Destrehan forces 7 turnovers in district rout

Destrehan’s opening week loss to St. Paul’s was a wake-up call, according to Destrehan linebacker Dylan Gibbs, and since then he and his teammates recommitted themselves to a new season motto: “Strive to be Perfect.”

Gibbs admits the Wildcats will never quite reach true perfection – but the goal is to get close enough, and on Friday night Destrehan got very, very close.

DHS forced seven Terrebonne turnovers and piled up the touchdowns from there en route to a 63-7 District 7-5A victory at Wildcat Stadium, Destrehan’s third consecutive win since that opening loss, which now seems like a very long time ago.

The Wildcats’ Tyler Morton had two punt returns for touchdowns and intercepted two passes to lead Destrehan (3-1, 2-0).

Terrebonne, meanwhile, falls to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in district play, its high scoring offense derailed by a prepared Destrehan defense. The Tigers averaged 30.3 points per game entering the week, and running back Jaylin Lucas had posted eight touchdowns thus far this season. Lucas scored his ninth on Friday, but it was the lone score his team would muster.

Gibbs – who actually scored his first offensive touchdown this season in a package where he lined up at fullback – said the Wildcats were ready for the Tigers’ attack.

“It really shows the hard work we put in during practice,” Gibbs said. “Nothing they did tonight was something we didn’t see. (Defensive coordinator) Coach (Tim) Taffi did a great job with the gameplan. It came down to great preparation, and we just continued to play like we always play, striving to be perfect.”

Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott echoed his star linebacker.

“The kids came out fast and played hard,” Scott said. “The main thing was recognizing the formations they came out in and recognizing where their main threats were, then to run to the football and to cause turnovers. We have a lot of experience on that side of the ball and I know they always look forward to the challenge.”

Razan Keller punched in a 46-year rushing score to cap Destrehan’s first drive of the night and make it 7-0.

“I thought getting the ball first and having a positive drive like we did really helped establish the momentum going forward,” Scott said.

Morton scored his first touchdown of the night on special teams, taking a punt back for a 60-yard touchdown to double the DHS lead to 14-0.

Quinton Clark then posted the rare defensive lineman pick six when he intercepted Terrebonne and scored to make it 21-0 late in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Jai Eugene scored on a 10-yard keeper to push it to 28-0.

Lucas scored Terrebonne’s only touchdown of the night with a little less than two minutes left in the first half to make it 28-7, which held at halftime.

Shane Lee scored two second half rushing touchdowns. Morton added a second punt return, and both of his interceptions came after halftime – one of those came one yard shy of a touchdown on the return. And Gibbs scored on a one-yard plunge on a play he said he wanted to make count.

“They put that play in practice a couple of weeks ago, and I knew ‘if I get this ball, it might not happen a lot so I’ve gotta do it,’ Gibbs said. “The offensive line is the real deal. They blocked real well. This was a great team win.”

 

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