Destrehan star Kirk Merritt caught fire in the second half, rushing for two long touchdowns to help the Wildcats topple the Hahnville Tigers 24-6 in Friday’s rivalry game.
Destrehan (5-0) is currently ranked second in the state, but the Wildcats made a strong case that they are the team to beat in Class 5A by holding Hahnville (2-3) to only six points. Coming into Friday’s game, the Tigers had averaged 31 points a game.
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Neither offense was very effective in the first half, but the Wildcats marched into Tiger territory in the middle of the second quarter thanks to a 29-yard pass from Marquise Darensbourg to receiver John Williams, who made an impressive one-handed catch. On the next play, Destrehan running back Will Matthews picked up 19 yards to the Tiger 25, but Darensbourg’s next pass was intercepted at the 20-yard line by Hahnville cornerback Jamonte Williams.
However, Hahnville was unable to make much headway and ended up punting the ball back to the Wildcats. On the ensuing punt, Williams returned the ball 43 yards to the Hahnville 16.
Hahnville’s defense held firm after that, but Destrehan took a 3-0 lead on a 26-yard field goal by Randy Harvey with 4:36 left until halftime.
In the second half, the Wildcats started to pick up big chunks of yardage with their running game by using Matthews on the inside and Merritt on the outside. Matthews began Destrehan’s first possession of the second half with a 16-yard run. A play later, Merritt ran down the right sideline, trucked a defender and reversed field for a 57-yard touchdown run that gave the Wildcats a 10-0 lead with 11:23 left to go in the third.
Hahnville moved the ball on their first possession of the second half, with quarterback Austin Perrin finding Brandon Singleton for a 10-yard gain to the 42. Perrin then tossed a beautiful pass to sophomore running back Devonte Clark for a huge gain, but the play was called back because Hahnville used an ineligible receiver.
Despite the loss of momentum, Perrin used his legs to pick up a couple of first downs and senior running back Bradley Aucoin bull rushed his way through the Destrehan defense for a 12-yard gain to the Wildcat 17.
But the Tigers stalled at the 10 and missed a 27-yard field goal.
On the next series, Matthews and Merritt continued to dominate on the ground. Matthews began the drive with a 12-yard gain and Merritt followed with a 12-yard carry of his own.
Matthews picked up 15 yards a play later to get into Hahnville territory, and Darensbourg picked up 11 yards to the Tiger 13.
On the next play, Matthews ran right through the middle of the Hahnville defense for a 13-yard score for a 17-0 advantage.
The Wildcats built onto their lead late in the fourth when Merritt gashed the Hahnville defense on a 92-yard touchdown run to give the Wildcats a 24-0 lead with 2:30 left in the game.
Hahnville rallied late when Perrin connected with Singleton for a 55-yard score, but Hahnville was unable to convert the two-point conversion and Destrehan ran out the clock for the win.
The Wildcats will travel for the first time this season when they face Thibodaux on Friday, Oct. 10. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Hahnville will return home to host Terrebonne, with kickoff at 7 p.m.
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