By RYAN ARENA
Sports Editor

The Destrehan dream season in 2007 officially began with a 23-0 shutout victory over Lutcher at the Ed Reed River Parishes Jamboree in Boutte.

So then, Wildcat fans may look to the events of Thursday night as a positive omen for the upcoming season.

Destrehan forced timely turnovers and leaned on a powerful running game to power past the Bulldogs, 17-0, in a jamboree game that was moved from Friday to Thursday due to concerns over Hurricane Gustav.

The defending Class 5A champions may have lost a lot of firepower offensively, but there is at least one believer outside of the Destrehan city limits.

“I don’t know that we’ll face a defense as tough as theirs for the rest of the year,” said Lutcher coach Tim Detillier of the unit led by star defensive end Darrington Sentimore. “Those are the 5A state champions. It goes without saying, that’s a real good team.”

Destrehan led 3-0 at halftime on the strength of a 43-yard Ryan Rome field goal.

The first touchdown of the game came after an interception by the Wildcats’ Antonio Parker, which set DHS up in Lutcher territory. Myron Smith’s 7-yard touchdown made it 10-0.

Henry Lenox capped the scoring with a 37-yard scoring run with less than two minutes left.

Detillier was encouraged by the way his Bulldogs’ moved the football. But he was nowhere near as pleased with the team’s ball security. Aside from the Parker interception, Otis Ben and Rufus Porter each intercepted Gavin Webster deep in Destrehan territory.

“We had our chances,” Detillier said. “We moved up and down the field. But we never capitalized. We made mistakes, and they didn’t. And you can never expect to win like that against a team like Destrehan.”

Detillier was pleased with the play of his secondary, which he believes is the strength of the Bulldogs’ team with its depth, talent, and experience. But once Destrehan got a lead, there wasn’t much Lutcher could do against the Wildcats’ power running game.

“That team is so big and experienced up front,” Detillier said. “When we had to go toe to toe with those guys, there was nothing we could do about it.”