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The No. 2 seed Airline Vikings will try to earn a berth in the non-select Division I semifinals when they take on No. 10 Destrehan (9-3) at M.D. Ray Field at Airline Stadium Friday night.
Kickoff is 7 o’clock.
Airline comes into the game off a 42-16 second-round victory over No. 18 Westgate after a first-round bye. Destrehan defeated No. 23 Ouachita Parish 30-12 in the first round and routed No. 7 Northwood 63-12 in the second.
The Wildcats finished in a three-way tie for first in District 8-5A with Hahnville and Terrebonne, the eighth and ninth seeds, respectively. Both lost to No. 24 Chalmette, Terrebonne in the first round and Hahnville in the second.
Destrehan and Airline have one common opponent, Captain Shreve. The Wildcats defeated the Gators 46-42 in Week 7. The Vikings defeated the Gators 69-68 in Week 5.
Destrehan is riding a seven-game winning streak. The Wildcats’ losses were to select No. 4 seed Catholic-Baton Rouge 23-20 in Week 1, select No. 2 Alexandria 45-27 in Week 3 and Terrebonne 30-21 in Week 5.
Airline and Destrehan both lost in the quarterfinals last year. The Vikings fell to Mandeville 56-50 and the Wildcats lost to eventual runner-up Zachary 35-14.
The Airline defense shut down a very good Westgate offense last week in perhaps its best performance of the year.
The Vikings will face another challenge Friday against a team averaging 36.7 points per game. During their winning streak, the Wildcats have averaged 43.6 points.
Sophomore running back Malachi Dabney scored six touchdowns against Northwood, according to the St. Charles Herald Guide.
According to nola.com, Dabney has rushed for more than 200 yards in three of his last six games, including 270 against Northwood.
Airline will counter with an offense averaging 53.8 points per game.
Senior quarterback Ben Taylor passed for 272 yards and two touchdowns last week. Taylor now ranks not only No. 2 in the area but also No. 2 in the state in career passing yards with 11,994. He has thrown 132 touchdown passes.
Junior LSU commit Kenny Darby caught eight passes for 145 yards last week. For the season, he has 88 catches for 1,634 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Senior Jarvis Davis Jr. had five catches for 77 yards before suffering an ankle injury. For the season, he has 89 catches for 1,190 yards and nine TDs.
The Airline-Destrehan winner faces the winner between No. 3 Ruston and No. 6 Southside in the semifinals. If the Vikings win, they will be at home again.