Destrehan battles past East St. John, 23-13

On a night where Destrehan honored a state champion player in former Wildcats and Tulane star Moon Ursin, the current Non-Select Division I state champion football team displayed its toughness and readiness to defend that title.

Destrehan rallied from a first half deficit to down determined East St. John 23-13 to remain unbeaten with its 23rd consecutive victory.

Quarterback Jackson Fields overcame an interception, accounting for two scores and the Destrehan defense proved its toughness again to key the victory.

Most importantly, the win clinched at least a share of the District 7-5A title for the Wildcats.

Early on, things looked good for East St. John.

Ja’Hyi Jones picked off a Jackson Fields pass at the Destrehan 40-yard line.

That set up a Jason Coello 27-yard field goal to give the visiting Wildcats a 3-0 first quarter lead.

Destrehan answered with a good drive, capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by Shane Ward to take a 7-3 lead.

East St. John recaptured the lead at 10-7 in the second quarter on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Lorenzo Zeno to Kendall Walker.

Destrehan tied the score at 10-10 on its next possession on a 21-yard field goal by Ryan Lacy.

Then came the turning point.

East St. John fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Jabari Mack recovered for Destrehan at the East St. John 27-yard line.

That set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Fields to give Destrehan a lead it would not relinquish at 17-10 by halftime.

East St. John had a good drive in the third quarter which stalled at the Destrehan 11-yard line and Coello booted a 28-yard field goal to make it 17-13 midway through the third quarter.

Lacy answered with a 28-yard field goal to make it 20-13 and added a field goal later to account for the final margin.

Ole Miss commit Anthony Robinson III returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown for Destrehan but it was called back for an illegal block.

The 13 points were most allowed by the brilliant Destrehan defense this season. Destrehan has yielded just 52 points in nine games.

On The Three Tailgaters Show on NASH ICON 106.1 FM Saturday morning, Destrehan coach Marcus Scott said he expected it to be a tough game.

“It was a good, hard-fought district contest,” Scott said. “There were highs and lows and to win without Shane Lee and we wanted to remain cautious with him. Shane Ward has been playing very well. If it was the playoffs, Lee would have played.”

Destrehan accepted the challenge at halftime.

“The kids were upset that we gave up 10 points in the first half and they were determined to come back out and limit them in the second half,” Scott said. “We wanted to make sure we prevented the big play.”

Destrehan survived a 21-20 quarterfinal scare against East St. John a year ago on the way to winning the state championship.

“Our kids are tired of hearing about last year’s quarterfinal game and how close it was,” Scott said. “We learned from it. We are young, with three seniors on offense. There is a lot of learning still going on.”

Destrehan (9-0, 5-0) is currently just sixth in the Non-Select Division I power rankings, due to a rather light schedule. The Wildcats will look to clinch the outright district title and another unbeaten regular season next Friday night at Thibodaux. The Tigers upset Terrebonne 26-21 Friday night.

“You have to be focused week-to-week,” Scott said. “We respect all our opponents. I will remind them that a couple of years ago, we were scoreless at the half at Thibodaux and will remind them they won last night. We have to be at our best.”

East St. John (7-2, 4-2), currently 13th in the power ratings, will look to secure a home playoff game next Thursday night with a tough non-district game against Holy Cross at Tad Gormley Stadium.