By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
There are all sorts of big numbers to look at upon review of the Airline-Destrehan Division I (non-select) quarterfinal playoff game Friday night at Airline Stadium.
Start with the fact that the two teams combined for 110 points. Take note of one team having 549 yards in total offense and the other with 499.
There was a running back with 227 yards rushing and five touchdowns and a quarterback two yards shy of passing for 400.
Throw in a 96-yard interception return that wasn’t for a touchdown and you’ve got yourself some serious football numerology going on.
But when all the calculators got put away and it was all said and done, you know what it came down to? Two little numbers.
Three and zero.
Games like this — featuring two teams that had scored 50 points or more a combined nine times this season – are almost always about matching the other team score for score. However, the one thing that can derail that faster than anything else is turnovers.
Destrehan came up with three of them Friday night. Airline forced zero.
The Wildcats turned each one of those opportunities into scores to take a 69-41 win over the Vikings and will advance to the semifinals.
It didn’t take long to cash them in. One took zero plays (an interception return for a touchdown), another took one play (the final play before halftime) and the other took two plays (after a fumbled kickoff).
“Whenever you play like a team (like Airline) that is so talented,” Destrehan coach Marcus Scott said, “you know you are going to have to steal some possessions.”
The fumbled kickoff and Wildcat score on an 8-yard drive flipped the script and meant the Vikings had to start playing from behind. They were able to do that until a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown by Destrehan’s Semaj Walker with 1:17 to go before halftime, followed by a the real backbreaker — a 96-yard interception return by Damien Richard. The Wildcats scored on the next play to close the half with a 48-27 lead.
“Probably two really bad calls on my part,” Airline coach Justin Scogin said of the interceptions in the final minutes of the second quarter. “You go back and you want to change it but you can’t. It’s just one of those nights. I mean, I guess we should have scored a little bit more, but it is what it is.”
Scott was planning on kicking a field goal after Richard’s interception with four seconds left on the clock. When he discovered that the offense was already on the field, he raced to call time out but the officials never saw him and sophomore running back Malachi Dabney scored his fourth touchdown of the half at the buzzer.
Dabney scored his fifth TD to open the third quarter, giving Destrehan a four-touchdown lead. When you are just trying to keep up by matching touchdowns, allowing 27 straight points during the middle of the game is a mountain too high to climb.
Dabney finished with 227 yards on 36 carries. “He had a fantastic night,” Scogin said of Dabney. “They just made more plays than we did.”
“I was impressed with our offense,” Scott said. “Certainly when you put up that many points against a good team like that it’s really a big accomplishment.”
Destrehan will play Ruston next week in a third straight Friday night trip to North Louisiana. The Wildcats rolled over Northwood a week ago.
Airline quarterback Ben Taylor closed his remarkable career with 398 yards passing, completing 37 of 52 and three touchdowns. Playing without injured senior receivers Jarvis Davis and Micah Johnson, the Vikings got 12 catches for 131 yards from Kenny Darby, but the junior had only one reception after halftime.
Tight end Ayden Baker had a career night with nine catches for 123 yards and sophomore Matthew Moore had nine catches for 95 yards.
It was the first loss of the season for the Vikings after 11 wins and prevented the school’s first semifinal appearance since 1972. As the tears flowed for the seniors on the field after the game, Scogin spoke with pride about the class that basically started with him three years ago.
“This was a great group,” he said. “They just did everything right. It’s hard to say goodbye, but we don’t have a choice.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
DESTREHAN 69, AIRLINE 41
A – Ben Taylor 1 run (kick blocked)
D – Malachi Dabney 6 run (Jackson Harris kick)
A – D.J. Allen pass from Taylor (Ben Jump kick)
D – Phillip Wright 33 run (Harris kick)
D – Dabney 4 run (Harris kick)
A – Allen 22 run (Jump kick)
D – Greg Wilfred 8 run (Harris kick)
A – Kenny Darby 14 pass from Taylor (Jump kick)
D – Dabney 11 run (kick failed)
D – Semaj Walker 35 interception return (Harris kick)
D – Dabney 1 run (Harris kick)
D – Dabney 39 run (Harris kick)
A – Moore 31 pass from Taylor (Jump kick)
A – Allen 45 run (Jump kick)
D – Jabari Mack pass from Jackson Fields (Harris kick)
D – Tony Crump 2 run (Harris kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Destrehan (43-287), Dabney 36-227-5TD, Wright 1-33, Wilfrid 5-25, Crump 1-2-1TD. Airline (23-151), Allen 14-118, Taylor 5-15, Moore 2-10, Darby 1-5, Terrance Hays 1-3.
Passing — Destrehan, Fields 15-13-0-212-1TD. Airline, Taylor 52-37-2-398-3.
Receiving — Destrehan, Mack 5-103-5TD, Wilfrid 4-28, D. Dabney 2-53, Wright 1-23, M. Dabney 1-5. Airline, Darby 12-131, Ayden Baker 9-123, Moore 9-95, Allen 3-17, Justin Woodfork 2-17, Hays 2-15