DeQuincy — Welsh used a trio of takeaways to dominate the first half and cruised to a 41-0 Class 2A quarterfinal win over DeQuincy Friday night.

The No. 5 Greyhounds (10-3) will travel to face No. 1 Many in the semifinal round next week. Welsh beat Many in the semis last year en route to the state title.

Welsh scored on four of six first-half drives and reached the Tigers’ red zone on all six. Its opening possession reached the Tigers’ 1-yard line, but stalled on a fumble snap and two incomplete passes.

Macey Hicks intercepted a pass on DeQuincy’s next drive, setting up a 44-yard scoring drive capped by a 1-yard Austyn Benoit TD run.

DeQuincy (7-6) drove to the Welsh 2 but was stuffed shy of the goal line on fourth-and-goal.

Welsh then drove 99 yards in 12 plays, scoring on a 4-yard pass from Benoit to Da’Ren Zeno.

The next two Tigers drives ended in turnovers. Each led to scores, with Benoit scoring on a 7-yard run following a Jammerick Gray interception.

Jaheim Simon scored on a 63-yard run following a Greyhounds fumble recovery to give Welsh a 27-0 halftime lead.

Welsh gained 363 yards in the half, running for 180 and throwing for 183.

Simon had 115 rushing yards in the half. Zeno made eight catches for 131 yards.

Benoit threw second-half touchdown passes of 20 yards to Gavan Guillory and 5 yards to Zeno.

“It was a complete team effort,” Welsh head coach John Richardson said. “The offensive line is where it all started. It didn’t matter too much who was running the football, we were having success because of what they were doing up front.

“We told the kids coming in that we didn’t want turnovers or too many penalties and they did a good job of that.”

DeQuincy head coach Charlie Smith said the result doesn’t dampen the Tigers’ season.

“I’m real proud of my guys and the fight they had in them,” he said. “We had a young football team and we got better every week.”