Offense. Defense. Special teams.
One play into the second quarter, Destrehan had all but put away Bonnabel, and excelled in every phase on its way to building a 35-0 lead including passing, rushing, punt return and interception return touchdowns. That lead blossomed into a 49-0 advantage, which was ultimately the final score Friday night at Wildcat Stadium.
“It was a good start. Certainly some stuff to clean up, but we had the chance to start off with a win and a lot of kids had an opportunity to play tonight, which is good for us,” said Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott. “We wanted to get out to a fast start and execute … we had more penalties than I would like, but that’s something we’ll get fixed very shortly.”
Destrehan wasted no time in taking control of the game. On the very first play from scrimmage. Wildcats quarterback Jai Eugene hurled a deep pass to Leslie Jefferson for a 56-yard gain. Two plays later, Daniel Blood – this would become a trend – scored a touchdown, hauling in a Eugene pass in the back corner of the endzone to make it 7-0.
The Wildcats quickly disrupted Bonnabel’s first drive, Kevin Adams making a tackle for major loss to set the Bruins behind the sticks before an eventual punt.
DHS didn’t wait long to score again. The left side of the offensive line blasted open a big hole for Shane Lee, who took full advantage, his 65-yard touchdown making it a 14-0 DHS lead.
After another defensive stop of Bonnabel, Blood scored his second touchdown of the night, this one as a punt returner. He found his crease and made his way down the right sideline to push Destrehan ahead 21-0 with just under five minutes gone in the game.
It became 28-0 with 3:40 left in the first quarter, Eugene connecting with Blood for their second scoring combination and Blood’s third score of the game.
Bonnabel’s offense started to stir a bit after that, driving into Destrehan territory. But on the first play of the second quarter, a fourth down pass was tipped, ending up in the hands of safety Anthony Robinson, who weaved his way 86 yards for an interception return touchdown to put Destrehan ahead by 35.
“He knows what to do with the ball when he gets his hands on it,” said Scott. “Anthony started for us as a freshman at wide receiver. In his relatively short time here, he’s played in a lot of big games.”
Brandon Freeman’s 2-yard touchdown run made it a 42-0 game before halftime and the game was well out of reach for the Bruins.
This is Scott’s third season guiding the Wildcats as head coach – but Friday was his first planned season opener at Destrehan to actually materialize, after back-to-back delayed starts to the season in 2020 and 2021.
“Yeah, that’s right, huh? This is the first,” said Scott. “We’ve been very fortunate with the weather this time. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and keep working. We’d like to play as many games as we can possibly play.”
Indeed, if Friday night was any indication, Destrehan could earn their way into plenty of extra games after the regular season is done – five, to be exact, the last coming at the Caesars Superdome.
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