Lausanne eyes second consecutive state championship, 27th straight win

Lausanne linebacker Patrick Massey smiled and patted his head coach, Kevin Locastro, on the shoulder.

"Coach Locastro ... he can sell ice to an Eskimo," said the senior. 

Four years ago, what Locastro was selling to his team was maybe even more difficult to buy into — that their fledgling program would one day be a champion. 

"We were believing in something that really wasn't even there," Massey said. "But we trusted in our coaching staff and our school. And we really trusted in ourselves. Our first year ... we didn't win a district game, didn't make the playoffs.

"But my junior and senior year, we haven't lost a ball game. We shocked the world but we didn't really shock ourselves."

And the fact that it's no shock the Lynx are playing in Saturday's BlueCross Bowl Division II-AA state championship game is a testament to the efforts of everyone involved with the program. They'll go for their second straight title — and second straight undefeated season — against Chattanooga Notre Dame at Tennessee Tech's Tucker Stadium.

A victory would make Lausanne just the second Memphis football team to win consecutive state titles in the modern playoff era, which dates back to 1969. MUS went back to back in 2008 and 2009 while winning 28 straight games.

Lausanne (12-0) will be going for No. 27. Not that they're counting or anything.

"Last year, tradition was established," said wide receiver Gray Clark. "This year, tradition is being upheld. We are 26-0 but that hasn't been a factor. We're just playing every game like we're supposed to, coming out hard and coming out fast."

It's an approach that puts a smile on Locastro's face.

"Our mantra kind of going into this year was 'win the first, win the next, win the last,'" he said. "If you can do that, you'll win a state championship. It's been pretty remarkable through the 26 games that we haven't overlooked anybody, at least I don't think we have.

"This group has kind of picked up where we left off last year with respect to taking each opponent as they come and they getting ready for the next game after a big Friday night win."

Saturday's opponent has had lots of Friday success as well; the Fighting Irish enter the 3 p.m. contest with 11 straight victories after falling to Chattanooga Baylor in the season-opener. Lausanne will hoping for a good start; the Lynx fell behind against both Franklin Road Academy in the quarterfinals and Battle Ground in the semis before getting on track.

"These guys have shown a lot of poise, a lot of character in the way they've reacted," said Locastro. "Last year on our state championship team we started eight sophomores. So we've got a lot of guys that have played in a lot of big games."

Reach John Varlas at john.varlas@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @johnvarlas.