Destrehan lives.
The undefeated Wildcats found themselves on the brink of elimination Friday night at Mandeville. Yet the Wildcats found a way, and as a result, they advance to the Class 5A quarterfinals – and have done so in memorable fashion.
J.R. Blood’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson with nine seconds remaining pulled Destrehan within one, then Jefferson’s two-point pass to Macon Clark — after a bobbled snap on what would have been a kick attempt — provided Destrehan the winning points in a 37-36 victory in a second round playoff game.
The top-seeded Wildcats advance to face No. 9 John Ehret, which bested Hahnville 35-28 to advance. Destrehan (11-0) will host the quarterfinal game.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that in a game,” Destrehan coach Stephen Robicheaux said. “The emotions of the whole deal, to go from down two scores, to you think tying the game, then you see the dropped snap and you think you’ve lost, and then all of a sudden you’ve won the game. It’s really unbelievable.”
Blood came on in relief of starter Kohen Granier, who left the game injured on Destrehan’s second to last drive.
Mandeville (7-5) led 36-22 with just over three minutes remaining in the game. The Skippers led 14-2 early in the contest.
Darren Steele’s 54-yard touchdown pass to Lovelle Williams with 6:08 left to play gave Mandeville a two touchdown lead with 6:08 remaining in the game. Destrehan responded by driving 80 yards to answer on John Emery’s 35-yard touchdown run, making it 36-29.
Destrehan attempted an onside kick but was unsuccessful. But the Wildcats forced a Mandeville punt and took over with less than two minutes left at their own 20.
After Granier was forced from the game on the previous DHS drive, Blood led the Wildcats down the field with no time outs remaining, getting into the redzone before connecting with Jefferson to pull within one.
“J.R. came in and did an unbelievable job,” Robicheaux said. “And our offensive coordinator, Greg Boyne, he did such a tremendous job with the playcalling on that drive.”
Destrehan lined up for an extra point kick, but Jefferson could not handle the snap and improvised, rolling out and finding Clark for the game-winning conversion.
“It was a heads up play by Justin,” Robicheaux said. “It was what you practice all the time in case you get a bad snap, you hollar, ‘fire’ and try to convert. It worked out perfectly for us in this case.”
Destrehan led 2-0 early after Jabriel Fields sacked Steele in the endzone for a safety.
Mandeville went ahead on Fritz Walker’s 16-yard touchdown run that made it 7-2. A Mandeville interception set up a second Walker score, this one on a 5-yard run to make it 14-2. Kristian Mosley’s 12-yard touchdown run provided a Destrehan response before Mandeville took a 14-8 lead into the half.
Daniel Seiber intercepted Granier early in the second half and returned it for a touchdown to make it a 22-8 Mandeville lead. Granier made up for it on Destrehan’s next possession, finding Justin Jefferson for an 82-yard touchdown pass. The two teams again traded scores, with Steele hitting Williams and Granier finding Mike Young from 4 and 27 yards out, respectively.
“Mandeville probably outplayed us tonight,” Robicheaux said. “But I can’t say enough about our kids. We came into this year having to replace a number of starters, nine guys on the defensive side … but these kids keep finding ways to win. They go out there and keep making plays.”
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