Grffins end season with 21-10 playoff loss

Dutchtown's defense was great Friday night. Unfortunately for the Griffins, the Rummel defensive unit was even better as they remained undefeated with a 21-10 home win in Metairi .

The Raiders used that dominant defense and productive downhill rushing attack to jump on top of Dutchtown 21-3.

The Griffins, minus Mason Nickens—who was sidelined at halftime with an ankle injury, fought hard and cut the deficit to 11 in the fourth, but that was as close as they would get.

"They battled to the end," Dutchtown head coach Benny Saia said. "I think our defense played an outstanding game. Rummel's a good football team; they're No. 1 for a reason."

The top-ranked Raiders got off to a great start as they methodically marched downfield in 11 plays on their opening drive.

Despite not completing a single pass on the march, Rummel got into the end zone when quarterback Damian Williams powered his way up the middle for a two-yard score on fourth and one.

The Dutchtown offense got off to a hot start as Nickens helped lead them deep into Raider territory, but the Rummel defense stood tall and forced the Griffins to settle for a field goal. Tyler Sarrazin made an easy 21-yarder to cut the lead to 7-3 heading into the second quarter.

From there, there wasn't much offense until right before the half.

Williams led the Rummel attack to another scoring drive when he completed a 22-yard pass and broke loose on a 15-yard scamper to set up the score.

Facing the 14-3 halftime deficit, things looked bleak for the Griffins. Nickens tweaked his ankle on Dutchtown's opening drive. He tried to fight through the pain for much of the first half, but he wasn't able to go once the second half rolled around.

Conversely, Williams was still going strong for the Raiders. He threw a touchdown pass mid-way through the third quarter to give Rummel a commanding 21-3 lead.

The lead lasted until the fourth quarter when the Griffin offense finally found some success.

Dutchtown backup quarterback Steven Bright came in and hit Corey McBride. McBride broke a tackle and raced down the sideline 43 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-10.

Dutchtown kept hope alive when Williams coughed up the ball, and the Griffins recovered it at their own 38-yard line with five minutes left in the game.

However, any comeback hopes evaporated when a Bright pass went through the hands of Marquillis Holden and was picked off by Dwayne Eugene. The turnover sealed the 21-10 win for Rummel as they remained undefeated and now prepare for Ouchita in the quarterfinals.

Williams was huge for the Raiders as he passed for 93 yards and a score while running for 72 more yards and a touchdown.

Even with Williams' success, the Griffin defense held Rummel to just 223 total yards. However, they were held to just 211.

Bright came in and went 8-17 for 101 yards with a score and an interception while the explosive Torrance Mosley was completely held in check as he was only able to muster 33 yards on 11 carries.

The Griffins were held to just 66 rushing yards.

With the effort, the Rummel defense is still only giving up 10 points a game, and they've only allowed more than 20 points once all year.

The season comes to an end for Dutchtown, but Saia was extremely proud of his team's effort all year.

Despite losing 16 starters from last season—including the top recruit in the state in Landon Collins, the Griffins went 7-2 and were just narrowly edged out for the District 5-5A title. Along the way, they reached the second round of the playoffs for the first time in two years.

"It was a great season," Saia said. "I think we got better every week and down the stretch, and I think we became a team, and I have nothing but the highest regard for this bunch. I just think we've got a bunch of winners."