Destrehan rolls again in shutout performance

Jai Eugene of Destrehan

Still unbeaten – and unchallenged. 

Destrehan improved to 5-0 and earned its second District 7-5A win of the season as it defeated host H.L. Bourgeois 47-0, the fifth consecutive game the Wildcats have defeated a team by at least five touchdowns.  

Jai Eugene passed for 108 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a 26-yard score. Daniel Blood (1-65-1), Phillip Wright (1-11-1) and Johnnie Thiel (1-7-1) each hauled in scores, while Shane Lee (6-46-1), Christian Nunnery (4-28-1) and Brandon Freeman (2-11-1) each added rushing scores. Jackson Fields passed for a touchdown as well after coming on in relief of Eugene. 

The top-ranked team in Class 5A rushed for 8.5 yards a carry en route to 128 yards on the ground and passed for 17.5 yards an attempt. It was all well beyond what the Destrehan defense needed on a night where it earned its second shutout of the season.  

Perhaps more impressively, Destrehan has allowed just one touchdown all season. It has now outscored its five opponents by more than 200 points this season, posting a staggering 221-11 total victory margin. 

Bourgeois dropped to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in district play.  

Any concerns about an emotional letdown one week after its rivalry matchup against Hahnville – alleviated.  

“That always concerns you as a coach that you might see a drop-off, because it’s something that can happen,” Scott said. “And with H.L., you have Coach Washington and you know he’s done an outstanding job with those kids since taking over the program. He gets them in position and has a good game plan. 

“This was a true team effort. We played a lot of guys and everybody contributed. We scored on our opening drive and kind of kept it going after a good start to the game.” 

Scott said the rare nature of his team’s performance to start the season isn’t lost on him, and credits a core group that’s driven to win and a coaching staff that’s kept the Wildcats focused on the process.  

“Probably not,” Scott said when asked if he’d been part of quite such a dominating start. “Credit to the assistant coaches who have done a good job of preparing these kids and keeping them focused each week on improving and growing. It all starts with a group of seniors that have been in a lot of big games, who have seen a lot of snaps and big moments. They set the pace for us.” 

The Wildcats have maintained an eye on their goal of a state championship, but Scott said a large focus has been on making sure the team understands the smaller steps it takes to get there along the way – too much attention cannot be paid to games in November and December that it detracts from what the team must do today, tomorrow and each day thereafter.  

“You have to lay a lot of groundwork to put yourself in that kind of position,” Scott said. “We still have a long way to go and a lot of improvement to make to just be focused on one goal down the line. You hear it all the time, but it’s truly one game at a time and focusing on getting better each day.”

 

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