same things.”