Surge To The End: St. Amant Wins Fifth Straight Game, Earns Share of District 5-5A Title
by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
After getting a piece of the District 5-5A pie the past two years, St. Amant quarterback Cooper Babin wants the whole thing next season.
Since limping out of the gate with two straight losses (one was later ruled a forfeit win) the Gators closed the regular season with five consecutive wins – capped by Thursday’s 38-8 victory over Denham Springs at The Pit.
St. Amant (7-2 overall, 5-1 in 5-5A) tied with parish rival Dutchtown (8-1, 5-1) for the district title – a scenario that played out for the second consecutive season.
“It’s always great to get a win and it’s part of a championship,” Babin said. “We don’t want to share with them, but it is what it is. We’re not going to shy away from a championship. We’re not going to frown on that but next year we’re going to get it to ourselves.”
St. Amant’s last defeat was to Dutchtown, which it led 21-0 in the district opener between the two teams on Oct. 4.
The Gators responded with five straight wins that began with 33-26 win over Walker and continued against East Ascension (17-12), Live Oak (42-26) and Prairieville (21-0).
“It talks about the quality of our league,” St. Amant coach David Oliver said. “That’s back-to-back we’ve had a slice of the league championship and that’s always a feather in your cap. I’m proud of our kids. I’m proud of the way our team came together and improved this year moving toward the playoffs.”
Because of its late-season push, St. Amant has positioned itself for a possible home game in next week’s Division I non-select playoffs. The Gators are unofficially No. 18 in the latest power ratings and await the results of Friday’s games involving Terrebonne, Westgate, and West Monroe – the three teams ahead of them.
“We played great, we had a great week of preparation,” said Babin, who increased his passing touchdowns to 18 with three against Denham Springs. “We came out and were ready to play for the (20) seniors and try to get us a good place in the playoffs, so this isn’t our last time playing at The Pit. We just wanted a lot of momentum going into the playoffs.”
Denham Springs (6-4, 3-3) had its hopes of hosting a first-round game dashed after bringing a two-game winning streak into the game. The Yellow Jackets are unofficially No. 20 and ticketed for the road after failing to qualify for the postseason a year ago.
“They made plays, and we didn’t,” Denham Springs coach Brett Beard said. “They came out with their hair on fire, really played a great game. It was a playoff atmosphere. A playoff team (St. Amant) and a good final tune-up for the playoffs.”
Babin completed 11 of 16 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns – two of which went to Timothy Johnson who led the Gators with four receptions for 95 yards.
St. Amant built a 10-0 lead with scoring drives on its first and final series of the first quarter. The Gators reeled off two straight touchdowns in the last 1:40 of play – Babin’s 42-yard TD pass to Johnson and a 73-yard interception return from Easton Humphrey with 27 seconds to go for a 24-0 halftime advantage.
“We just wanted to play a full 48 minutes,” Babin said. “Starting with a (first quarter) field goal, as long as we get the momentum started, we’re going to play a full 48 minutes.”
St. Amant’s fast start included a 121-5 advantage in total offense and the Gators held the ball for nine minutes. They outgained the Yellow Jackets 340 to 206 overall, including 177 on the ground with Babin (7-52, TD) leading the way along with Tyree Williams (15-49) and Jourden Hickerson (10-35).
Babin’s 6-yard keeper on the final play of the first quarter gave St. Amant a 10-0 lead after Jace Fiero’s 37-yard field goal capped a 14-play drive that lasted 6:11 to open the game.
Following two punts on its first two series Denham Springs shook up its personnel a bit. Wide receiver Da’Jean Golmond switched to quarterback and Jerry Horne went from quarterback to running back a week after rushing for 146 yards in a 21-14 win over Walker.
Photo Courtesy: Michael Bacigalupi
The Yellow Jackets were able to pick up two first downs but never crossed midfield and punted again.
St. Amant gained separation in the final 1:40 of the half to open a 24-0 halftime lead.
Babin drove the Gators 63 yards in 7 plays and found Johnson wide open over the middle for a 42-yard score with 1:40 showing.
Denham Springs was aided by a pair of personal foul penalties that set up a third-and-10 from its own 44. Horne, who was 8 of 22 for 82 yards and a touchdown, had his pass attempt bounce off one of his own receivers and into the waiting hands of Humphrey at his own 27.
Humphrey was able to get to the DSHS sideline and cut back toward the middle of the field at midfield and went into the end zone untouched with 27 seconds to go until halftime.
“I was watching the ball through the air,” Humphrey said. “He tipped it, and I caught the ball, and I was running the ball, and everybody was blocking for me, and I got a touchdown. I felt like we had a lot of momentum going into half. I felt the crowd was up. I felt we had it.”
Denham Springs scored its only touchdown at the 8:21 mark of the third quarter when Horne threw to Colton LeBeouf for a 22-yard TD. Horne added the two-point conversion.
Running back Brenton Paul topped the Yellow Jackets with 54 yards on 8 carries, while Golmond caught three passes for 50 yards, rushed 5 times for 33 yards, and completed 4 of 9 passes for 27 yards.
St. Amant’s defense forced Denham Springs into turnovers on its next three possessions with interceptions from Treavor Delhaye and Caleb Ricks and a fumble recovery from Gavin Carpenter.
“Defense forced a lot of turnovers and gave us tremendous effort,” Oliver said.
Delhaye’s interception at Denham’s 39 set up a 4-play drive that the combination of Babin-to-Johnson finished with a 28-yard TD pass – over the middle of the field – with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
“We have a lot of good chemistry,” Babin said. “This is our second year playing together. We’ve been putting on a show for everybody. That’s just the work we put in outside of everybody seeing it and it shows up on Friday night. We had a good connection.”
Carpenter’s fumble recovery came on a backward pass attempt on third-and-nine by Horne at St. Amant’s 11-yard line and Ricks added his interception at the Jackets’ 48 with 8:15 remaining.
The Gators had to overcome third-and-24 and converted on fourth-and-10 to finish off a 13-play drive with 1:59 to go.
Babin’s 27-yard completion to Johnson on a screen play on third-and-24 resulted in a first down, and Babin added a 14-yard keeper on fourth down. His third TD pass to Reid Mayers from a yard out capped a drive that lasted more than six minutes.
“It feels like our hard work paid off,” Humphrey said. “All of the work we put in during the summer, it just feels good to have all of these wins.”
St. Amant 38, Denham Springs 8
Score by Quarters
Denham Springs 0 0 8 0 – 8
St. Amant 10 14 7 7 – 38
Scoring Summary
SAHS – Jace Fiero 37 FG
SAHS – Cooper Babin 6 run (Fiero kick)
SAHS – Timothy Johnson 42 pass from Babin (Fiero kick)
SAHS – Easton Humphrey 73 interception return (Fiero kick)
DSHS – Colton LeBeouf 22 pass from Jerry Horne (Horne run)
SAHS – Johnson 28 pass from Babin (Fiero kick
SAHS – Reid Mayers 1 pass from Babin (Fiero kick)
| DSHS | SAHS | |
| First Downs | 17 | 18 |
| Rushes-Yards | 23-97 | 41-177 |
| Passing Yards | 109 | 163 |
| A-C-I | 12-31-3 | 11-16-0 |
| Punts-Avg. | 3-35.7 | 3-35.6 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 4-30 | 12-129 |