De La Salle stays unbeaten, takes district title with 33-7 win over Booker T. Washington

NEW ORLEANS – De La Salle has featured the punishing runs of PJ Martin behind a physical offensive line all season long which had dominated the narrative and headlines of a good football team.

That aspect was on full display along with a dominant defense Thursday night at Tad Gormley Stadium as the Cavaliers downed Booker T. Washington 33-7 to capture the District 9-4A championship while completing an unbeaten regular season.

The game was live on NASH ICON 106.1 FM and at CrescentCitySports.com.

Martin was his usual terrific self, rushing 20 times for 181 yards and four touchdowns, setting the single season rushing record and the single season rushing touchdown record in De La Salle history.

Martin is just 12 yards away from setting the all-time school record for career rushing yards.

Martin has rushed for 1,877 yards and 25 touchdowns on the season and he is just 12 yard shy of the school record of 3,361 career rushing yards by Montrell Johnson, now of the Florida Gators.

“We were dealing with a lot of adversity with them blitzing,” Martin said. “We were struggling a little bit but we went in at halftime, we made a couple of adjustments and we handled business. Coach Graham Jarrott told us at halftime to just play De La Salle football. We ended up buying in to what coach Jarrott was saying.”

De La Salle took the opening kickoff and quickly took the lead, driving 68 yards in just four plays with Martin racing 25 yards for a score to make it 7-0. The score was set up by a 52-yard completion from Evan Arceneaux to Jace Bienemy.

The lead grew to 13-0 in the second quarter when Arceneaux connected with Jeremiah Wills on a 29-yard touchdown pass to make it 13-0 after a missed extra point, capping a nine play, 77-yard drive.

The Cavaliers are likely to be the third seed in the upcoming Division II playoffs.

After getting a stop, it took Martin just one play to increase the lead as he outran the Lions defense for a 78-yard touchdown to make it 20-0 with 10:13 to play in the third quarter.

Booker T. Washington then looked to make a game of it, driving 68 yards in five plays with quarterback Damyren Washington racing 44 yards for a score to cut the deficit to 20-7 with 7:17 to play in the third quarter.

The momentum died quickly as the Cavaliers answered with a 65-yard drive in four plays with Martin scoring on an 8-yard run to make it 27-7 with 5:11 to play in the third quarter. The key play of the drive was a 52-yard completion from Arceneaux to Wills.

Matthew Bedi came up with a big defensive play, intercepting a pass by Washington and returning it to the Booker T. Washington 35-yard line.

Wills ran 29 yards to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Martin, his fourth of the game, to complete the scoring.

In a physical, intense game from the start, Washington was ejected from the game late in the third quarter after a fracas following a run he made.

Demico Barnes took over at quarterback the rest of the way.

Wells finished with six carries for 108 yards and two receptions for 34 yards.

Arceneaux completed 7 of 13 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown.

The Cavalier defense held Nebraska commit Arnold Barnes to just 10 carries for 27 yards and one catch for 14 yards.

“I think our defense played great the whole game,” Jarrott said. “Offensively, we stayed on our blocks a little longer in the second half. Our offensive line is very big, our running back is phenomenal. He busted that long one in the third quarter. Very chippy game. That’s a good team. We knew this was going to be a tough game.”

De La Salle (10-0) is likely to be the third seed, with a bye in the Select Division II playoffs.

The Lions (4-6) will make the playoffs as anywhere from the 17th to 21st seed.

“We can make a deep playoff run as long as we stay healthy,” Martin said.

FINAL
DLS 7 6 20 0 33
BTW 0 0 7 0 7

Scoring:
1st Qtr:
DLS—PJ Martin, 25-yard run (Connor Butler kick)

2nd Qtr.
DLS—Jeremiah Wills, 29-yard pass from Evan Arceneaux (kick failed)

3rd Qtr.
DLS—PJ Martin, 78-yard run (Connor Butler kick)
BTW—Damyren Washington, 44-yard run (Orbin Rochez kick)
DLS—PJ Martin, 8-yard run (Connor Butler kick)
DLS—PJ Martin, 1-yard run (kick failed)

First Downs:
DLS 17, BTW 7

Penalties:
DLS 9 for 91 yards, BTW 8 for 45 yards

Sacks:
DLS 4, BTW 0

Turnovers:
DLS 0, BTW 1

Individual Rushing:
DLS—PJ Martin 20 carries for 181 yards, 4 touchdowns, Jeremiah Wills 6 carries for 108 yards, Jason Banks 8 carries for 36 yards, Kobe Pounds 2 carries for 12 yards, Malik Jackson 1 carry for -2 yards, Mark Dix 2 carries for -9 yards

BTW—Damyren Washington 8 carries for 31 yards, 1 touchdown, Arnold Barnes 10 carries for 27 yards, Orbin Rochez 2 carries for 20 yards, Nahzia Price 4 carries for 7 yards, Demico Barnes 1 carry for 0 yards

Individual Passing:
DLS—Evan Arceneaux 7 of 13 for 143 yards, 1 touchdown

BTW—Damyren Washington 7 of 16 for 57 yards, 1 interception, Demico Barnes 0 for 2

Individual Receiving:
DLS—Jace Bienemy 2 catches for 76 yards, Jeremiah Wills 2 catches for 34 yards, Malik Jackson 2 catches for 21 yards, PJ Martin 1 catch for 12 yards

BTW—Demico Barnes 2 catches for 15 yards, Bryan Tillman Jr. 2 catches for 11 yards, Eric Alphonse 1 catch for 18 yards, Arnold Barnes 1 catch for 14 yards, Malik Thiel 1 catch for -1 yard