MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / August 31, 1998

DESTREHAN – The Destrehan offense, kept in check by Riverside for most of the game, came alive midway through the second half as the Wildcats rallied for a 16-12 victory over the Rebels Friday night in the Roussel’s Goodyear River Parishes Jamboree at Destrehan High School.

The Destrehan offense had been held to eight total yards in the first half as the Rebels controlled the ball for much of the half and led 9-6. TheRebels kept up the pressure as the second half opened as Jason Hayes recovered a fumble by Traun Smith at the Destrehan 28-yard line.

Brandon Louque ran for seven yards and Joey Poirrier connected with Keith LeBlanc on a quick pass for a 13-yard gain to the 7-yard line. But theDestrehan defense then tightened and Kalen Mayes came in to kick a 27- yard field, increasing the Rebels’ lead to 12-6 with 12:05 left in the game.

The stand by the defense seemed to wake up the Wildcat offense. TheWildcats finally got their rushing attack untracked as Mitchell Jones had gains of seven and eight yards to the Destrehan 48-yard line. On third-and-7 from the 49, Karon Leobaux went up the middle on a dive play for 18 yards.

Two rushes by Leobaux and a face masking penalty against the Rebels gave the Wildcats a first down at the 14. On the next play, Smith swept rightand got inside the corner of the end zone for the score. Ricky Rodriguez’sextra point gave the Wildcats the lead at 13-12 with 7:53 left.

The Destrehan defense held the Rebels on the next possession and the Wildcats took over at the Riverside 48-yard line. Again it was the runninggame that did the damage as Smith had gains of five and 10 yards.

The drive was momentarily halted as Hayes hit Jones for a 3-yard loss but Wendell Smith came back to hit Traun Smith for a 26-yard gain to the 8- yard line. The Riverside defense stiffened and after his first attempt wascalled back because of a penalty, Rodriguez nailed a 20-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 16-12 advantage with 1:28 remaining.

Riverside would get on the scoreboard in the half as Destrehan punter Danny Krieger had a snap sail over his head and bounce through the back of the end zone for a safety.

The Rebels would take the free kick and advance to the Destrehan 31 where Lance Carter stripped the ball from Casey Remondet and returned it 69 yards for the score. Smith was stopped on the two-point attempt butDestrehan had taken a 6-2 lead with 4:18 left.

Riverside drove for the go-ahead score on its next possession. On firstdown from the 33, Poirrier hit Danny Stein in the left flat for a 25-yard gain to the 42.

Two plays later, Poirrier scrambled around left end for a 25-yard gain to the seven. After an incompletion and a run by Poirrier, Remondet took thepitch on the option and swept right for the score from five yards out.

Mayes extra point was good, giving the Rebels the 9-6 lead.

Poirrier looked sharp lead the Rebels’ new Wing-T offense, completing 10 of-18 passes for 117 yards.

LeBlanc had four catches for 53 yards.

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