Through a half of play in Friday night’s Battle on the River, Hahnville had limited Destrehan running back Malachi Dabney’s impact. But in the third quarter, the dam ultimately broke.
Dabney scored three times in the third, the last a 44-yard run that gave his team a commanding three touchdown lead in what was ultimately a 35-14 victory on a windy night at Fighting Wildcats Stadium.
It was Destrehan’s ninth victory in a row in the rivalry, and the win places DHS (6-1, 4-0) alone in first place in District 7-5A as the lone remaining unbeaten team in district play.
Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott said his team did a good job of adjusting to the windy conditions as the game played out.
“The wind was higher than we expected. We got a few raindrops early as well. The kids did a really good job at adjusting to the conditions and the crowd – and it was a good night for Destrehan football,” Scott said.
It was a dream start to the game for the Destrehan defense, which intercepted Hahnville on each of the Tigers’ first three possessions of the game.
After a fourth down stop of Destrehan by the Hahnville defense on the game’s first possession, Hahnville quarterback Landen Teague fired downfield and was intercepted by Destrehan’s Benjamin Robinson.
Hahnville (4-3, 2-1) responded in kind when Brayden Fontenot picked off a deep Aushai Smith pass over the middle to get the ball back for the Tigers’ offense.
But each of Hahnville’s next two possessions ended with interceptions by the Wildcats’ Jordan Pate, who now has three interceptions in the last two weeks.
“I’d have to say he’s off to a really good start in district play,” Scott said of Pate.
Pate, in his first season with Destrehan after transferring from John Curtis, made his Battle on the River debut Friday night. It was certainly one the junior will long remember.
“My first year at Destrehan, and I’m glad to get to be a part of (the rivalry),” Pate said. “And I was glad to make the plays I had to make … (on the first interception) I just dropped back in coverage, tried to do my job and read his eyes, and I jumped it. Once Ben got that first pick, we were off from there. He set the tone. And after I saw that, I thought, ‘I’ve got to get me one.’”
Said Hahnville head football coach Greg Boyne, “You can’t come in as an offense and have three straight drives end in turnovers. It’s uncharacteristic of us. (Destrehan’s) a good football team. We know they’re a top 4 team. That’s where we’re trying to get. And honestly, I think we took a step back tonight.”
Pate’s second interception spurred the Destrehan offense into action, and DHS marched deep into Tiger territory. Smith dialed up Jaylan Ash on a fade route inside the 5-yard line and Ash made a tough, contested catch to put the Wildcats up 7-0 with 8:42 left in the first half.
Destrehan stopped Hahnville again, and it was Smith to Ash one more time, this time from 20 yards out, to make it a 14-0 Destrehan lead with 5:38 to go before halftime. That score held into halftime.
The Wildcats had the ball early in the second half and to this point, it had been a quiet night for Malachi Dabney, with the Hahnville defense focused on limiting his impact – Dabney had rushed for 484 yards and scored eight times over his first two starts against the Tigers in the Battle on the River series.
Dabney scored on an 18-yard run to push the lead to 21-0, the first touchdown of a big second half for the senior running back.
“My teammates were doing their part, so I had to do mine, and go out there and run hard,” Dabney said.
Hahnville answered. Teague, who played through a sprained ankle Friday that sidelined him in the second half of last week’s win over Terrebonne, found an open Aaron Williams down the field and Williams did the rest, racing for a 66-yard touchdown to give the Tigers life at 21-7.
“The play caller, meaning me, remembered that we need to run the football,” Boyne said wryly. “We came out trying to take too many shots early. We did have some success running the ball, but not consistently. We put ourselves behind the chains, which we’re not a very good team behind the chains. The defense played well and held it down for us as long as they could. We just couldn’t catch up.”
But Destrehan connected on an immediate counterpunch. Smith hit Tony Crump over the middle for a 27-yard gain to set DHS up right outside of the redzone. The Wildcats pushed the tempo and Smith kept the ball on the next play, rushing for 20 yards to the HHS 3. Dabney took it in on the next play to make it 28-7.
“We had a busted coverage there … it was good for us to regroup and refocus (after the Williams touchdown),” said Scott.
Hahnville turned to Fabian Celestine on its next possession and Celestine rewarded his team. He gained seven yards before an explosive run into Destrehan territory. Destrehan got Hahnville to fourth down, but Kaiden Bran drew a pass interference penalty and extended the drive. Celestine would cap things off with a 10-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 28-14.
But as he’s done time and again throughout his time in this rivalry, Dabney made a backbreaking play, taking a handoff from the Hahnville 44-yard line and knifing through the defense for a breakaway run – his third touchdown run of the third quarter made the score 35-14. The Tigers wouldn’t recover.
