IOWA — The Iowa Yellow Jackets will head into the final week of the regular season with a chance to win sole possession of the District 4-3A title after defeating South Beauregard 14-0 with a dominant defensive performance Friday night.
The win marked Iowa’s (8-1, 4-0) first win against the Golden Knights (6-2, 2-2) in three years and set up a championship game against Jennings (9-0, 4-0) next week.
“I’m proud of them,” said Iowa head coach Sean Richard. “For our seniors, this is the first time in three years that we’ve beaten South Beauregard. It’s been a long time coming. They’re a good, well-coached ballclub that plays hard, so I’m just glad for the kids.”
The lone score of the first half came in the first quarter with the Yellow Jackets facing fourth-and-13 from the South Beauregard 30.
Quarterback Dyami Huntsberry hit receiver Marka’il Nixon across the middle for the score. After a roughing-the-kicker penalty, Iowa failed to convert the 2-point conversion pass.
Both teams had the ball within 5 yards of the end zone only to turn the ball over.
The Yellow Jackets extended their lead on the opening drive of the second half thanks to the effort of running back Joseph Figueroa.
Figueroa ran the ball nine times for 50 yards on the drive, including a 2-yard touchdown rush that put the Yellow Jackets ahead 14-0 after a successful 2-point conversion.
Iowa drove to within 6 yards or closer three more times but failed to reach the end zone because of a turnover on downs or an interception.
“We’re going to take care of that when we get back,” Richard said. “We’re going to work on some ball-security drills. We need to be a little bit more physical than we were.”
Thankfully for the Yellow Jackets, the defense stepped up and put together its second consecutive shutout performance of the season.
The Iowa defense seemed to get better as the game went along, allowing five South Beauregard first downs in the second half, four of which came on the Golden Knights’ final drive while the Yellow Jackets played a prevent defense.
“I thought the defense played extremely well,” Richard said. “They were on the field a lot. They stood up and stood tall. Each week they’ve been getting better and better and they got a shutout tonight. … Just a tremendous job by them against a really good offense.”
Iowa defensive back Jaren Dugas came down with two interceptions for the Yellow Jackets, one of which ended South Beauregard’s best offensive drive, when he grabbed a pass in the end zone and returned it to near midfield to set up Iowa’s first score.
“He got beat earlier in the year, and he’s just grown and grown,” Richard said. “The coaches stuck with him and he’s done a tremendous job out there.”
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