Destrehan was faced with a worrisome scenario midway through its opening round playoff matchup – and rematch – with East St. John.
The 6th seeded Fighting Wildcats led 10-0 at halftime but had lost starting quarterback Aushai Smith to injury after the junior helped lead the team to scores on its opening two drives of the game. Sophomore backup Denham Ellsworth was pressed into his first major varsity action in an elimination game, and Destrehan’s local River Parishes rival was gaining confidence on the defensive side of the ball.
But Destrehan adjusted – and its moving on once again. DHS defeated East St. John 31-6 at Fighting Wildcats Stadium Friday night and marches on to Round 2 of the Division I non-select playoffs.
“I think it started with defense tonight,” Destrehan head football coach Marcus Scott said. “Limiting their best players and giving our offense enough opportunities … the playoffs, every game is different, and you have to win the way you have to win. Tonight we leaned on defense, were solid in the kicking game, and that gave our offense a chance to come around and make some plays in the second half.
DHS (9-2) will face No. 11 seed Haughton, which defeated Parkway in an opening round shootout to advance, 47-46.
Destrehan got on the board on its opening drive via an Ian Arceneaux field goal. DHS added to its lead on Malachi Dabney’s 1-yard touchdown run to cap its second possession, making it 10-0.
DHS had momentum after consecutive stops by its defense as well – including Destrehan’s Cam Florent and Brian Reed combining to stop ESJ short of the line to gain on a 4th and 1.
But that momentum was slowed after a hard hit at midfield sidelined junior starting quarterback Aushai Smith.
Sophomore quarterback Denham Ellsworth took over and would play the rest of the game from there. East St. John turned up its run defense for the remainder of the first half and Destrehan was penalized several times, forcing long conversion scenarios. The 10-0 score held into halftime – Destrehan’s Benjamin Robinson intercepted a pass to end East St. John’s last possession of the first half.
East St. John (3-8) began the second half with the ball, but its first possession was short-circuited when Avant Carter sacked ESJ quarterback Damon Scott to force a punt.
Ellsworth and the DHS offense began to find their footing. He found Landyn Dugas for a gain of 24 yards, then Jaden Williams for 28 yards – and down to the ESJ goal line. Dabney punched in his second touchdown of the night to make it 17-0.
Destrehan went up 24-0 on an Ellsworth pass to Jaylan Ash, making it 24-0 late in the third quarter.
East St. John got on the board on Stanford Jenkins’ 3-yard touchdown run, making it 24-6.
But on Destrehan’s ensuing drive, Tony Crump broke loose for a 31-yard touchdown and put the exclamation point on Destrehan’s win and kick off the celebrating at Fighting Wildcat Stadium.
Ellsworth shined in preseason action for Destrehan on his way to earning the backup quarterback job – and a few times in regular season action as well in late game relief of Smith.
Scott said the team held Smith out of the game as precaution, but that he could have re-entered if it were necessary.
“Denham prepares each and every week as if he is the starter,” said Scott. “And he’s prepared. When he comes in, we run our offense. When he comes in, we don’t feel like we have to restrict play calls or change anything when he gets in the game. That’s a tribute to his hard work and focus, and being ready to deliver for his team whenever his number is called.”
He gave kudos to the DHS defense for stepping up and preventing ESJ from finding its footing on offense in the first half – that gave Destrehan time to regroup offensively.
“It gives you an opportunity to be successful. And some games, you’re led by the offense. And some games, the defense has to continue to make stops until the offense comes around,” said Scott. “Our kids were very consistent tonight defensively.”
One thing that was for sure entering tonight’s game was this East St. John team had Destrehan’s full attention and then some, after ESJ nearly ended Destrehan’s undefeated run in the last postseason rematch between the District 7-5A rivals in the quarterfinals of 2022. That came after a decisive regular season victory by Destrehan – DHS, likewise, defeated ESJ 36-0 in the regular season meeting this season.
“We remember that. They gave us everything they had in that second game and we held on by one … we drove home that point to our players this week as it relates to East St. John,” said Scott.
