After a 30-14 victory over John Ehret last week, Destrehan will take an undefeated record into district play Friday night when they host rival Hahnville in the “Battle of the Banks.” The good news for the Wildcats is that both the offense and defense have played extremely well the last two weeks. The bad news is that Hahnville, who is also 5-0, has been just as impressive this season and has used a stellar defense to hold their opponents at bay.
“They have some weapons on offense, and defensively, they are going to be the best front we have played,” Destrehan head coach Stephen Robicheaux said. “They do a good job of pressuring the quarterback and they have some good defensive backs, so it’s going to be a good challenge. You have two equally matched teams and that’s why both of us are 5-0.”
Last week, Destrehan started out hot, building a 30-0 lead over John Ehret early in the third quarter. Jerico Nelson led the charge by rushing for 56 yards and two touchdowns, while also tossing a 72-yard halfback pass to Damaris Johnson. Along with that catch, Johnson caught four others for a total of 105 yards and two touchdowns.
“I thought for three quarters we played real well,” Robicheaux said. “If our ones would have stayed in, I thought we would have played a real good football game. We got to be able to make plays and our young guys have to be able to make plays and continue to play well.”
While the offense put points on the board, the defense was also impressive, holding the Patriots to only 68 yards on the ground and 76 yards through the air.
“The kids played two games in a row pretty well both offensively and defensively,” Robicheaux said. “Our kicker has been making teams drive 80 yards, and naturally, when teams start that deep in their territory, we have been getting really good field position. So, we haven’t been putting up a whole lot of stats because of the play of our defense and our kicker.”
Besides overcoming the challenge that John Ehret faced on the field, another obstacle the Wildcats were able to handle was their schedule, which had them playing on Thursday night. Robicheaux says his team performed better than he expected considering they had fewer days to practice.
“Coaches are a creature of habit, and when you play on a Thursday, you are worried about the whole atmosphere,” he said. “I thought our kids played well and I was really excited about how we played for a Thursday night game.”
Though the rare Thursday night win over John Ehret moved the Wildcats to 5-0 on the season, Robicheaux knows that the records don’t mean much when Destrehan and Hahnville face off, especially not this year.
“You throw out the records, even though you don’t have to this year because both teams are 5-0,” Robicheaux said. “It’s our rival and it’s going to be fun for the community and everyone involved, except for the two coaches. These kids grow up with each other and they play in the same recreational department, so it’s a lot of fun for them.
“I think it says a lot about our community and a lot about our school system that we can have two teams like this and be able to play such a big game. We’re excited.”
Email Jonathan Menard at jonathanm@heraldguide.com.
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