Just a couple of years ago, Hamilton Christian struggled through a winless season and the program was on the ropes. Basketball head coach Dexter Washington faced a tough decision, stick with the Warriors’ very successful basketball program, or add to his plate and return to the football field and help save the program.

Warriors (8-1, 5-0) overcame their winless 2022 campaign and capped off a resurgent season on Thursday with a 33-14 win over Basile and the District 4-1A championship at Cougar Stadium.

“I stepped down (from football) a couple of years ago,” head coach Dexter Washington said. “I never thought about coming back.

“And when the transition happened, I told her I’d go back because I didn’t want them, as the athletic director, to have to work with nobody else. At one point, we thought about dropping football before I stepped back in. And that’s how I got back. And I said I would never let it happen. And now our program is where we are, and it’s only going to get better. I want to thank my coaches. They work so hard and are very diligent in what they do.”

The Warriors won their eighth consecutive game since a 32-13 loss to DeQuincy in their season opener on Sept. 6.

“This is a group of kids after DeQuincy they never believed they could lose another game,” Washington said. “And the only reason they thought they lost to DeQuincy was because of the rain, and it was a wet night.

“(DeQuincy head coach) Tate (Woodard) and I have talked every game since, and he said ‘I am rooting for you, man’. And we talk after every game. I’m so proud. I’m so proud for Hamilton Christian. I’m so proud of where we’ve come from.”

The defense played an outsized role in the Warriors’ district championship-clinching win. They stopped Basile twice in the first half inside the Warrior 10-yard line to preserve a 14-0 halftime lead. Grant Menard recovered a fumble at the Warrior four-yard line with 3:01 left in the first half.

The Bearcats (5-5, 2-3) reached the Warrior 12-yard line late in the third quarter with a chance to cut the deficit to one possession again, but Hamilton forced a turnover on downs.

“Our defense is playing lights out,” Washington said. “I need everybody to know Coach Larry Dauterive from, you may have heard that name, from Opelousas High.

“He was the guy that coached the 50 defense against John Curtis with the veer and Eunice with the Buck. And we have been using his defense all season long. I’m talking about those were big-time stops against the Buck Sweep.”

The Warriors scored quickly on their first two possessions on a 51-yard reception by Christopher Rideau and Kealen Bell’s 3-yard run. But the Warriors got frazzled at times by the Bearcats’ pressure up front which led to quarterback Javon Vital scrambling frequently. But they found the right rhythm in the second half and scored on three of four possessions. Vital scored on runs of 2, 10 and 13 yards and finished with 131 yards on 25 carries. He completed 7 of 8 passes for 109 yards and surpassed 1,000 rushing and passing yards for the season.

“I think tonight everybody was overexcited,” Washington said. “I had to calm them down.”

Bryan Hardy ran for 94 yards on 15 carries for Basile, while Pierson Comeaux added 61 yards on 12 carries, including a 7-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Quarterback Ricky Malone threw a 74-yard scoring strike to Kye Smith in the fourth quarter and completed 3 of 12 passes for 117 yards.

Basile recovered an onside kick after their two second-half touchdowns but turned the ball over on downs both times.

The regular season ends Saturday and the Louisiana High School Athletic Association will release the playoff brackets on Sunday.