Destrehan looks for payback as St. Charles Catholic visits

St. Charles ended nearly 40-game streak for Destrehan

Destrehan was riding a 39-game regular season winning streak when it traveled to St. Charles Catholic in Week Two of last season, where it came to an end in LaPlace.

The fellow River Parish competitors are set for a rematch this Friday night at 7 p.m. where the Wildcats will host the event and where they hope to avenge that 24-8 loss.

“Anytime you play a team like St. Charles, you know what you’re dealing with,” Destrehan coach Stephen Robicheaux said. “Frank Monica is one of the best coaches around. His kids play extremely hard for him. With the tradition and success both schools have had over the years, the matchup leads to a pretty good game for both of us.”

The Comets are always well-coached, headed by veteran coach Frank Monica who’s consistently regarded as one of the state’s best. The perennially contending Comets have bounced between Classes 2A and 3A over the years, but despite being a smaller school, SCC has been able to find success against larger schools consistently.

That was the case last week in its 14-7 victory at home over Chalmette, where the Comets rode their rushing attack to success. SCC’s Phillip Tran and Justin Dumas each accounted for scores. Dumas is the team’s quarterback. Tran and fellow rusher Joe Chiarella are bigger running backs. Junior left tackle Evan Roussel and senior wideout Taylor Miller are also key weapons.

Defensively, St. Charles has five starters returning, including All-District players Mason Narcisse, senior linebacker Anderson Sirmon and senior free safety Bryce Authement.

DESTREHAN 41, SLIDELL 15 — A ramped up Slidell team was looking to kick-start a season with high expectations off with a big win over visiting Destrehan, but the Wildcats weathered an early Tiger surge to score 34 unanswered points en route to a 41-15 road victory.

John Emery rushed for more than 200 yards and scored three touchdowns while J.R. Blood tossed two touchdown passes to Joe Washington, adding up to a 1-0 start for the Wildcats.

“We made some mistakes early … it wasn’t Destrehan football, but our coaches did a tremendous job settling everyone down, and our kids went out there and made plays,” Robicheaux said. “Slidell’s got a very good football team with a lot of speed and a real good quarterback, so it’s exciting to travel there and get a win.”

Slidell led 8-0 and 15-7 in the first half on a night the school retired the jersey of former SHS great Brett Bech. A Blood to Washington touchdown pass cut that lead to 15-14, then Destrehan scored on an Emery run just before the end of the first half.

A big turn in the game happened in the third quarter when Destrehan sniffed out a Slidell fake punt and intercepted the ball, setting up a 13-yard Emery touchdown run to make it 27-15.

The next time Slidell (0-1) set up to punt the ball, Destrehan expected another fake. Instead, the ball was downed at the Wildcats’ 10. But Destrehan met the challenge, driving 90 yards and scoring on a 34-yard Blood to Washington touchdown.

“(That sequence) was the backbreaker,” Robicheaux said.

Emery added his third touchdown of the night to make it 41-15. His first score came in the first quarter, a 55-yard run.

Slidell scored on Jacob Guidry touchdown passes to Harlan Dixon (69 yards) and Brandynn Spann (12 yards).

The star of the night was Emery, who showed how hungry he was to return to the field after being sidelined for half of last season with a broken wrist.

“He was special tonight,” Robicheaux said. “He has such great vision. It was kinda tough running inside the tackles because of the sloppy conditions, but John is John. He was patient. He carries three or four guys on his back at times … he just really wants to see his team win.”