Destrehan did what it set out to do Friday night, earning a decisive win – and along the way, saw a big return to the lineup.
The Wildcats evened out their record at 3-3 and moved to 2-1 in District 8-5A with a 33-7 victory at H.L. Bourgeois, on a night starting quarterback Jackson Fields returned after missing four games due to injury.
“I thought we played well early – there were some big play opportunities that we were able to take advantage of,” said Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott.
It was a bounce back win for the Wildcats after the team suffered its first district loss of the season last week to Terrebonne. Destrehan scored 33 points unanswered to seize full control before Bourgeois (3-3, 0-2) scored its lone touchdown of the night.
Phillip Wright threw a touchdown pass and caught another from Fields. Jabari Mack scored a touchdown, as did Greg Wilfred and Tony Crump.
As big as any performance, though, was that of defensive back Jayden Bailey, who intercepted two passes – returning one for 90 yards and a touchdown.
Fields, one of the state’s leading passer as a sophomore in 2023, suffered an injury in Destrehan’s opening night home loss to Catholic-Baton Rouge.
Against Bourgeois on Friday night, he split reps at quarterback with freshman A’ushai Smith, who started four games for Destrehan in Fields’ absence and went 2-2.
Scott said the team is happy to have Fields back, but also praised the performance of Smith, who was pressed into duty earlier in his career than expected but played beyond his years.
“I’ll tell you, for the schedule we’ve played, for a 14-year-old who was a middle school quarterback last year at Albert Cammon – he did an outstanding job,” Scott said. “So now we know we have some good depth at that position … Jackson led the metro area in passing last year. The first game he played this year was in a rain storm,” said Scott. “Tonight was the first time we had a chance to see him playing on a dry surface and throw it around a little bit. We had good balance on the ground and through the air.”
Bailey’s pick six interception allowed him a chance to go back to his roots on the offensive side of the ball – Bailey played running back last year before moving to defense this season. On Friday night, he found himself in the endzone again.
“He turned into a running back pretty quickly – he showed great hands and body control,” said Scott. “We got a huge block downfield from Cameron Florent that got him all the way to the endzone. It was a big moment in the game,” said Scott.
Wright, meanwhile, scored on a touchdown reception from Fields, but also earned his first touchdown pass of the season on a trick play. He took the ball on a jet sweep and fired downfield to Mack for a touchdown.
It was just two weeks ago that Wright was on the other side of a similar trick play when he scored off of a double pass play, with Greg Wilfred throwing the pass.
