Two Louisiana heavyweight contenders in the prep football ranks threw haymakers at one another in Baton Rouge Friday – and though Destrehan landed the first, Catholic-Baton Rouge would land the decisive blow in a 32-23 victory at home.
It was the second victory in as many years for Catholic over Destrehan, and both went down to the final quarter. This time, it was Justin Batiste’s touchdown run with just under eight minutes left to play that extended the CHS lead to nine and just out of Destrehan’s reach – that was Batiste’s fourth touchdown run of the night.
“They made a couple more plays than us,” said Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott. “Certainly, hats off to Catholic for playing a good game. We have some things to go back and evaluate, and some things to fix.”
One of the critical areas Catholic excelled in, Scott said, was converting on third down. Destrehan was able to get Catholic into some tough conversion spots where the Bears found ways to extend drives.
“Those conversions were big in the second half for them,” Scott said.
Both Turner Goldsmith and Baylor Graves saw time at quarterback for Catholic, but Goldsmith saw the bulk of the action, passing for 191 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Greg Williams was his top receiver with 83 yards on six receptions. Running back Jayden Miles tallied 105 yards on the ground on 15 carries.
Malachi Dabney picked up where he left off last year for Destrehan, rushing for 219 yards on 31 carries and scoring a touchdown. Jabari Mack caught three passes for 49 yards, and Destrehan rushed for 255 yards as a team.
But Catholic held the Jackson Fields and the Destrehan passing game in check, with just 65 yards coming through the air.
After an early Ian Arceneaux field goal gave Destrehan a 3-0 lead, Mack made a big splash on defense – he intercepted a pass in the endzone and ran 100 yards on the return for a touchdown, pushing Destrehan ahead 10-0.
Catholic took the lead after consecutive drives capped by Batiste touchdown runs, both 3-yard scores.
Dabney answered just before halftime, scoring on a 5-yard run with two minutes left in the second quarter.
But Catholic quickly marched down the field to answer on Goldsmith’s touchdown pass to Beau Thomas from 23 yards out, making it a 20-16 Catholic lead at half.
The Bears extended the lead to 10 on Batiste’s third touchdown run of the game from a yard out. A Jackson Fields 4-yard run cut the lead to three, 26-23, but Destrehan couldn’t push beyond that.
“Certainly not the result that we wanted,” Scott said. “There were positives as well, but a lot to go back and learn from. That’s the benefit of playing a strong program here, the experience of that first game here on the road in a tough environment. It’s a chance to learn a lot about ourselves. We’ll take this and build from it.”
