Featured photo by Robert Summerlin
It was a tough ending to another outstanding season for the Airline Vikings on a chilly Friday night at M.D. Ray Field at Airline Stadium.
For the second straight year, Airline lost in the non-select Division I quarterfinals. The No. 2 seed Vikings fell to No. 10 Destrehan 69-41.
District 1-5A champion Airline closed the season 11-1. Destrehan (10-3) will come back to North Louisiana for a third straight week next Friday. The Wildcats will take on defending champion and No. 3 Ruston, which routed No. 6 Southside 49-7 in its quarterfinal game.
The game marked the end for more than two dozen Airline seniors (per the preseason roster), including quarterback Ben Taylor. Taylor finished ranked No. 2 all-time in career passing yardage in the area and the state. He is No. 1 among quarterbacks who played their entire careers at public schools.
Airline’s seniors were part of two undefeated district championships and one runner-up finish in three years. That came after the Vikings went 1-9 in 2021.
This season Airline went undefeated in the regular season for the first time since 1998. The last two years, Airline was 21-3.
Friday’s game was tight until the final minutes of the first half when things went from bad to worse for the Vikings.
Leading 28-27, Destrehan scored three touchdowns in the final 2:20. After extending the lead to 34-27 on a 61-yard drive, the Wildcats’ Semaj Walker returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown.
Then, with the Vikings looking to make it a 7-point game at the half, Damien Richard intercepted a pass at the Wildcats 2 and managed to return it down the Destrehan sideline to the Vikings 1 with one second left in the clock.
Destrehan scored on the next play for a 48-27 halftime lead.
The Wildcats scored a touchdown on the first possession of the second half. But Airline did not go away quietly.
After the defense got their only stop, forcing the game’s lone punt, the Vikings drove 72 yards for a touchdown. Junior DJ Allen raced 45 yards for the score. Ben Jump’s PAT cut what was a 28-point deficit early in the third quarter to 55-41 with 3:58 left in the third quarter.
With Airline’s quick-strike offense, anything was possible.
But after Destrehan was penalized for holding, the Wildcats completed a 60-yard touchdown pass.
Destrehan stopped the Vikings 5 yards of a first down early in the fourth quarter and drove 61 yards for a touchdown.
The Vikings simply couldn’t stop the Wildcats, who were coming off a 63-21 second-round victory over Northwood. Destrehan scored touchdowns on 10 of its 11 possessions.
The Wildcats got a gift-wrapped touchdown in the first quarter after recovering a fumbled kickoff at the Airline 7. That enabled them to take a 21-13 lead going into the second quarter.
In addition to his 45-yard run, Allen had a 22-yard touchdown run and caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Taylor.
Taylor also threw touchdown passes of 14 yards to Kenny Darby and 31 to Matthew Moore.
Destrehan sophomore Malachi Dabney scored five touchdowns, giving him 11 against Shreveport-Bossier City teams in the last two weeks.
Note: This report will be updated with statistics when they are received.