The No. 2 seed Airline Vikings dominated on both sides of the ball in a 42-16 victory over No. 18 Westgate in a non-select Division I second-round game Friday night at M.D. Ray Field at Airline Stadium.
Airline (11-0) will host No. 10 Destrehan in the quarterfinals Friday. The Wildcats (9-3) defeated No. 7 Northwood 63-21 in the second round.
“When I first got there I told the kids that that’s what it’s all about, practicing over Thanksgiving, because you’re down to eight teams and all eight teams can really play with each other,” Airline third-year coach Justin Scogin said.
Unlike last season’s 36-35 victory over Southside in the second round, the Vikings took the suspense out of the game early.
Airline led 7-0 after the first quarter and 21-0 at the half. When the Vikings scored on their first possession of the second half, the outcome was no longer in doubt.
Airline’s offense has gotten most of the attention the last few seasons for good reason. But the defense came up big Friday, playing perhaps its best game of the season.
“I thought going in they had a lot of athletes on offense,” Scogin said. “They were huge up front. And they like to get toe to toe and kind of just push you around. Our guys were up for it. They were up for the challenge. Just extremely impressed with the gameplan and the execution and the kids and just all the way around.
“Pretty much from start to finish it was a big night for the defense.”
The Tigers didn’t come close to scoring in the first half until the final minute, reaching the Airline 9. But after a penalty, the Vikings forced an incomplete pass on the final play.
Airline consistently kept the Wildcats from picking up much yardage on first downs. The Vikings also put the Wildcats behind the chains several times with tackles for losses.
Westgate had only one sustained drive for a touchdown and that included a long run. Airline answered that drive with a touchdown to go up 35-8.
The Tigers’ other touchdown came on a 29-yard pass after a long kickoff return early in the fourth quarter. The TD and two-point conversion cut Airline’s lead to 35-16, but that was as close as Westgate would get.
Offensively, senior quarterback Ben Taylor and junior receiver Kenny Darby had big nights.
Taylor completed 18-of-30 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. He also rushed for 32 yards on four carries scored on a 1-yard run.
Darby caught seven passes for 138 yards and a touchdown.
Junior running back DJ Allen gained 41 yards on 12 carries and scored two touchdowns.
“Offensively we got going,” Scogin said. “We squandered some opportunities we should’ve scored on. But I felt from the beginning Westgate was extremely good on defense so 42 points I thought was a pretty good night.”
Senior receiver Jarvis Davis Jr. contributed to the victory until he suffered an injury. He had five catches for 77 yards.
“Jarvis rolled his ankle a little bit and could’ve possibly gone back in but we felt like we kind of had things in hand,” Scogin said.
Senior running back Derrian Milligan and senior receiver Micah Johnson also suffered injuries. Scogin said Johnson could be back next week but Milligan may be out.
Sophomore Terrance Hays stepped up with a 47-yard touchdown catch on the Vikings’ first possession of the second half.