By RYAN ARENA
Sports Editor

East St. John couldn’t overcome Destrehan on a sloppy, freshly rained upon field Tuesday, as ESJ took a 5-2 loss to their rival in a District 6-I game.

“It was just a battle of wills,” said ESJ Coach Paul Dupuy. “The field was basically a swamp. Guys were falling all over the place. Balls were stopping in the mud…like I told the guys, games like this come down to who can will themselves to make the plays., who fights harder after falling down.”

Tremond McQuarter and Rene Jones each scored goals for ESJ (7-8, 0-3).

Destrehan took a 1-0 lead early in the first half, but ESJ answered on McQuarter’s goal to tie things up.

“We felt like it would be our day after that,” said Dupuy.

But Destrehan (9-3-2, 1-2)) took a 2-1 lead into the half on a score that Dupuy and his players felt came as the result of a missed call by officials.

“We were pretty sure one of their players were offsides,” he said. “But they never overturned it. And sometimes that’s how it begins to fall apart for a young team. Guys hang their heads, while the other team is waiting to take their shots at you.”

Destrehan would go ahead 3-1 in the second half, but Jones gave his team life with a score that cut the DHS lead to a single goal.

But once Destrehan scored to make it 4-2, the result was effectively decided. A deeper DHS team was able to tack on another goal and tuck away the win.

East St. John was without goalkeeper Marco Barrera and starter Antonio Guerrero in the contest. The loss of Barrera forced Dupuy to move Dechris Strong to the net for a half, then McQuarter in the second half. Each have been goal scoring factors for ESJ this season.

“That made it hard, to lose those guys in the field,” Dupuy said. “It takes away from your offense.”