Copyright Baton Rouge Advocate
The high school football season wrapped up this past Friday. District races that came down to Week 10 were decided, and other Baton Rouge-area schools made their final push to seal up a spot in the playoffs. Here are two takeaways from this past week. Denham Springs wins share of District 5-5A The Yellow Jackets used 28 straight points against St. Amant to seal a 54-26 win and finish as co-champions of District 5-5A with East Ascension. Denham Springs (8-2, 5-1) closed out the regular season with six straight wins. The offense averaged 52.2 points per game across the streak, during which the team won by an average margin of victory of 28 points. Seniors quarterback Da'Jean Golmond, wide receiver Da'Sean Golmond and running back Brenton Paul have played a big part in the offensive fireworks. Da'Jean Golmond accounted for five touchdowns Friday night, four passing and one rushing. Da'Sean Golmond made history in the game. He caught two touchdowns, one for 30 yards and another for 22 yards. His first touchdown helped him break the school record for career touchdown receptions. His 19 career touchdown receptions broke the previous record of 17 set by Kaleb Drummer in 2018. Yellow Jackets coach Brett Beard said Da'Sean and his brother are a continuation of the great Golmonds who've played for the team. "That's a household name in Denham Springs," Beard said. "You wish every kid was the warrior that those kids are. Because they did everything right is why they're being rewarded and getting the job done." Da'Sean Golmond caught six passes for 107 yards, along with his achievement. He said the moment was special, growing up in Denham Springs his whole life. "Breaking that record, it means a lot," he said. "When I was younger, I wouldn't have imagined myself being in a position like this." Paul ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. He said his team isn't stat-driven, and its mentality played a part in Friday night's big win. "We come out of half, we're not worried about what happened in the first half," Paul said. "Just come out and we finish playing ball. We're unstoppable. We're not going to stay down for long." Now, Denham Springs will head into the playoffs with Da'Jean Golmond bound to make his first playoff start at quarterback, leading an offense putting up points in bunches. "It's good to see us getting hot at the perfect time," Da'Sean Golmond said. "Won our last six, and have been dominating." Liberty, Prairieville on verge of playoffs Two programs that came off losing seasons last year came into this season with fresh expectations and a blank slate. For Liberty, the Patriots came in with a new head coach, Jimmy Zachery, looking to end three straight losing seasons. The Patriots opened with a 41-28 win over Southern Lab. The win set the tone to help Liberty nab other big wins, including a 52-31 victory on the road against Zachary. In Week 10, Liberty was 5-4, looking to finish with a winning season and, more importantly, shore up a spot in the playoffs against Woodlawn. The Patriots battled and came away with a narrow 30-21 win to finish 6-4 and all but secure a spot in the Division I select playoffs. The win also means the senior class will finish with a winning record. Prairieville entered its second year as a football program after finishing 2-8 last year. Hurricanes coach Mike Schmitt looked to continue building a culture from the ground up in year two. Prairieville nabbed a big win over East Ascension 44-27 earlier in the year and used a three-game winning streak to move to 4-3. After two straight losses, Prairieville defeated St. Thomas Aquinas 42-0 to finish the regular season 5-5 and look bound for the Division I non-select playoffs.
