Fresh off their Class 5A championship game appearance, Destrehan will take their field at 6 p.m. Friday night to host their traditional jamboree opponent, the Lutcher Bulldogs, in the Ed Reed River Parishes jamboree.
The Wildcats will have many new faces take the field — gone are top threats Will Matthews and Kirk Merritt, all five starting offensive linemen and all but one starting defensive back from the 2014 squad — but coach Stephen Robicheaux says the team’s goals remain lofty; at Destrehan, they always do.
“Expectations are always high at Destrehan,” Robicheaux said. “Right now, our kids are working extremely hard. We need some key guys to step up in areas of need. Obviously, we lost some key guys to graduation, but we’ve got some kids doing some good things.”
Last season, Destrehan felled Lutcher 21-13 in jamboree play.
The Bulldogs’ first team outscored West St. John 28-0 in a scrimmage between the teams last week. Lutcher quarterback Jontre Kirklin will lead the Bulldogs spread offense. Lutcher returns most of its starters from a year ago, when a young LHS team went 7-5.
Robicheaux said the team will take its usual approach to jamboree fare: it’s a dress rehersal for Week 1 of the regular season, when DHS will travel to Slidell.
“We want to play well, obviously, but it’s mostly about getting that live Friday night play under our belts,” Robicheaux said. “It should be a great atmosphere, and we’ll see how our kids respond under the lights.
“We’re going to do what we do. We might prepare for Lutcher, specifically, a little later in the week as far as what they’re doing. But we’re worried about ourselves right now.”
WHAT TO WATCH FOR AT DESTREHAN
The offensive line play, first and foremost. DHS must replace all five linemen from a year ago. The Wildcats’ front made a good showing at Salmen last week in both pass protection and the run game, and a second consecutive strong showing would signal very good things for the coming season.
Who emerges as the team’s top offensive playmaker is another question mark. Returning wide receiver John Williams seems like the best bet. However, Karon Taylor made perhaps the biggest impact at last week’s scrimmage, however, tallying over 100 total yards and two touchdowns.
RIVALS PART WAYS FOR JAMBOREE FARE
Historically, Hahnville and Destrehan have played on the same night as part of the Ed Reed River Parishes Jamboree, each alternating years hosting the event but the schools elected to part ways this season, with each school hosting their own.
Robicheaux said it was a mutual decision, partially brought on by the separation of other River Parish schools from the traditional jamboree template. In years past, St. John Parish’s four teams would each participate in a jamboree together one night, while St. Charles and St. James Parish schools collaborated on the other night.
But the St. John jamboree split up two years ago, and St. James split off on its own last season.
“You’re seeing a lot of teams going to the model with both JV and varsity playing, and that’s what we’ve decided to do,” Robicheaux said. HHS coach Nick Saltaformaggio said the split offers a potential financial benefit, as well as added playing time for the team’s younger players.
He said he hopes to see Hahnville and Jesuit continue to face one another long term.
“We hope to have a long relationship with Jesuit and create a good tradition,” he said. “It’s not only an opportunity for our school to make a little extra money, but it gives our young kids a chance to play that wasn’t really the case before. “Usually, the JV doesn’t get many snaps that week because those jamboree snaps were going to be dominated by the varsity.”
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