Destrehan starts slow, finishes fast in impressive win over East St. John

 
The battle between Wildcats may well turn out to have been a district championship game.

At Joe Keller Stadium Friday, unbeaten East St. John looked the part, roaring out of the gate to take the lead, early control but it was early.

As the night grew later, the traditional power rose to its traditional position, on top in District 7-5A.

Destrehan overcame a nine-point halftime deficit, to whip East St. John 31-12 to take sole possession of first place in league play.

The visiting Wildcats trailed 12-0 at halftime before exploding, scoring the final 31 points to subdue the homestanding Wildcats to take sole possession of

Razan Keller led the attack, rushing 18 times for 148 yards and a score for Destrehan.

East St. John started quickly, taking the opening kickoff and driving for a score on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Jackson to Kylon Harris to make it 6-0 after a failed extra point.

The lead grew to 12-0 by as Jackson hit Travis Turner on a 42-yard touchdown pass.

Destrehan finally got on the board on a 36-yard field goal by Will Bryant and it was 12-3 at the half.

Keller then cut the deficit to 12-10 on a 53-yard touchdown run in the third quarter before Destrehan took its first lead on a Shane Lee touchdown run to make it 17-12. Lee scored again to make it 24-12 and Destrehan finished off a terrific second half with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Jai Eugene to Calvin Bullock to account for the final margin of victory.

Speaking on The Three Tailgaters Show on 106.1 FM Saturday morning, first-year Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott

“We had to settle down,” Scott said. “We had a similar situation in the second half of our St. Paul’s game. We didn’t respond well in that one. We said if we ever got the opportunity again, we would be the team that responded the same way on the road in a great environment. They did some things early we had to settle down with. They had some wrinkles offensively early which we had to adjust to.”

Scott is not surprised at the success of Keller.

“Razan Keller was the backup to Kyle Edwards and he got valuable time last year,” Scott said. “He has spoken to his teammates about what it takes to play in big games. We only have two starters back on offense from last year, including Eli Taffi. Razan is a talented player and a good leader.”

Scott is thoroughly enjoying his new position as the head coach of the Wildcats.

“It’s even a little better than I anticipated,” Scott said. “I see a lot more of what makes this place special, including the community support, the administrative support, the parental support and our fans. They are great and this is just a great place to work.”

Both teams return to district play next Friday. Destrehan (4-1, 3-0) will host Thibodaux while East St. John (4-1, 2-1) entertains Central Lafourche.