After close losses in two of their first three games, the Destrehan Wildcats took to the field Friday with a chip on their shoulder, and a longtime local rival absorbed the brunt of their fury.
Destrehan led 22-0 after a quarter on its way to a 50-6 victory over East St. John at Joe Keller Memorial Stadium in Reserve. Malachi Dabney scored twice in the opening period and Jackson Fields connected on two touchdown passes to Jabari Mack.
“We wanted to come out and improve, take steps forward from the week before,” Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott said. “We came out pretty sharp, but we still have a long way to go.”
DHS (2-2) landed the knockout punch early. Dabney capped off Destrehan’s first drive of the night with a 3-yard touchdown run. After a stop, Destrehan scored again on a Fields to Mack scoring connection of 13 yards on a back shoulder fade.
Then Dabney broke loose on Destrehan’s next possession, outrunning the defense for a 45-yard touchdown.
A mistake cost Destrehan a score allowed – a fumble on a punt return was recovered by ESJ, leading to a touchdown on a short field.
But DHS answered on a Fields touchdown pass to Bruce Walker that made it 29-6 in the second quarter.
Destrehan took a 36-6 lead into halftime after Fields hit Mack for 30-yards and a score late in the second quarter.
After Destrehan took a big lead early, Jordan Zeringue and Damian Richard took over at running back for the remainder of the first half.
“Jordan Zeringue gave us a good spark tonight,” said Scott. “(Dabney) continued to play at the level we need him to play at. Jackson was sharp tonight – it was good to see he and Jabari connect tonight. Deuce (Richard) gave us some good work as that change of pace back – he does well in that role.”
Walker and Michael White each scored in the game, and Scott gave a nod to both for the work they put in leading up to the game.
“They’re what we call program kids,” said Scott. “They show up, they work hard, they do the dirty work – it’s always good to see them get rewarded with the ball from time to time. They’ve worked hard to really create a lane and a role for themselves on the team, and that’s what high school football is all about.”
Playing on the road at East St. John is historically a tough place for any team to play, though ESJ (0-4) is in the midst of a difficult season. Destrehan left nothing to chance through its fast start.
Scott also said he doesn’t think it will be long before East St. John is back on the rise.
“There’s a lot of pride in that program,” Scott said. “Coach (Brandon) Brown’s done an excellent job … they’re having a tough season right now, but people forget two years ago, it came down to the final play between us in the quarterfinals … sometimes, people forget how successful they’ve been over there, and they’ll certainly be back on track soon. And those kids came out and played very hard tonight.”
