LYMAN — Rivals Harrison Central and D’Iberville met in a key Region 4-7A battle Friday night at Earl Phillips Stadium and the long time foes didn’t disappoint in lighting up the scoreboard.
The Red Rebels took a 46-21 lead into the fourth quarter and held off a furious Warriors comeback to take a 46-43 victory in the 66th all-time meeting in this series.
D’Iberville scored first with Kevin Rogers galloping in for a 6-yard TD run. Jackson Callegari added the PAT with 6:54 to play in the opening quarter. The TD capped an 11-play, 56-yard drive.
HC answered with quarterback Tri Gaughf hitting a streaking Darrion Kirksey for a 44-yard scoring strike to culminate a 13-play, 70-yard march with 4:22 to play in the quarter. Kicker Parrish Laiche tacked on the extra point to tie the game at 7-7.
Capitalizing on a short D’Iberville punt, the Red Rebels took the lead on Jaden Eckford’s 10-yard scoring run with 1:54 left in the first quarter. The point after was no good.
The Warriors went back on top with Conner Jones tossing a 15-yard TD to TJ Jasper with 9:25 to play in the second quarter. The drive took 10 plays and covered 54 yards.
The gamer then turned into the Gaughf and Tyree Barnett show as the duo hooked up on three straight scoring drives that put the Red Rebels up 34-14.
Gaughf hit Barnett on fourth down with a 24-yard scoring toss with 4:46 left in the first half to cap an 11-play, 60-yard drive to put the Red Rebels back on top. The PAT made it 20-14.
Just before the half ended, Gaughf lofted a 37-yard touchdown toss to Barnett to increase the Red Rebel margin to 27-14 at the half.
The Gaughf-Barnett connection continued in the second half with the two hooking up on a 31-yard TD. The 3-play drive was set up by a failed onside kick.
D’Iberville kept the game close with Jones scoring from 4 yards out on the Warriors first possession of the second half that capped a 57-yard, 8-play drive.
Gaughf called his own number on a two-yard TD run to cap a 75-yard, 7-play drive that was highlighted by a 39-yard Barnett run and a 24-yard catch by tight end Mickey Duckworth.
Tre’Von Deans picked off an errant D’Iberville halfback pass to set up the next Red Rebel score. Jordan Anderson caught a tipped Gaughf pass in the endzone for HC to make it 46-21 with 2:13 to play in the third quarter.
But the Warriors were not about to go quietly into the night.
Andre Crosby scored from a yard out with 7:08 to play in the game to cap a 70-yard march.
Capitalizing on a couple of mishandled snaps by the HC punter, the Warriors came storming back in the final four-plus minutes of the game.
The Warriors recovered a punt miscue at the HC 15 and three plays later, Rogers scored on a 5-yard run. Crosby added the 2-point conversion to pull D’Iberville within 46-36.
D’Iberville forced another punt on HC’s next possession and another mishandled snap gave the Warriors the ball at the Red Rebel 17. Crosby continued the comeback with a 17-yard run and the extra point made it 46-43 with 3:20 to play.
On their final possession of the night, the Red Rebel offense was able to pick up three first downs and run out the clock for the win.
Gaughf finished the night 11-of-20 for 293 yards and 5 touchdowns. Barnett also had a big night for the Red Rebels, snagging four passes … three of them TD catches.
Crosby had 3 TD runs for the Warriors, while Rogers rushed for 98 yards and 2 TDs. Jones had a TD run and a TD toss.
The HCHS-DHS series dates back to 1958. The Red Rebels (6-2 overall, 2-1 in 4-7A) will play at Biloxi Friday, while the Warriors (2-6, 0-3) will travel to St. Martin.
