East Ascension holds off Dutchtown, hands Griffins first loss of season – The Advocate

GONZALES In a District 5-5A battle Friday night, East Ascension scraped by with a win over Dutchtown in a back-and-forth showdown at Spartan Stadium.

East Ascension (5-2, 1-1 in district) held off a Dutchtown second-half comeback with an interception in the end zone by safety Kael Babin as time expired to win 29-24.

It was the first loss of the season for the Griffins (6-1, 1-1).

Big stop, East Ascension coach Darnell Lee said. The defense spread out the gates in the second half. Im proud of this team and staff, they did a great job. We had to dig deep coming off of last weeks loss and we made the plays when we had to.

East Ascension used a balanced attack while Dutchtown leaned on the success of running back Dylan Sampson in the first half, who finished with 182 yards and a touchdown.

Dutchtown quarterback Brayden Fritsche was 0-for-6 at halftime and didnt complete a pass until halfway through the fourth quarter. He finished at 6-of-17 for 143 yards.

Dutchtown took a 7-3 lead on Sampsons 74-yard touchdown with two minutes left in the first quarter, but it wouldnt last long.

Quarterback Cameron Jones completed his third pass of the night to receiver Steven McBride, who hauled it in and took it 74 yards to the end zone to go up 9-7.

Jones heated up after that, finishing 13-of-24 for 218 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game with a shoulder injury.

Another long touchdown drive by East Ascension, including two big completions by Jones a 17-yarder to Jyrin Johnson and the 14-yard touchdown to Hobart Grayson IV extended its lead to 16-7.

Jones and Grayson connected again on the next possession, this time for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 20 seconds left before halftime to extend the Spartans lead to 23-7.

In the first half, we felt like we were in position defensively all three of their touchdowns. They just make athletic plays, Dutchtown coach Guy Mistretta said. We felt good about what we were doing, and we just had to keep it up.

Dutchtown started to turn the tide in the second half, opening with a drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock and ended in a field goal that cut East Ascensions lead to 23-10.

We didnt score on that opening drive (of the second half) and gave them momentum, Lee said. Our defense stepped up a couple times.

A fumble recovery by Dutchtowns Jadyn McKinney late in the third quarter prevented an East Ascension touchdown drive in progress.

The Griffins continued to close the gap into the fourth quarter when Sampson dragged half of the defense with him en route to a 28-yard touchdown run to cut the Spartans lead to 23-17.

East Ascension's final touchdown of the game to secure a victory came from backup quarterback Kullen Wheat, who hit a wide-open McBride for a touchdown.

Fritsche hit Jadyn McKinney for a 67-yard pass immediately after to cut the score to 29-24. The defense forcing a Spartans punt before Babin's interception ended it.

I mean this sincerely, even if we catch that ball and win it, I wouldnt be any more proud of them, Mistretta said. Thats a really big and talented team over there and we did everything we could and Im really proud of our guys.

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East Ascension holds off Dutchtown, hands Griffins first loss of season - The Advocate