Down by a field goal, the Dunham Tigers decided to go for the win led by their superstar quarterback Elijah Haven, but the fourth down and goal pass was intercepted by Karon Eugene to secure a 31-28 Division III Select State Championship for the Catholic New Iberia Panthers.
Two of the top quarterbacks in the bracket faced off against each other and did not disappoint with both teams piling up 845 total yards of offense. Senior quarterback Luke Landry was the Panthers’ MVP completing 19 of 35 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 62 yards on the ground. Landry was accompanied by other great offensive performances including Owen Morris, who had 143 total yards of offense, Tristan Lewis, Joseph LeBlanc, John David Hidalgo, and Bennett Woodring all scored touchdowns for the Panthers to help Catholic New Iberia score 28 unanswered points and build up a 31-14 lead.
Dunham hit a scoreless drought in between the second quarter and the fourth quarter, but hit their stride at the beginning of the game and at the end of the game with a 14-0 advantage at the beginning of the game and a 14-0 run towards the end.
Despite their bookend runs, the Tigers missed on a couple of scoring opportunities including two turnovers forced by Eugene and Woodring inside the ten yard line as well as a controversial Hail Mary no-catch call that could have easily gone the other way.
The top 2027 quarterback in the country lived up to the billing by completing 25 of 37 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns plus 153 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Overall, Haven accounted for 453 total yards and four total touchdowns.
Haven’s top two targets had great outings as Trevor Haman had 11 catches for 122 yards and one touchdown while Jarvis Washington finished the game with 10 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown.
Haven and the Tigers’ offense moved right down the field 76 yards to open the scoring at 7-0 for Dunham. Haven accounted for 68 of the 76 yards with his arm and legs including a five yard touchdown on a quarterback draw.
Catholic New Iberia responded with a nice possession on their opening drive. Luke Landry somehow evaded a sack and flipped the ball over to Owen Morris who went down the sidelines for a 44 yard reception. The drive would stall in the red zone with the Dunham Tigers getting a sack on Landry forcing a 35 yard field goal from Bennett Boudreaux to make it a 7-3 game.
After Haven ran one in for a score, he got a score through the air finding his favorite target Jarvis Washington from 36 yards out to give the Tigers a 14-3 lead over the Panthers.
In the second quarter, Catholic New Iberia finally finishes a drive after showing that they can move the ball on Dunham’s defense. The duo of Tristan Lewis and Owen Morris got the Panthers down the field, but it was Lewis that found his way into the end zone with a 14 yard scoring run to pull within four at 14-10.
After the Panthers’ defense got their first stop, Luke Landry once again got to work leading this explosive offense down the field including the last two plays of the drive to finish it off. First, Landry connected with Jaiden Mitchell for a 34 yard gain on 3rd down and 7 to then set up a one yard touchdown pass from Landry to Bennett Woodring for the go-ahead score at 17-14 halfway in the second quarter.
For the third consecutive drive, the Panthers score as Landry completed a 30 yard pass to Joseph LeBlanc that set up a two yard touchdown run from John David Hidalgo to give Catholic New Iberia a 24-14 lead over Dunham.
Right before halftime, we had our biggest controversy of the Prep Classic to this point. Haven launched a Hail Mary to Washington, but it was ruled an incompletion. The play went to the replay booth, but the ruling on the field stood to be an incomplete pass to end the half.
After closing out the first half with three straight scoring drives, Catholic New Iberia scored again to open up the second half. Owen Morris had a 24 yard run leading to the touchdown connection from Landry to Joseph LeBlanc. The Panthers had their biggest lead of the game to this point at 31-14.
After not scoring since the first quarter, Dunham finally ended the drought early in the fourth quarter with a methodical 13 play, 71 yard drive that was capped off by a Elijah Haven one yard touchdown run to cut the Panthers’ lead to 10.
The Tigers surprise the Panthers with an onside kick, which was covered by Dunham’s Richard Montgomery to steal a possession from Catholic New Iberia.
After an incredible play by Elijah Haven to avoid two sacks and finding a way to complete a pass to Trevor Haman, the Panthers’ defense comes up big near the goal line as Bennett Woodring forces and recovers a Haman fumble to give Catholic New Iberia a huge sigh of relief and the football with less than seven minutes left to play in the game.
The Dunham defense forces a stop after the turnover and it does not take long for Haman to make amends after the fumble as he catches a 42 yard pass from Haven to pull the Tigers within three points at 31-28 deep in the fourth quarter.
With just over two minutes remaining, the Dunham Tigers’ special teams steps up with a huge blocked punt by William Ours. Joshua Lazard runs it down to the Panthers’ eight yard line.
That would set up a classic finish at the end with Catholic New Iberia’s defense having a goal line stand to preserve the state championship.
Led by head coach Neil Weiner, the Dunham Tigers (13-1) fall short of a state title for the second time in three years, but with a lot of guys returning for the future, there is a lot to be excited for the future.
Disappointed they didn’t get to finish the game out the way they wanted to, but we worked so hard on not focusing on the result. I told these guys: it’s ok to be sad as long as you want, but you don’t need to be sad.
Dunham Head Coach Neil Weiner
Meanwhile, Catholic New Iberia (13-1), led by head coach Matt Desormeaux, defied all the odds as a number seven seed pulling off upsets against the number two seed Newman (31-0), the number three seed Calvary Baptist (33-31), and the number one seed Dunham Tigers in the championship. After losing the opening game of the season to Vermilion Catholic (14-10), the Panthers went on a run winning 13 straight.
The way they work, the way they prepare, I knew this could be a special run.
Catholic New Iberia Head Coach Matt Desormeaux
67
0
17
20
