Dutchtown High School's defense held tight near the goal line early in the fourth quarter and its offense ran out the clock late for a 17-14 win against visiting Denham Springs on Friday night.

The Griffins (7-1, 3-1 in District 5-5A) took advantage of some timely penalties to gut out a victory in a game dominated by ball control.

“They get a first-and-goal inside the 1, and we hold them out,” Dutchtown coach Guy Mistretta said. “We get the ball with six minutes left and (called) nothing but runs. So, physicality (was) something we preached all week and that’s something that showed in the fourth quarter.”

Tanner Koerner rushed for 112 yards for Denham Springs (5-3, 2-2), which controlled the ball most of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. But the Yellow Jackets, who committed 11 penalties, were hurt by untimely mistakes.

Trailing 17-14, the Jackets had the ball inside the 1 to start the fourth quarter. But an illegal pushing penalty, then a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty resulted in a 38-yard missed field goal.

“We just never could really get momentum going,” Denham Springs coach Brett Beard said. “We didn’t finish drives early on, and it put us in a bad hole. We just have to keep playing and learning, and that’s what these kids are doing.”

The Yellow Jackets had one more series, but they were forced to punt from their own 25 and gave the ball back to Dutchtown with 5:41 remaining. The Griffins never relinquished the ball and sealed the narrow victory.

Denham Springs trailed 17-6 at halftime but drew closer when its special teams recovered a muffed punt at the Dutchtown 2. Koerner’s 2-yard run and Braylon Collins’ jump pass to Jaylen Williams for a two-point conversion cut Dutchtown’s lead to 17-14 with 4:52 to go in the third quarter.

Dutchtown’s two first-half touchdowns gave the Griffins control of the game in the first half. Quarterback Ethan Odom led the Griffins on a a 91-yard scoring drive, aided by two 15-yard Denham Springs penalties. Odom hit Derrick Walker-Vice for a 21-yard falling catch in the end zone as the Griffins built a 17-6 advantage with 5:01 to go before halftime.

Another Denham Springs penalty proved costly on the ensuing drive. The Yellow Jackets drove to the Dutchtown 13, and Andre Adams found Trey Seals for an apparent touchdown.

But the would-be score was wiped by an illegal-forward pass penalty, and the drive ended two plays later when a 44-yard field-goal attempt went just wide of the right upright.

Neither team punted in the first half as both offenses were effective at controlling the clock.

The teams swapped first-quarter field goals, a 32-yarder from Dutchtown’s Cade Foley and a 30-yard boot by Dutchtown's Joseph Herrera.

The Griffins took a 10-3 lead late in the first quarter. Haydel Becnel bounced a run outside and headed up the right hash marks for an 18-yard score with 1:43 to go in the period.

Herrera booted his second field goal, a 27-yarder with 9:28 remaining in the first half as the Yellow Jackets cut their deficit to 10-6.