Destrehan coach Stephen Robicheaux said Friday night’s effort against St. Charles Catholic had nothing to do with payback for the Comets’ victory over his team a year ago, which ended Destrehan’s 39-game regular season win streak.
Even so, his Wildcats played like they had something to prove.
Destrehan rode dominating efforts from both its defense and running back John Emery en route to a 31-3 home victory over the Comets.
Emery scored three times on a night Destrehan was able to turn the tables from a year ago and control the clock and the ball against the Comets, who held the Wildcats to just eight points in their previous matchup.
“We knew they’d come out and do some good things. St. Charles is a well-coached football team and they’ve got seven back on defense who really whipped our butts last year,” said Destrehan coach Stephen Robicheaux. “We knew we were in for a war. We finally got it going in the second half and our running game started coming together a little bit.”
After a scoreless first quarter that saw the Comets defense strike early on a Bryce Authement interception to halt a DHS drive , Destrehan put the game’s first points on the board on an explosive catch and run by wide receiver Quinton Torbor, who hauled in a J.R. Blood pass for a 51-yard touchdown to make it 7-0.
“I caught it … coach fussed at me for trying to cut it inside,” Torbor said. “I saw (an opening) at the last second, Quincy (Brown) made a great block and I did the rest from there.”
Destrehan (2-0) took a two touchdown lead before halftime on Emery’s 9-yard touchdown run with just over a minute remaining in the first half.
The Comets (1-1) cashed in on a Destrehan turnover on a muffed punt, recovering deep in Wildcats territory to help set up a Cameron Fabre 36-yard field goal that made it 14-3.
But Destrehan responded with Emery’s most impressive run of the night when the Georgia commitment slashed for a 57-yard touchdown with 2:21 left in the third quarter.
A big special teams return set up another score for Destrehan when Dontrell Smith took a punt back for 42 yards. Emery punched it in from 24 yards this time to make it 28-3. Mike Ehrmann added a 32-yard field goal late to round out the scoring.
Robicheaux said the Wildcats’ defensive front made a major impact.
“I thought our kids up front did a tremendous job and kind of gave their offense a bit of trouble,” Robicheaux said.
While the Destrehan offense entered the season with ample hype and have backed it up, the team’s defense has been suffocating, having allowed just 18 total points over the first two weeks.
It’s symbolic of a complete team full of veteran players who have already stockpiled seasons of starting experience.
“Our defense played lights out tonight,” said Torbor. “We’ve been trying (offensively) to get things going earlier instead of doing it in the second half. We still have to work on that … we have high expectations. We have 32 seniors and most have been playing since our sophomore year. Everyone’s more confident and comfortable, and we’re all playing at a high speed.”
St. Charles coach Frank Monica said he felt his team was prepared during the week, but he had a different feeling as the game approached.
“I saw in our eyes we weren’t ready to play today,” Monica said. “But the biggest difference is they’re a better football team than we are right now … if they play their best and we play our best, they win because they’re the better team.”
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