St. Tammany News

Cohen's Hornets notched their first victory of the season Saturday, cruising to a 36-0 victory over the Archbishop Hannan Hawks in a game played at Muss Bertolino Stadium in Kenner. Cohen sophomore running back DeJuan Mackey rushed for 130 yards on 18 carries and two TDs to lead the Hornets to victory. Mackey score on runs of 59 and 15 yards.

Cohen (1-3), playing its first year of football, turned in an outstanding defensive performance with eight sacks, limiting Hannan (1-6) to a minus 11 yards of total offense. Cohen junior outside linebacker Darren Byrd (5-foot-11, 240 pounds) recorded five sacks to lead the stubborn Cohen defense. He also recorded a safety when he tackled Hannan quarterback Michael Manguno in the end zone, midway through the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Lynell Merrell added two sacks, and Ferrel Bonds had one.

Due to the eight sacks, Hannan lost 72 yards on the ground. Manguno managed to hit on just 9-of-27 passes for 61 yards with an interception.

Cohen rolled for 337 yards of total offense, picking up 248 yards on the ground.

Hannan coach George Templet said his offense struggled, playing without starting center Kyle Constance, who was injured during the week.

"We had to move some people around, and those changes hurt us on the offensive side of the ball. Offensively, we didn't show up to play," Templet said.

"Cohen had good starting field position throughout the game. We gave them great field position all night long, and to their credit they took advantage of it. When you play on a short field, only good things can happen for the team with the ball."

Cohen coach Tommie Dyer said his team put it all together against Hannan.

"The team is starting to gel together, and is bonding. They are learning the system we have employed, and are continuing to improve," Dyer said.

Cohen senior quarterback Carlos Thomas hit Halston Hayes with a 21-yard TD pass with about four minutes left in the first quarter to give the Hornets a 6-0 lead.

The Hornets failed on a two-point conversion try. Sophomore quarterback Denzel Bashful, who shared time with Thomas as the Hornets' signal caller, connected on a 27-yard scoring strike to Reginald Turner with eight minutes left before the half. The two-point conversion attempt failed. Later in the second quarter, Mackey scored on a 59-yard run. He tacked on the successful two-point conversion to give Cohen a 20-0 halftime lead.

Cohen continued to dominate the action in the second half. Mackey added a 15-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter. He added the two-point conversion to hike the lead to 28-0.

Cohen's Cardell Henderson caught an 18-yard TD pass from Thomas with two minutes to play in the third to push the lead to 34-0. The two-point conversion pass attempt was unsuccessful.

The Hornets closed out the scoring with Byrd's fourth quarter sack for a safety.