In 1963 musician Fats Domino came out with the song “I’m Walking to New Orleans.” For the Destrehan High School football team, the most appropriate term today would be “I’m walking back to New Orleans.”
When the defending 2007 Class 5-A state football champions, defeated Central High School (Baton Rouge) 21-14 last week, they brought their win/loss record to 13-0 this season and they achieved a goal every high school football team in Louisiana wants to do.
They get a chance to play for a state football title in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
For Destrehan High School the 2007 season was a sweet one because of the fact they were loaded with superstar talents on offense like quarterback Jordan Jefferson, halfback Jerico Nelson and wide receivers Tim Molton and Damaris Johnson.
That talented foursome along with a very sturdy defense had the Wildcats winning their first football title since the 1973 season and the third overall in the history of the school.
The 15-0 season of 2007 was indeed a special one, but the opportunity to repeat in 2008, in my opinion, is an even bigger story.
With their four-star offensive performers now playing in college football, it was a different football team now on the field and one targeted every time by opponents wanting to beat “The Champs.”
But the Wildcats responded with a new young group of offensive playmakers on the field and having three of the state’s top performers on defense leading the way in defensive tackle Darrington Sentimore, cornerback Antonio Parker and linebacker Rufus Porter.
It was not the same story of 2007, but they had the same results for head coach Steve Robicheaux and his staff in 2008 as the Wildcats are now again undefeated.
With a win over West Monroe High School the Wildcats now have the opportunity to become only the second team in the past ten years to repeat as champions in 5-A football.
In 2001 and 2002 Evangel Christian High School, led by quarterback John David Booty and former LSU running back Jacob Hester, won back to back championships by defeating West Monroe High School in both years.
Lou Valdin’s Hahnville Tigers football team led by quarterback Bryant Lee and running backs Darius Reynaud and Craig Turner defeated Evangel 41-35 in 2003 to foil the team’s chances of a threepeat in the 5-A state championship game.
After reclassification took place, Acadiana High School in Lafayette under head coach Ted Davison became “the” school to beat in route to the Superdome.
They have appeared in the past three 5-A state championships, losing to Destrehan in 2007 41-21, winning the championship over Sulphur High School 13-10 in 2006 and losing to West Monroe High School 28-7 in Shreveport after Hurricane Katrina forced the 2005 title game to be moved.
Now it is Destrehan’s time to be the team to beat in 5-A football, but they have to defeat one of the powerhouse teams in the state in West Monroe to gain that title.
West Monroe is a very good football team and a program that has gained local and national acclaim for their style of football play.
They have won two state championships in football (2000 and 2005) in the past eight years and lost to Evangel in three other state championship games in that same time span.
Being 28-0 the past two years tells you just how talented and how well coached the Destrehan Wildcats have been, but it also shows you that this school has indeed emerged as one of the elite powers in football in the Deep South.
It is hard, very hard, to win a state championship in any sport, but Destrehan High School has that chance again this week and for our small piece of football dirt in America a win could put River Parish football where it deserves to be ranked, as the toughest place and most entertaining place for high school football in Louisiana.
Right now we are living in the “Golden Age” of Football in the River Parish area and for all the talk of how tough and how talented teams from the northern part of our state are, just consider how they must feel when they see Hahnville High School, St. Charles Catholic High School, Lutcher High School and, oh yes, Destrehan High School on their schedules.
I have covered the NFL and college football for the past 23 years and traveled across the country watching some of the best players and coaches in recent football history.
But I can truly say nothing has been as entertaining or as gratifying for a Cajun-sports journalist to witness as what has happened in high school football in my own backyard.
This year’s motto for the Wildcats has been “No Doubt,” and a win over West Monroe would add an exclamation point to the end of that phrase.
Good luck Wildcats and bring that state 5-A championship back to South Louisiana one more time.
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