With perfect season on the line, DHS ready for East Ascension

Photo by Edward Ceaser Photography

Destrehan receiver Corey Vidal gets some air and comes down with a nice catch against East St. John. Vidal had 114 receiving yards to help the Wildcats stay undefeated with a 23-7 win.

Once again, it took the Destrehan offense a little while to get going, but once it did, there was no stopping them.

The Wildcats fell behind 7-0 to East St. John, but rallied for 21 points in the second quarter on their way to a 23-7 win. The victory kept Destrehan undefeated at 7-0 on the season and secured their hold on the district's top spot.

Wynrick Smothers and Corey Vidal hooked up on two of Destrehan's touchdowns, with Vidal showing how dangerous he is in open space by scoring on plays of 59 and 28 yards. Antonio Parker then flew through East St. John on his way to a 63-yard punt return to stretch the Wildcat advantage to 21-7.

A Destrehan safety in the third finished up the scoring.

“You're happy anytime you can go to East St. John and get a win because it's a tough place to play,” Destrehan head coach Stephen Robicheaux said. “I think our defense played well, and it was probably one of their better performances on the season.”

East St. John, who dropped to 2-4 with the loss, only had 81 yards on the ground and 81 through the air in the contest. Destrehan's offense also struggled somewhat, with Smothers connecting on seven of his 21 passes for 141 yards and the backs gaining only 43 on the ground.

“East St. John has a really aggressive defense and that caused our offense to sputter at times, but we are pleased with the win,” Robicheaux said. “East St. John may have only won two games this year, but their early schedule was so tough and they were in a lot of close games.

“If they get into the playoffs, they could be a dangerous team.”

With the win behind them, the Wildcats now turn their attention to East Ascension, who has had a tough year. Like East St. John, the Spartans have only won twice this season, with a 37-0 victory over Walker and last week's 13-7 win over St. Amant.

The East Ascension offense has been anemic at times, scoring only 20 total points in their five losses. However, sophomore quarterback Emerson Foster, who replaced injured senior Adam Trahan four games into the year, has the potential to cause Destrehan some problems.

“They changed their quarterback and they do a lot of different formations on offense,” Robicheaux said. “The key to this game is going to be stopping their passing game. Their quarterback throws a lot of short passes and we need to get a lot of pressure on him.”

But Robicheaux says his team needs to focus on improving - no matter who they're playing.

“We need to get better every week no matter what,” he said. “That's what we've been telling the team all season and hopefully they will come out focused and ready for East Ascension.”