Wildcats, Tigers both get on board quick, Destrehan able to hold on for 42-14 win
No. 1 seeded Destrehan was way too much for Carencro to handle. The Wildcats throttled the Bears last week, surging ahead for a 35-0 halftime lead then adding a final touchdown later in the game to secure the 42-14 route. That win not only pushed Destrehan into a quarterfinal showdown with St. Paul this Friday, but avenged the team’s last loss, a 35-28 defeat to Carencro in the second round of the 2006 playoffs.
The win was especially sweet for the Wildcat coaching staff.
“The staff did a great job of preparing the team to play and I think it was more of a revenge thing for the coaches because they came three yards short of making a deeper run into the playoffs last year,” Destrehan head coach Stephen Robicheaux said. “They prepared well and I know that, like they have done all season, they will continue to do that this week.”
And that preparedness was evident from the second the game got underway.
“It was one of the better games we have played since I have been the coach at Destrehan,” Robicheaux said. “Offensively, Jordan (Jefferson) threw the ball lights out and defensively, we held Alonzo Landry to 112 yards.”
Landry had previously carried his Carencro squad on his back throughout the season and gashed Destrehan for 374 yards and five touchdowns the last time the two squads met. Landry continued his impressive season in Carencro’s first playoff game by rushing for 308 yards.
However, Destrehan made sure that Landry didn’t have that kind of success last week and Landry had only 60 yards against the Wildcats’ first team defense.
Those big defensive stops early on allowed the Destrehan offense to really click for the first time during the postseason. In front of a regional television audience, Jefferson showed why LSU coaches thought highly enough of him to offer him a scholarship. The senior signal caller connected on a huge bomb to fellow LSU signee Tim Molton to start the contest and that set the tone for the offensive explosion that was to follow.
“Getting on top early let us gain some momentum,” Robicheaux said. “Defensively, we stopped them and on offense we scored almost everytime we got the ball. And Carencro is a good football team.”
Jefferson finished the contest with 275 yards and three touchdowns.
With the revenge win behind them, Destrehan now turns their sights to a state crown.
“We are in a situation where the team has one goal,” Robicheaux said. “All season, they have responded when they needed to, even in close games.”
Standing in their way, St. Paul, who is currently riding a 10-game win streak. The Wolves opened the year with a pair of close losses to Ehret and Archbishop Shaw, but then rebounded with wins over King, Mandeville, Hammond, Slidell, Northshore, Ponchatoula, Covington, Fontainbleau, Pineville and Higgins.
“They are a good team and they are big and physical,” Robicheaux said. “Their quarterback does a good job of controlling their offense.”
That quarterback, Alex Williams, came back from a horrid first half against Higgins in which he threw three interceptions, to connect on what would prove to be the game winning pass with 46 seconds remaining.
And while some would think that Robicheaux and his squad would have liked to face Higgins, a team they beat 45-0 earlier in the year, the coach actually looks forward to playing he team he doesn’t know a whole lot about.
“Personally, I enjoy it because it’s more of a challenge,” Robicheaux said. “The kids get to see something they haven’t seen before and they get to go to a place where they haven’t played. We are looking forward to traveling.”
Robicheaux hopes that when his squad arrives at St. Paul, their team speed will make the difference.
“I’m hoping the key of the game will be speed,” he said. “That’s an area where I think we have an advantage.”
Like Destrehan, Hahnville also jumped out to a big first quarter lead, but unlike the Wildcats, the Tigers could not hold on down the stretch as they fell to Rummel 33-22 to end their season.
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