DESTREHAN, La. ― Stephen Robicheaux listened to the question posed to him and chuckled.

You know, the kind of chuckle one presents when complimented but doesn’t want to come off cocky or arrogant.

Photo by Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com

Destrehan's David Lane (46) and Warren Lennix (92) make a tackle during the 2008 season. Destrehan must replace nearly half of its defense after winning back-to-back Class 5A championship. Lennix will return in the fall.

“I don’t know if we’re the model (or) if you’re going to say that at the beginning of next year,” said Robicheaux, Destrehan’s head football coach. “We’re just lucky to be in a good place. We’re fortunate to have good players here that buy into the system.”

Destrehan might not be the model, but the Wildcats are certainly the latest program to reach the status of top program in the state, having won the past two Class 5A state titles in football.

It’s a place Belle Chasse would like to be when next fall finishes. The Cardinals won the 4A title in 2008.

But both programs have one thing in common as spring football hits its stretch run – both must replace an overwhelming amount of starters and producers from championship squads.

The question is how to do it. For that, Belle Chasse offensive coordinator Clint Harrison said he and his fellow coaches should look no farther than Destrehan.

“Destrehan is a great example of how to go back and do it again,” Harrison said. “We’re like they are. We’re not here to defend a state championship, where here to earn another one. Just like they did.”

And that’s what makes this spring as important as any other. It’s a time for both schools to begin working their way towards “earning” another state title.

“Absolutely. We have a lot of question marks,” Belle Chasse Head Coach Bob Becnel said. “That’s what spring is for. Who is going to answer those questions? Spring is crucial in so many ways, but especially for us this year being not so much a veteran team, being an inexperienced team in terms of returning starters.”

Becnel loses most of his offense save for a few receivers and a running back or two. The bulk of his defense also is gone.

But one of the most important losses will be Blake Matherne, the reigning Mr. Football for Louisiana and the man who nearly single-handedly kept Archbishop Shaw on its heels in the state championship game.

When the Cardinals began spring practice in late April, they began the search for his replacement.

“It’s going to be weird not snapping to him in the spring and coming into the fall, but I’ll adjust to it,” said center Clayton Sylve, Belle Chasse’s lone returning starter along the offensive line.

Added Harrison, “With Blake as a quarterback, he and I had been together long enough to where we thought alike, we acted alike. Things he saw, I saw. It’ll take awhile to build that relationship again. Things we’re going to do are going to be a little different without Blake because of how he plays and his ability to make plays.”

Destrehan is in the same boat. After losing most of its offense after the 2007 season, the Wildcats must again replace their quarterback. But this time in the spring, Robicheaux must replace the offensive line and much of the defense.

Repeating is never easy. Neither is getting back to the Superdome a year later.

All championship games moved to the Superdome in 1981. 5A began playing in 1991.

In the 27 seasons since all games were moved to the same city, there have been 125 championship games, meaning 250 spots open in the finals.

Only 25 schools have reached the championship game a year after making it there first. Combined, they’ve taken up just 71 of the 250 spots, just 28.4 percent places available.

For Destrehan defensive coordinator Chris Stroud, the past is the only thing that can prepare a coaching staff for losing so much, he said. Coaches know they’ll have a player for three years, four at best, in high school.

“Prior experiences,” Stroud said. “But we’re a little spoiled as position coaches because we’ve had such great players the last couple of years. But it’s fun to coach those young guys because you see their growth.”

If Belle Chasse wants to copy Destrehan, Robicheaux said the only requirement is to do everything just it would normally. Winning a championship doesn’t change the basic tenets of the program, he said.

“That’s the most important thing,” Robicheaux said. “When our kids come out to the practice field, they know what to expect. They know when they come out on the practice field, they understand what has to be done.”

Not that this spring will be like the past two.

“Our coaches are good enough to where those guys realize what we need to do,” Robicheaux said. “We can’t go as fast. We can’t put stuff constantly in spring like we did in the past. We’ve got to slow down and teach more. It’s actually a good thing for us.”

Becnel has been through this before, getting to the Superdome in 2001. But his next team lost in the first round of the playoffs.

One thing Robicheaux likely would agree with Becnel is that the five extra weeks Belle Chasse earned after traversing the rough playoff road provided invaluable experience.

Those five weeks of practice are showing this spring, Becnel said.

“They got a lot of experience,” Becnel said. “They got a lot of extra reps. We did a lot of scrimmaging during that time. I saw (early this spring) a maturity in a lot of them that I don’t know if we would have seen that without those five weeks. I was pleasantly surprised that some kids were moving up and stepping forward.”

Sylve has seen the same thing, saying this spring has been different than in the past.

“It’s a lot more intense,” he said. “Coming off the state championship game,  everybody wants to get back and they want to play in another state championship game. It’s a lot more intense than the past couple of years.”

That has happened at Destrehan, Stroud said.

“The kids are buying in because of the past few years,” Stroud said. “The young kids have a confidence about them, sort of like Acadiana the past few years. They’re right there knocking on the door every year. Once they get that taste, they think they can do it every year.”