Denham shuts out Live Oak

• By BILLY GIBSON
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Oct 31, 2009

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WATSON — The anticipation of the first varsity football game between Denham Springs and Live Oak proved to be a bit more exciting than the game itself.

The Yellow Jackets rolled up 20 points in the first half and coasted in the second half en route to a 20-0 shutout win over the Eagles in Class 5-5A action Friday night.

Junior Jaz Mitchell scored on runs of 3 and 4 yards in the first half and senior fullback Austin Notariano added a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter to make the difference for the Yellow Jackets (7-2, 3-2).

Denham Springs sophomore Romel Williams led all rushers with a game-high 107 yards on 17 attempts in the winning effort. The Jackets kept the ball on the rain-soaked ground most of the night and used nine different ball carriers to collect 261 yards.

Denham Springs coach Dru Nettles said he was unconcerned about the sloppy playing conditions. In fact, he said the muddy field played straight into the team’s hands.

“Our game is to run the ball, so that’s what we were going to do anyway,” Nettles said. “We thought we might be a little more physical than them, so we stuck with the run. The field started getting worse and got really slick as we went along, so we played a little more conservatively in the second half.” 

The opposite was true for the Eagles (4-5, 2-3). Senior quarterback David Bell entered the game with 1,404 yards and 11 touchdowns while his favorite target, senior receiver Alex Switzer, had 731 yards and seven touchdowns on the year.

The wet playing conditions all but neutralized the otherwise prolific Eagle passing attack. Bell threw 23 times and completed nine for 88 yards. He also tossed three interceptions in the stop-and-start rainfall.

Coach Robbie Mahfouz said there was little question the rain put a certain damper on Live Oak’s offensive attack.

“We really needed a dry field to offset some of their strengths,” Mahfouz said. “We needed to be able to throw the ball around and pick our spots. But they played on the same field as we did and they just did a better job handling it. I just wish we could have played better and got the crowd into it a little more.”

Denham Springs and Live Oak went into the game with 2-2 marks in league play.

The Yellow Jackets established the tone for the game by taking their first possession 86 yards with the help of a 30-yard run by Michael Early and a personal foul infraction against Live Oak. Mitchell later scored on a 3-yard run to give the visitors a 6-0 lead.

Denham’s defense produced a blocked punt early in the second quarter and converted the big play into a score. The block gave the Yellow Jackets possession at Live Oak’s 36-yard line. Mitchell’s 15-yard run set up a 1-yard touchdown by Notariano and Blaine Dupuy’s point-after gave DSHS a 13-0 lead.