Destrehan began the season 2-3, facing much more uncertainty in terms of playoff positioning than the traditional power is used to.
But a little over a month later, the Wildcats find themselves exactly where they’re used to being – a potential top 10 seed and a district champion.
Destrehan traveled to Thibodaux and landed a decisive 61-10 victory Thursday night, in a game moved up a day due to weather concerns.
The Wildcats (7-3, 5-1) end the regular season in a three-way tie for the District 8-5A crown with Hahnville and Terrebonne – Terrebonne defeated Destrehan, Destrehan defeated Hahnville and Hahnville defeated Terrebonne this season, and all will share the crown.
DHS entered the regular season’s final week ranked No. 10 in Division I non-select power points – a few weeks ago, the Wildcats were in the 20s, but an unbeaten second half proved the cure for that.
For Destrehan, it is the fifth consecutive season with a district championship, a perfect 5-for-5 in the tenure of head coach Marcus Scott. For his career, including time at John Ehret and West Jefferson, it’s the ninth district title in 13 years as a head coach.
“It’s a testament to the kids and assistant coaches who stayed with it. You hear a lot of criticism during a tough time – everybody stuck together, everybody in the building relied on each other, kind of blocked out the outside noise and kept working,” Scott said.
Destrehan scored on its first drive against Thibodaux (4-5, 1-5) and didn’t slow down.
“We were able to ride the momentum – we got a couple of turnovers in there and got some short fields, which helped us out,” Scott said.
Destrehan’s Jabari Mack and Malachi Dabney each scored two touchdowns, while Phillip Wright and Greg Wilfred also added touchdowns. Quarterback Jackson Fields spread the ball around to all of his receivers, throwing three touchdowns.
Coming off of an emotional win over Hahnville a week earlier, Scott credited his team for maintaining its focus to close the regular season strong.
“Wednesday wasn’t our sharpest day, but our pregame walk through today was much better,” Scott said. “That was a plus for us headed into tonight.”
