Last season saw Destrehan roll to an 8-2 regular season record and a postseason bye, much as the Wildcats and their supporters have become accustomed to.
But the No. 3 seeded Wildcats found a tough draw in round two – eventual state champion Ouachita Parish, which eliminated Destrehan 21-19.
The Wildcats have some new faces up and down the roster, but also some very familiar ones as the team looks to once again capture its district crown and rebound for the kind of deep playoff run this program has all but made a tradition.
Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott ensured his team would be tested early against strong competition to prepare itself for those goals, starting with this Friday night’s matchup with St. Paul’s at what’s sure to be an energetic season opening environment at Fighting Wildcat Stadium.
St. Paul’s went 9-3 last season, earning the No. 9 seed in Division I select. It defeated Pineville in the opening round before falling in round two to Evangel.
This season sees the school debut a new head coach in Josh Gast, who took the helm at the resurrected North Iberville High School and built the freshly established program into a playoff team. He is the successor to Kenny Sears, who guided the program as head coach for 27 years. Gast is returning to his alma mater and was also an assistant coach under Sears for six seasons.
The Wolves have an experienced quarterback in Brady Pierson, but backups Jack Henry Seal and Patrick Brister have each taken the reps in jamboree and scrimmage action as Pierson was sidelined. Whichever passer takes the field will run out of the spread under Gast this season, an offensive shift from years past.
“With Coach Sears, his philosophy was more of a power run game,” said Scott. “But with that offensive line, they can play both styles in terms of the spread game and mixing it up with some of the power runs.”
This is still a team with size and strength across the offensive line, as is common for this program.
“That’s where it starts,” said Scott. “That is a big, physical offensive line. Then their skill kids are really explosive.”
One of those skill players is Patrick Gahagan, a team captain and a senior wide receiver who has emerged as a playmaker. Likewise, Peyton Pelloat is a player that Scott said stands out on film.
“But they’ve got two or three other kids who can really hurt you as well,” said Scott.
Defensively, St. Paul’s brings a talented secondary that includes a standout playmaker in Christian Martin, who Scott noted as one of the top return men in the state as well as one of its top defensive backs.
Scott, himself a former defensive back at McNeese State, thinks highly of the Wolves secondary.
“Both of those corners are good. They’re able to line up and play man to man coverage, and do some zone stuff as well. They’re versatile in how they attack. And they’ve played Rummel and Curtis leading up to the season, so it doesn’t get much better than they – they’re tested against good competition and they’ve held up well.”
Linebacker Ben Davidson and defensive end Chris Bevolo are also among the standouts on defense. Bevolo will also be a player to watch on offense, as he doubles as a tight end.
“Their front seven is very active. Those linemen and linebackers are disruptive … their defense can give people all kinds of problems.”
St. Paul’s has operated from multiple base defensive alignments in the preseason, Scott noting several looks with three down lineman as well as four.
The teams have not squared off since 2020, the very first game of Scott’s head coaching tenure at Destrehan. That game took place in Covington, a 22-14 victory for the Wolves. Destrehan’s last win over St. Paul’s came one year earlier, a 27-6 win at Destrehan.
This is the first of several tough non-district battles for Destrehan, which is also set for games with St. Augustine and Zachary this season. Scott noted the team’s home-and-home series with Alexandria, Catholic-Baton Rouge and Captain Shreve over the past two years and said the plan was to keep the tough competition flowing this time around.
“You want to try and play the best teams that are available, and when we make our schedule, we always look to do that,” said Scott. “It’s something that we need to do in order to improve and get better over the course of the season.”
DESTREHAN 26, ST. JAMES 7 – It would be hard for Destrehan to ask for a better final tuneup for its season than it had on Friday night.
The Wildcats put forth a dominant effort in its jamboree against Lutcher, earning a 26-7 win at Fighting Wildcat Stadium in the team’s final preseason action.
New Wildcats starting quarterback A’ushai Smith connected with Malachi Dabney for a 47-yard touchdown and Jaylan Ash for 10-yard score. Tony Crump powered his way into the endzone for an 8-yard touchdown.
But the Destrehan defense was just as impressive. Twice in the first half, the Wildcats stopped Lutcher on fourth and short yardage situations – including earning an unofficial “fifth down” stop after some officiating confusion led to an extra down, the latter situation seeing Chandler Scott and Abdul Carter make a stop for no gain and then Joshua Fiffie halting the runner on the next down. Lutcher was in the redzone in each instance.
Ryan Montague intercepted a pass in the second half as well to help Destrehan put things away.
It wasn’t Smith’s first action for Destrehan as a starting quarterback, as he earned several starts filling in due to injury two years ago as a freshman. But this was the first jamboree start or start of any kind for the junior as the team’s official first string starting quarterback. He played the position with poise and confidence.
“All I can do is thank my team for being there for me,” said Smith. “(On the touchdown to Dabney) it was an amazing play by him and we had great blocking from the O-line. And Malachi Dabney is gonna do what he do.”
Smith said now it’s all about using the positive momentum.
“We need to carry this forward into the season,” said Smith. “Just keep getting better as a team and stay focused.”
He added that this was a bit of a shift from his last experiences as starter.
“It’s a lot different,” Smith said. “Starting quarterback, it’s just different – as a freshman, you’re coming in nervous. But I’m made for these moments.”
Destrehan head football coach Marcus Scott said the fourth down stops were a welcome sight this early in the year, and with a number of new starters.
“We showed some resiliency. We had guys step up whenever we had some adverse situations to overcome. And it’s always good to see that you’re able to stand tall in those situations.”
Dabney’s touchdown reception saw him catch the ball in the flat and immediately begin weaving through defenders on his way to a score. It was his second explosive play in the receiving game on the night. The pass catching game is an area Scott pointed to before the jamboree as something Dabney was continuing to make big strides in.
“Each and every offseason, he has done something to add to his game … he just continues to lead by example,” Scott said.
Lutcher scored in the final moments, with Timmy Charles connecting with Karmond Johnson for a 5-yard score. Wide receiver Johnny Jones also made several impressive plays for Lutcher, including a leaping, one-handed grab on his team’s first play from scrimmage.
