‘He loves us.’ D’Iberville claims region title with emotional win at Harrison Central.
D’Iberville coach Larry Dolan couldn’t hide his emotions Monday night after his team’s 20-13 victory over Harrison Central.
As he talked about his team’s big road win to stay perfect, the veteran coach began to choke back tears.
“It’s a great group of kids,” he said. “People kind of doubted how good we are, but we’ve beat everybody we’ve played. It’s not the most talented group D’Iberville has ever put out, but they sure do play hard.”
The victory clinched the Region 4-6A championship for the Warriors and put the team within one victory of a perfect regular season.
D’Iberville hired Dolan away from Oak Grove, where he was working as a defensive coordinator, in early 2019 after Eric Collins, who is now at East Central, decided to take the job at Bay High.
After leading the team to a 9-3 mark a year ago, Dolan’s Warriors are now 8-0 with the program’s first region championship since 2016.
When asked where the lump in his throat came from, Dolan said it all goes back to his passion for the game.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s doing this in my 30th season and I still love it,” he said. “As long as I love it, I’m going to keep going. I just love watching young people play like this.
“That’s always been my thing. You want kids to play with emotion. The things you teach them in football carry on. It’s fun to watch them succeed. Not every year is like this.”
D’Iberville senior defensive end Gabe Bosarge best explained Dolan’s emotional evening.
“He loves us,” Bosarge said. “He loves this team and he loves Warrior football.”
Senior running back/defensive back Justin Walley and the rest of the Warriors are simply happy to have had the opportunity to play all their games up to this point during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s truly a blessing,” he said. “We thank God for everything. We got to play all our games. That’s one thing. To win them all, that’s another thing.”
D’Iberville closes out Harrison Central in 2nd half
Monday night’s win, which was pushed back three days by Hurricane Zeta, was arguably the most hard fought victory of the season for D’Iberville.
The game was tied 13-13 at the half, but the Red Rebels struggled to get anything going on offense in the second half. Harrison Central’s final five possessions ended with a botched punt, a blocked punt, a turnover on downs, a lost fumble and an interception.
It was Walley who blocked the Harrison Central punt late in the third quarter.
It was his sixth block of the season — two on punts and four on field goals/extra points.
Six plays later, Walley ran 6 yards into the end zone to give the Warriors a 20-13 lead headed into the fourth.
Gophers commit Justin Walley finishes strong
The Minnesota commit finished with 18 carries for 108 yards and a TD against a Harrison Central defense that Dolan described as the best group his offense has faced this season.
“(Walley is) a go-to guy,” Dolan said. “The kids block hard when he’s running the ball. (Harrison Central) plays so good on defense.
“(Walley) and Justice (Davis), they are so unselfish. Justice doesn’t get carries some nights, but he blocks his butt off.”
D’Iberville’s two touchdowns in the first half came on a 2-yard run by junior fullback Drey Lenoir and a 32-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Dwight Williams to junior receiver Colton Deshazo.
Williams completed 10 of 17 passes for 125 yards, a TD and one interception. Deshazo hauled in six passes for 88 yards and a score.
Harrison Central sophomore quarterback Christian Turner put in an efficient night for the Red Rebels, completing 11 of his first 12 passes. He finished 14-of-20 passing for 144 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
His two touchdowns came on a 15-yard toss to Mississippi State commit Jacobi Moore on a deflection and a 44-yarder to junior Mikuan Sanders.
While Harrison Central was in the game throughout, it was the Warriors who closed out the game on the road with a large contingent of fans cheering them on.
“It sure is fun to see kids acting like this, a community acting like this,” Dolan said. “This is what Friday night football is supposed to be like.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 9:59 PM.
