Destrehan’s spring ends without emergence of starting quarterback

The Destrehan football team took the field in a three-team scrimmage on Friday, but after the day was over Wildcat head coach Stephen Robicheaux wasn’t any closer to naming a starting quarterback.

All spring, upcoming junior Will Sirmon and upcoming sophomore Marquise Darensbourg had been locked in a close battle at quarterback. Cohen Granier, a freshman, also impressed Robicheaux throughout spring practices.

Robicheaux said neither quarterback solidified the starting role on Friday in scrimmages against Woodlawn and Tara high schools.

“All spring (Sirmon) and (Darensbourg) were neck-and-neck. Cohen also looked good too. I thought spring might separate them, but it looks like it’s going to be an ongoing thing,” Robicheaux said.

Whoever earns the starting job will have plenty of weapons surrounding them. Alfred Smith, who led the team with 54 catches for 872 yards during his junior season in 2013, was impressive on Friday. Smith made defenders look foolish throughout the scrimmage and scored almost every time he got his hands on the football.

“We expect big things from Alfred,” Robicheaux said.

Receiver John Williams, who caught 35 passes for 571 yards as a sophomore, also had a good spring as did sophomore running back Karon Taylor, who spent last year backing up star running back Will Matthews. Matthews, who did not take part in the scrimmage due to injury, rushed for 1,384 yards and scored 25 touchdowns last season.

Receiver Kirk Merritt is another one of Destrehan’s offensive weapons and has already drawn interest from LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

On defense, Robicheaux singled out the performances of sophomore linebacker Alex Zayed, junior defensive back Raekwon Morgan and sophomore Glen Logan during Friday’s scrimmage.

Zayed will try and fill a huge void left at linebacker by the graduation of Malcolm Darensbourg and RaeJuan Marbley, who combined for more than 210 tackles last year.

Morgan was Destrehan’s top cornerback last year and had two fourth-quarter interceptions in the Wildcats’ huge 23-7 win over Dutchtown last season.

Logan will anchor the Destrehan defense after recording 66 tackles and 13 tackles for loss last season from his defensive tackle position. Though Logan is entering his junior season, he already has scholarship offers from LSU, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

“Alex Zayed had a really good game. Raekwon Morgan played well and Glen Logan did a great job for us in the middle,” Robicheaux said. “We gave up a couple big plays, but the defense played well when it came down to it.”

While Robicheaux was excited to watch his team go up against good competition on Friday, he was anxious to see how his quarterbacks would perform.

“We know what we have with guys like Kirk Merritt, John Williams and Alfred Smith. The big question was at quarterback and to see them play live was good,” Robicheaux said. “They took some big hits and got back up. Overall they played well and hopefully we will see something that will give one of them the edge.”

 

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