Determined De La Salle drills Teurlings Catholic in first round of Division II football playoffs

You might not want to be playing De La Salle about now.

Already a threat in Division II, the Cavaliers had four victories taken away over the questioning of a player’s eligibility which the school vigorously disputed with the LHSAA.

While De La Salle lost the appeal, the Cavaliers won Friday night and are even more focused on winning in even bigger fashion.

The 10th-seeded Cavaliers went to Lafayette and smashed No. 7 Teurlings Catholic 34-3 in a dominating performance in all facets.

The Cavaliers shut down the potent Teurlings Catholic offense, holding the Rebels to three points and intercepting four Preston Welch passes, returning a pair for touchdowns.

Kenneth Vaughn had a pick six while Drew Poche had the other interception return for a score. Poche added a second interception while Derrick Irvin added the other interception for the Cavaliers.

Myles Sider paced the De La Salle offense with 22 carries for 150 yards and a touchdown.

Cole Milford completed 8-of-19 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. Makhi Paris had four catches for 64 yards.

After a scoreless first quarter, Gabe Capasso put De La Salle on the board with a 36-yard field goal to make it 3-0 in the second quarter.

Vaughn delivered his 25-yard interception return for a score to make it 10-0.

The lead grew to 17-0 by halftime on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Cole Milford to Jace Bienemy.

The Rebels took the second half kickoff and finally mounted a drive which ended with a 21-yard field goal by Bradford Cain to cut the deficit to 17-3 but that was all Teurlings Catholic could muster.

Capasso nailed a 28-yard field goal to make it 20-3 to end the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Poche came up with his interception return, covering 44 yards for a score and Sider capped it off with his touchdown run to account for the final score.

Speaking on The Three Tailgaters Show on 106.1 FM Saturday morning, De La Salle coach Graham Jarrott expressed great satisfaction with the job his players and coaches did.

“I thought it was our most complete win of the season,” Jarrott. “We didn’t really have a lull in any three phases. Our defense was outstanding. Coach Eddie Jaquillard put together a great plan and we executed. We missed a few plays on offense but we were consistent with a lot of fine throws and fine runs.”

The Cavaliers had chances to make other plays as well.

“They were averaging 35 points a game,” Jarrott said. “They do a lot of tricky stuff on offense. We had four interceptions and dropped three. Our staff and players meshed well as it all came together.”

The Cavaliers advance to meet unbeaten second seed University High in Baton Rouge next Friday night.

“Going into the season, I thought U-High and St. Thomas More were the class of Division II and this matchup should be a state championship or semifinal matchup,” Jarrott said. “They are very, very good. This is going to be our greatest test to date. I told the kids we would have to go to U-High. We will try to put together a great plan to win. We feel prepared with the schedule we have played.”

The adversity of losing victories and losing home games has only galvanized the De La Salle resolve.

“Our kids have never hung their heads, they have rallied around each other and it has brought us closer,” Jarrott said. “The kids are hungry for that. I’m looking forward to it.”