Every now and then, you get a chance to witness something special, and two such events occurred in St. Charles Parish last week.
First, the parish looked like it was the victim of a blizzard for a couple of hours on Thursday. Then, Destrehan fought their way to their second straight championship.
Now, let me make this clear, the snow was much more of an unlikely scenario. But Destrehan repeating as state champs wasn’t that far behind. Not because the Wildcats lacked the talent to repeat, but because it’s a rarity in sports today. The last time a team won back-to-back state titles in 5A was when Evangel accomplished the feat in 2001 and 2002. The last team to go undefeated while winning two straight titles was West Monroe.
That was 10 years ago.
When the Wildcats won the state title last year, it was something that was expected. The team had playmakers all over the field and had several promising juniors and sophomores that played a part in their title run. Though those juniors and sophomores morphed into talented seniors and juniors this year, there weren’t many that thought Destrehan had a chance for a repeat.
They were wrong.
The Wildcats slowly climbed up the rankings during the regular season and earned a No. 2 seed heading into the playoffs. In the first round, Destrehan dominated Jesuit, but then the road got tougher.
The Wildcats pulled out a 17-10 win over Ruston, then needed a 21-point fourth quarter to get by Higgins in the third round. With the Dome on the line, Destrehan squeaked by Baton Rouge Central 21-14 to make a date with West Monroe in the championship game.
While Destrehan had played in close games with its postseason opponents, the Rebels had dominated almost all of theirs. West Monroe did have to rally back to beat St. Thomas More 41-28, but then stomped Ouachita Parish 37-16 and drove all over Barbe 47-12.
Because of that, Destrehan was still doubted.
But many didn’t understand that this was a different Destrehan team than a year ago. They were just as talented as last season’s squad, but their strengths lay in different areas. The offensive line, which returned 80 percent of its starters from a year ago, was an experienced group that allowed the Wildcats to control the line of scrimmage and grind out yardage. The defensive line, as well as the linebackers and the secondary, was just as special and held opponents in check when it counted.
Those strengths don’t lead to huge blowout wins. Instead, they allow a team to weaken their opponents as the game goes on and then finish them off in the fourth quarter, which is what the Wildcats did to every team they played in the postseason.
Teams like that have to work hard and they have to have a lot of heart because that style of play relies on toughness and stamina.
That’s why Destrehan head coach Stephen Robicheaux said his team was filled with blue-collar guys. And like most blue-collar workers, those guys brought their lunch boxes to work on Saturday night. The only difference is that they left with a trophy.
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