By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
The ASH Trojans have dreams of playing in the Superdome in New Orleans next month.
To get there they’ll first have to go win a game in New Orleans next week – and then possibly the two weeks after that as well. They started that mission Thursday night by sending their first-round playoff foe back home to, where else, New Orleans.
Alexandria Senior High (7-4) made light work of No. 20 Bonnabel, scoring on all six of its offensive possessions and adding two special-teams touchdowns and a defensive safety on the way to a 58-9 victory in the opening round of the LHSAA Division I Select playoffs.
“I’m glad to get this one in the books,” ASH coach Thomas Bachman said. “Obviously, there will be things to coach, things we’ll look at, but glad to get this one in the books to be honest with you.”
The Trojans led 14-0 before taking an offensive snap as they forced a three-and-out to set up a 75-yard punt return by Darius Washington. Jaylin Johnson blocked a punt at the Bruin 37 on the next Bonnabel possession, scooped up the ball and ran into the end zone for a two-score Trojan lead.
Johnson said he knew immediately as he came off the edge that he had a chance to block the punt.
“Coach told me that they were gonna try to take their time trying to punt it,” Johnson said. “I think I’m the fastest player in the state so I’m gonna go and get it when he tells me I can go get it. The scoop and score was second nature. You know, I play football so I just did what I had to do.”
“He don’t really play offense no more, so I’m real happy he got his touchdown,” senior receiver EJ Scott said of Johnson, whom he calls his “twin” despite an eight- or nine-inch height difference.
Ty Feaster threw three touchdown passes in two and a half quarters, including a 26-yard touchdown to Washington to give the Trojans a 21-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Feaster finished the night 8-of-10 passing for 125 yards. Washington had a team-high 64 receiving yards on two catches, while Scott caught five passes for 51 yards.
JT Lindsey, who rushed for 112 yards on just 10 carries in the first half, put the Trojans ahead 28-3 with a 7-yard touchdown run, and ASH went ahead 30-3 with a defensive safety following a bad snap over the head of the Bonnabel quarterback.
Feaster added touchdown passes of 10 yards to Scott and 2 yards to Kirkland Bates as the Trojans took a 44-3 lead into halftime.
The starters, minus Lindsey, played the first drive of the second half, which ended with a 14-yard touchdown run by junior Vaughn Dabon to go ahead 51-3 and invoke the running clock. Dabon had 65 rushing yards on four carries on the drive.
After a lone touchdown by the Bruins (4-7) in the fourth quarter, ASH made it a perfect 6-for-6 on scoring drives as senior Tylon Johnson scored on a 14-yard run. Johnson finished with 52 rushing yards as the Trojans ran for 241 yards in the game.
Next up is a trip to No. 4 Brother Martin, last year’s runner-up in Division I Select and a semifinalist the three years prior. Potential roadblocks after that include No. 5 Edna Karr in a quarterfinal matchup and No. 1 Holy Cross in the semifinals, which also would mean trips to New Orleans for the Trojans.
“I’m proud for the kids,” Bachman said. “It looks like this will be our last one at home this year barring some major upsets. We just want to handle our business, and we’ll play wherever it is we have to go from here on out and we’re looking forward to it.”