Haven's 4th Quarter TD Run, Dunham's Defensive Power Overtakes ACHS

Dunham sophomore star quarterback Elijah Haven didn’t have his best statistical night against Ascension Catholic. The Bulldogs defense kept it locked in for most of three quarters Thursday night.

But a big play midway through the end of the fourth quarter turned things around and gave the Tigers a hard-fought 21-18 victory in a non-district game played at Dunham Stadium.

On third-and-3 from the Bulldogs 35 with just over four minutes left, Haven raced to the right, made two defenders miss at the line of scrimmage, faked another defender on the sideline and ran 65 yards for the winning score.

“The offense wasn’t as sharp as we would have liked,” Dunham coach Neil Weiner said. “But man, what a winner. He (Haven) is just going to find a way to play and make his team win.”

“We talked all week about how the little things make a difference,” Ascension Catholic coach Lowell Narcisse said of Haven’s touchdown. “We’ve been doing the same blitz for three years and we succeeded in the most important part of the game”

The defense sealed the victory for Dunham (4-0) with two stops, including an interception by Jarone Harris with 1:20 remaining to end Ascension Catholic’s final drive.

Haven finished the night with 71 rushing yards and 84 passing yards.

Ascension Catholic (2-1) took the lead with 5:55 left on a 1-yard plunge by Chad Elzy Jr. The score capped a 10-play drive and put the Bulldogs up 18-13.

Elzy finished with 116 rushing yards on 27 carries. He also caught four passes for 42 yards.

Elzy added a spectacular play of his own on the final play of the first half.

Facing fourth down from the Dunham 31 with just 3 seconds left, the Bulldogs called a timeout to run one last play for the half.

The Tiger defense was ready to defend a deep pass in the end zone, but Camille LeBoeuf threw a center screen to Elzy, who caught the ball at the 29, broke several tackles and sprinted diagonally toward the front corner left of the end zone. for the score.

Elzy’s two-point conversion was stopped, but Ascension Catholic held a 12-7 lead at halftime.

Ascension Catholic stifled Dunham’s offense in the first half, holding Haven to minus-13 yards rushing and allowing it to complete just 4 of 11 passes. One of the successes was a 45-yard deep pass to Jarvis Washington in the first quarter for the Tigers’ only score of the half.

The Bulldogs’ other first-half touchdown came on the game’s first drive when Johnny Viallon caught a 28-yard touchdown from LeBoeuf.

Dunham opens District 8-2A play next week at Baker, while Ascension Catholic plays its final non-district game at home against Episcopal.