By WILLIAM WEATHERS, Journal Sports  

GEISMAR – Seeing was believing, which was all Parkway football coach Coy Brotherton needed in his assessment of Dutchtown’s defense.  

“That’s the best defense we’ve seen this season,” Brotherton said.  

It was hard to argue.  

By the time Parkway’s offense, which averaged 36 points a game, crossed midfield for the first time in the third quarter, the No. 19 Panthers trailed 28-0 and couldn’t stop Dutchtown’s more physical offense in the Griffins’ 42-8 victory Friday in a Division I Non-Select playoff game at Griffin Field.  

“It was a bad draw for us,” Brotherton said. “They were a (co) district champion. But I still love my kids.”  

No. 14 Dutchtown (7-3) unleashed a flurry of three straight scoring drives in the second quarter that turned a scoreless first quarter into a commanding 28-0 lead. They also scored the first two times they touched the ball in the third quarter, extending their lead to 42-8 at the 4:34 mark.  

“They came out and moved (Jaylan) White around a lot, and it worked for them,” said Dutchtown football coach Guy Mistretta, whose team travels to No. 3 Destrehan in next week’s regional round. “They had him open a couple of times in the first couple drives and weren’t able to connect to him. They were really moving him around and trying to find some holes. I thought our guys did a great job against their base offense of shutting that down.”  

Dutchtown scored on two consecutive drives in the third quarter with Furman commitment AK Burrell, who had a team-high 141 yards on seven carries, scoring on back-to-back touchdowns of 1 and seven yards, respectively, to account for the final score with 4:34 showing in the third quarter after Corbin Roussel’s sixth extra point.  

Running back Gary Dukes, who added 110 yards and two touchdowns on 15 attempts, was part of Dutchtown’s rushing attack that generated 318 yards on 38 carries. Quarterback Pierson Parent added 58 yards on nine carries, helping the Griffins outgain the Panthers, 415-214.  

“They were bigger and physical up front,” Brotherton said.  

Parkway (7-4) finally stopped Dutchtown’s onslaught at the 7:39 mark of the third quarter when quarterback Ashton Martin threw 47 yards to a wide-open receiver Trenton Lape, and White added the two-point conversion.  

White, a shifty runner with 1,539 yards on the season, carried 20 times for 77 yards and caught three passes for 26 yards. Martin was 6 of 20 passing for 80 yards.  

Dutchtown exploded in the second quarter for 222 of its 229 yards and scored three touchdowns of 30-plus yards.  

Dukes scored on a pair of runs of three and 44 yards to trigger Dutchtown’s scoring barrage, and Parent sandwiched a touchdown pass in between, finding tight end Dylan Dicharry open down the seam for a 31-yard score at the 9:44 mark that made it 14-0.  

Parkway’s defense didn’t yield a first down and forced consecutive punts to open the game, but the Panthers’ offense only generated seven yards and two first downs in three series as Nolan Dean wound up punting each time.  

“I thought our defense came out and played well,” Brotherton said. “We just couldn’t get anything going on offense, and that’s because of their defense and how good they were.”