North DeSoto secured at least a share of the District 1-4A championship Friday and celebrated senior quarterback Luke Delafield etching himself further into program history in the process.
The Northwestern State commitment eclipsed 10,000 career passing yards as he led the Griffins (9-0, 6-0) to a 63-49 win over Loyola Prep (8-1, 5-0) in one of Louisiana’s last scheduled matchups between undefeated opponents.
“That’s an awesome achievement, but at the end of the day, that’s never been the goal,” Delafield said. “The goal is to be playing in the Superdome in December, and not just playing, but winning. I’m super blessed, but we have our goals, and that’s what we’re going to strive for every day.”
The two teams combined for more than 1,200 yards of total offense as Loyola Prep’s own gunslinger, junior Bryce Restovich, had his share of success — tossing five scores on 411 yards and adding another end zone trip on the ground.
After a back-and-forth first half, Louisiana Tech pledge, Kenny Thomas found paydirt for the second time on the Griffins’ second-half opening drive to give his team the largest margin of the night so far, 42-28.
After both teams exchanged fumbles, the Flyers found themselves in a fourth-and-goal situation on the 1-yard line with an opportunity to slice their deficit in half.
But North DeSoto linebackers Porter Doyal and Logan Addison stunned the Flyers’ ball-carrier behind the line for what proved to be a pivotal stand.
Delafield hit sophomore Braylon Moore on a 56-yard connection from their own end zone to set up Thomas’ third rushing score of the night to push the Griffins’ lead to 49-28 and provide cushion they needed to outlast the visiting Flyers.
“We had to compete with them,” Thomas said. “We knew coming into the game that Loyola had a really good offense, and to see that they scored seven touchdowns on us, we just had to be able to fight even when we’re tired.”
Though the high-powered offenses did finally find their rhythm, the defenses owned the opening period.
After Restovich connected with sophomore Charlie McKenzie on a 37-yard scoring strike on the opening drive, the defenses forced three consecutive punts — a rarity the rest of the contest — before Thomas got the Griffins on the board with a 26-yard scamper to tie it up 7-7 before the end of the quarter.
Flyers running back Mason Drake opened up the second quarter with a 6-yard score, and Thomas quickly answered for the Griffins with a 61-yard run of his own, squaring it up ,14-14.
Restovich and Delafield then exchanges scores through the air: a 27-yard, acrobatic, leaping catch by Jake Black for Loyola, and a 28-yarder to tight end Miller Warren for North DeSoto.
After a Landyn Berry fumble recovery, Delafield found Warren again to give the Griffins their first lead of the night.
The dueling quarterbacks would both close out the first half with their third passing touchdowns of the night — Restovich to Ty Wallsworth and Delafield finding his big target Warren for their third straight connection, giving North DeSoto the 28-21 edge at half.
“Me and Luke have been best friends since we were little, since we could walk. We’ve been hunting together, playing baseball together, and on the same football and baseball teams our whole lives. So, we’ve had that chemistry going into high school.” Warren said about their connection, “Luke’s a heck of a ball player — he works harder than anybody I’ve ever seen, and he’s just one heck of a football player.”
After the Griffins’ goal-line stand and Thomas’ score, Restovich and Delafield switched it up with exchanged scores on the ground, pushing the scoreboard to 56-35.
“I’ve always had that in the tool belt, but we’ve never really needed it because we have so many weapons,” Delafield said. “They weren’t accounting for me in the rushing game, so I told coach, ‘If they ain’t accounting for me, let me read it.’ Sure enough, I had a couple big runs and capped it off with a touchdown.”
Restovich would go on to toss two more scores down the stretch, connecting with Black for the second time and finding Brock Geter from 20 yards out — getting all four of his receivers into the box score.
Thomas’ fourth and final rushing score late in the fourth quarter kept the Flyers at bay.
