Destrehan’s Malachi Dabney had a career best performance two weeks ago against Captain Shreve, and he decided to add another huge game to go with it – this time, under an even brighter spotlight.
Dabney rushed for more than 250 yards to go with a touchdown and Jabari Mack scored two touchdowns as Destrehan held off a late rally by Hahnville to capture a 31-24 victory in Friday night’s Battle on the River at Wildcat Stadium.
It’s Destrehan’s seventh consecutive win over the Tigers, but this was a back-and-forth encounter that was tied at the half, 10-10.
“I was trying to prove a point – come out strong and show people who we really are,” said Dabney, who now has two performances of more than 200 rushing yards in three weeks. “It wasn’t easy, but we sorted things out … I’m just trying to get better every week.”
Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott said his team answered the call against the rival Tigers. The rushing attack, he said, is gaining steam as the season marches on.
“(Dabney)’s a sophomore, he just rushed for more than 240 against Captain Shreve and he’s over 250 tonight … tremendous effort by him, the offensive line and the offense as a whole,” Scott said. “That (offensive line) is playing with a lot of confidence. This is the time of year you want to be playing your best.”
It was also a landmark night for Mack, who showed incredible toughness in the victory. Mack suffered a separated shoulder in the first quarter of Friday’s game, but remained in and time and time again came up with critical plays for Destrehan.
“His shoulder came out twice. We had to pop it back in and put a brace on … he really showed that not only is he a great athlete, he’s as tough as it gets,” Scott said.
Landen Teague, Bennett Naquin and Patrick Jackson each scored on the ground for Hahnville.
Jackson Fields threw three touchdown passes for Destrehan, including two to Mack and one to Greg Wilfred.
The Destrehan win creates a three-way tie in the loss column atop District 8-5A, with the Wildcats, Tigers and Terrebonne each having one loss. Hahnville is finished in district play, with a 5-1 league mark and a 6-2 record overall. Destrehan (6-3, 4-1) has one remaining district game as does Terrebonne in the season’s final week.
This was the first matchup between Destrehan and Hahnville since Greg Boyne, former longtime Destrehan offensive coordinator, became the Tigers’ head coach.
“The kids played hard,” Boyne said. “You don’t have to play perfect to win, but you can’t make mistakes, and we made too many mistakes to beat a good football team, a well-coached football team. You know the respect I have for Coach Scott and the staff. This was a playoff atmosphere and we needed to play in a game like this. The kids battled, everything we could ask effort-wise.”
Boyne said during the week that it was a bit surreal to prepare against a program, coaches and players he spent so much time with, and he said it was similar as the game started.
“The beginning was weird, looking across at those guys, having spent so many years with them,” Boyne said. “A little strange for me, but once the game started, it’s just calling the game, trying to find a way to score against Coach Taffi’s defense.”
Scott said he knew nothing would be easy against Boyne, who was on Scott’s staff at both Destrehan and West Jefferson at different times.
“It’s never easy. This was our first time against him, and I imagine the future’s going to be similar to these games – competitive every year for sure,” Scott said.
And the matchup lived up to the hype surrounding it, with Hahnville entering the game as the district’s last remaining unbeaten team and Destrehan looking to secure its own share of the crown.
The game’s very first play brought fans to their feet as Hahnville fumbled the opening kickoff, which Destrehan appeared to recover in the endzone – but because the ball was ruled to have rolled into the endzone just prior to recovery, it became an automatic touchback and first down at the 20 for Hahnville.
The Tigers put together a drive from there, capping it off with a 1-yard sneak by Teague to make it 7-0. A key play came on a play-action pass by Teague to Koa Romero that went for 25 yards down to the DHS 1.
Destrehan answered with 25-yard Jackson Harris field goal. Hahnville’s Myles Borey, likewise, hit a 24-yarder to put HHS ahead 10-3. Both offenses drove deep into scoring range before the defenses held firm in the redzone.
The Wildcats tied the game in the second quarter on a 21-yard touchdown run by Dabney. After a defensive stop, it looked as though Destrehan might lead going into halftime as it marched down to the HHS 1 with less than a minute left in the second quarter. But Hahnville stopped the Wildcats on a fourth down from the 1, preserving the tie going into half.
“We made an emphasis in the offseason to get stronger,” said Boyne. “I know what Coach (Tim) Taffi does with (Destrehan), and I thought tonight we were just as strong. Just too many mistakes for us in the middle of the field.”
Still, Destrehan had found its footing on offense, and the goal line stop did not interrupt its momentum. The Wildcats began the third quarter by surging down the field, with Jackson Fields’ 25-yard touchdown pass down the middle to a wide-open Greg Wilfred making it 17-10.
A Calvin Smith 31-yard run had Hahnville in business on the Tigers’ next drive, but HHS couldn’t convert on a field goal attempt to end the drive. Destrehan made Hahnville pay for that when Fields connected with Mack for a 16-yard touchdown to open the lead up to two touchdowns, 24-10.
Hahnville responded, driving down to the Destrehan 5 before Naquin took the ball on a keeper for a rushing score. That was set up by a Teague pass to Michael Propps deep down the middle to the Destrehan 15.
Attempting to run down the clock, Destrehan called on Dabney – who was making great use of some large openings created by a Wildcats’ offensive line that dominated in the second half. Dabney and Tony Crump collectively ran the Wildcats into the Hahnville red zone.
“I thought we got a little tired,” Boyne said. “We kind of look tired, without watching the film yet … we had some guys out of position. When your job is contain, you’ve got to contain. Mistakes, but all fixable. We play a good team next week, and we’re playing for a home playoff game. Hopefully we’ll have a good week and bounce back.”
A personal foul penalty pushed Destrehan back to the 30. It didn’t matter as Fields immediately found Mack down the right sideline for a touchdown pass that made it 31-17.
A squib kick didn’t materialize like Destrehan hoped, giving Hahnville the ball near midfield to start the next drive. But time was dwindling and Hahnville needed to score quickly – the Tigers did just that. Smith carried for a big gain and got Hahnville inside the DHS 20, and the Tigers converted soon after on a Jackson touchdown run to make it 31-24.
With about four minutes left, Hahnville needed a stop. Destrehan converted a first down on a Mack run, but the Tigers still had time outs and some clock to work with. Hahnville forced a third down incompletion on a Fields throw to Mack and Destrehan had to punt.
Hahnville converted a 4th and 10 pass by Teague to Kobe Louis that extended the game. But Destrehan forced another 4th down try, and this time Teague’s pass deep down the right sideline to Louis fell incomplete – sealing the victory for Destrehan.
