Destrehan opened District 8-5A play with a win Friday night, taking down East St. John 38-16 at home.
The Wildcats led 7-0 with just over six minutes left in the first half when it landed a knockout blow, scoring three times to extend the lead to 29-0 before halftime.
Destrehan moves to 2-2 with the win and 1-0 in district play. East St. John drops to 0-3 on the season, 0-1 in district.
Malachi Dabney opened up the game’s scoring, punching in a short touchdown run to put Destrehan ahead 7-0, blasting his way into the end zone on a 2-yard run.
That’s where the score remained until midway through the second quarter, when things began to unravel for ESJ.
Jakyrin Sanchez’s interception of ESJ quarterback Elisha Murphy set Destrehan’s offense up in great field position. The Wildcats dialed up play-action and A’ushai Smith found a wide open Phillip Wright III down the middle for a 25-yard touchdown, making it 14-0.
Destrehan forced East St. John to punt – the kick was short and Destrehan took over at the ESJ 36. Some creativity ensued – a double pass by Destrehan helped open the lead up, as wide receiver Greg Wilfred took a lateral from Smith, then threw down field to a wide open Phillip Wright III, who scored his second touchdown within the final five minutes of the half.
Then the Destrehan defense came up big with another turnover – Aidan Schwab intercepted a screen pass. That ultimately set up Dabney’s second touchdown run of the first half, and along with a two-point conversion made it 29-0.
Damien Richard added a second half touchdown from 2-yards out – one set up by his longer run a play before – and Jackson Harris added a 28-yard field goal to round out the scoring for Destrehan.
Murphy accounted for a pair of scores for ESJ – one a rush and one a pass to Kendall Walker – in the fourth quarter. The East St. John defense also recorded a safety.
DHS has now won six in a row over East St. John.
