Destrehan shook off the rust last week, and its streak marches on.
With an eye on returning to the Superdome, the Wildcats (10-0) will look to make it 11 straight wins when the No. 3 seed takes on No. 14 Barbe (7-3) in a Class 5A second round game Friday night. The winner of that game will face the winner of No. 6 Parkway and No. 11 Acadiana in the state quarterfinals.
The two teams entered their opening playoff matchup with an uncommon similarity: both had Week 10 byes. Potentially, it may have affected each squad: Destrehan found itself in a slugfest for much of the first half early with Denham Springs, while Barbe trailed Haughton 27-15 before launching a spirited comeback to score 16 unanswered points and capture a 33-27 victory.
“I thought we didn’t play well,” Destrehan coach Stephen Robicheaux said. “I thought we were sluggish a lot of the first half. Denham Springs had a lot to do with that. They did some things that gave us trouble. We got focused after that. But we told our guys, you can’t afford to do this in the playoffs and be successful.”
Barbe began the season with a 1-3 record against a strong slate of competition: Byrd, Mandeville, St. Louis (a 19-3 win) and Acadiana. The Buccaneers have won six straight since then and have established a trend of pulling out very close games. Four of the team’s wins in that stretch have been by a touchdown or less.
Barbe has scored 33 points or more in each game since Week 4.
“They do a great job offensively,” Robicheaux said. “Their quarterback does a tremendous job of getting the ball to their playmakers. He’s passed for more than 2,000 yards. They’ve got a big target in Brian Smith and Kirkland Banks is another strong player. They’re very explosive.”
Banks has topped 1,200 yards rushing and has added 300 yards receiving. He’s scored 15 touchdowns and, Robicheaux said, he keys much of what they do.
“He’s a fast kid and he runs it hard inside,” Robicheaux said. “He runs it behind their big lineman, Collin Fountain, a big ol’ boy in the middle. Once (Banks) gets outside, you’ve got to get someone on him quickly.”
Smith, meanwhile, is a big play waiting to happen. The 6’4 receiver has hauled in 40 receptions for 800 yards and 14 touchdowns.
One Destrehan player who has been a major source of big plays this season has been receiver Mike Young, who is enjoying a breakout campaign. Last week, Smith’s 56-yard reception for a score from Kohen Granier helped jumpstart the Destrehan offense.
“He’s made big plays all year,” Robicheaux said. “He continues to do what we’ve needed him to do, day in and day out. He’s a bigger receiver, he catches it really well and runs good routes. He’s a guy we feel good about going to.”
Robicheaux said the biggest point of emphasis this week will be on cleaning up turnovers. The Wildcats had four giveaways last week, something Robicheaux said cannot happen again if his team expects another long postseason stay.
“It can’t happen,” Robicheaux said. “If we’re gonna make any noise, we need to clean it up. It’s one of the little things we just keep working on.”
Last week, Destrehan shook off a bit of rust to capture a 44-23 Class 5A playoff victory over Denham Springs.
C.J. Prieto scored two defensive touchdowns while Kade Granier passed for three scores and nearly 300 yards. Granier’s touchdown passes went to Justin Jefferson, Young and John Williams, who may have made the play of the night on his score just before halftime, which made it 28-17. Williams caught the ball and instead of running out of bounds to stop the clock, he cut back inside, made a bevy of tacklers miss and rolled in for the touchdown
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