Are you ready for some football?
The Destrehan Wildcats surely are, and tonight they take the field at Wildcat Stadium for scrimmage action against visiting St. Augustine. The action is set to begin at 6 p.m.
DHS’ spring game scrimmage against Karr was dominated by defense on both sides, but the Wildcats bring an experienced offensive football team into the 2024 season and tonight will represent a chance to see the team operating under new offensive coordinator Clint Harrison, who took on the job after putting together some of the state’s highest scoring offenses at Cecilia over his seven-year tenure there.
But be it offense, defense or any special teams action the teams might be able to incorporate into the scrimmage format, Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott is primarily looking for a few of the things that have been hallmarks of his Wildcats: discipline and sharp execution.
“We’re always evaluating, and the good part about the scrimmage is we get to evaluate ourselves against some really good competition,” Scott said. “So, you don’t have that situation where you can go out and give yourself a false sense of security against somebody that won’t challenge you. We’ll really get the chance to find out a lot.”
St. Augustine head coach Robert Valdez is, of course, no stranger to the River Parishes. He served as head coach at West St. John from 2009 to 2015 and at St. James from 2016 to 2021, leading WSJ to a state final and St. James to what was its first state championship in 40 years, an undefeated Class 3A crown in 2019.
Valdez and Scott are also no strangers to one another, as the two were middle school football teammates at Karr.
“That’s like my big brother,” Scott said. “I was the only seventh grader on the football team that particular year. He was one of the guys who took me under his wing, me being the young guy.”
He says he knows Valdez, who is entering his first season at St. Augustine, will have his group prepared.
Scott also knows his group is ready to line it up against a new opponent.
“You always have that feeling, every season where you’re ready to get everything started,” Scott said. “I know the kids are eager to see another opponent.
“We’ve had a good, strong summer. This is our next challenge and it’s a big one. The good thing is, there’s no winning or losing a scrimmage, it’s a chance to really evaluate yourself under fire.”
St. Augustine brings good size to the table on both sides of the ball. The offensive line is big and senior-laden.
The defensive line features one of the nation’s elite prospects.
6’6, 270-pound defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart has been ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the nation for the Class of 2026, and the junior is being heavily recruited by the NCAA’s elite programs with offers from LSU, Georgia, Alabama, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon among his many suitors. Nicknamed “Thanos” after the Marvel villain, he will test a good Destrehan offensive line.
But there will be several future collegiate players on the field tonight, including a few recent DHS commits.
Destrehan standouts Jhase Thomas and Phillip Wright III each announced their respective commitments to LSU recently. Wright initially committed to Michigan before the speedy wide receiver flipped to LSU to join future Tiger safety Thomas, the son of former Saints cornerback Fred Thomas. Earlier this summer, wide receiver Johnnie Thiel IV committed to Louisiana Tech.
ST. JAMES AT HAHNVILLE – Two River Parish squads will be on opposing sides in Boutte tonight as St. James travels to Tiger Stadium to take on Hahnville in preseason scrimmage action.
The scrimmage starts at 6 p.m.
Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne said his team is eager to take the field against another school for the first time since the team’s spring scrimmage against Jesuit in May.
“We’re at the point now where we’ve told the guys, ‘look, we get it – you’re sick of seeing the same guy lined up across from you every rep,’” said Boyne. “I’m not going to say we’ll be perfect, but I really expect us to come out with a lot of energy and be ready to go against someone else.”
Boyne said he knows his Tigers won’t be in Week 1 form already, but “you want to look sharp.”
“We’ve been relatively healthy throughout the summer,” said Boyne. “So, you want to see that execution at a certain level. You’re looking to not have presnap penalties, you want to see the physicality and of course you want to see some improvement from where we were in spring.”
St. James reached the Superdome last season as Division III non-select state runner-up. Head coach LaVanta Davis guided the team to the brink of a championship, with the Wildcats falling 36-35 to Union Parish. Davis has longtime roots in the River Region, with a tenure at West St John as an assistant football coach and head basketball coach years prior to joining St. James as an assistant in 2019. Davis became St. James head coach in 2022.
“We’ve talked to our kids about it – St. James is what I consider a Dome team. This year, most years they’re in the race to be in the state championship or semifinals,” Boyne said. “This is a very good test, a measuring stick for our program right now to see where we are.
“They’re going to be physical up front. They’re going to be active and they’re going to be well-coached. Let’s see who’s willing to respond when it’s physical.”
In Hahnville’s spring scrimmage with Jesuit, the format saw the teams effectively play out four timed quarters, as close to the flow of live, in-season game play as a scrimmage tends to get.
Tonight’s scrimmage will follow a more traditional scrimmage format of a series of drives with a predetermined number of plays.
Boyne said that, in part, is a part of conditioning.
“In this, you’re out there on offense going 10 plays, then off the field when the defense comes on and then you’re right back out for 10, or vice versa,” Boyne said. “In Week 1 – this is South Louisiana, it’s still gonna be 90 degrees out there.”
The scrimmage this week will help the team build into next week’s jamboree. Each plays a significant role in getting ready for the first official game.
“I remember Coach (Lou) Valdin always said the scrimmage was to see who could play, offense and defense, and in the jamboree you’re hoping to get all your special teams in,” Boyne said.
And there are plenty of position battles ongoing for a Tigers team replacing numerous starters on both sides of the ball.
The most prominent is at quarterback, where junior Bennett Naquin and sophomore Landen Teague are competing to start. Naquin will start the scrimmage, while Teague will start the jamboree. The two will be splitting reps with starters as they have throughout the team’s offseason program.
Boyne said it’s remained a tight race.
“They really play off of one another. One will have a good day, then the other follows up with a strong one the next day … both will get an opportunity to start coming up and we’ll see how they prepare, come out with the first unit and execute.”
Both players have made big steps since the spring, Boyne said.
“They’re light years away from where they were in the spring. I think we can win with either one of them – they bring different things to the table, but we can be successful with either,” Boyne said.
