By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — East St. John’s playoff hopes were dealt a blow on Friday night by an archrival, as visiting Destrehan captured a 2-1 District 8-I victory.

East St. John is still alive for a playoff berth, but its position would have been much more secure with a win over its rival boasting the same Wildcats mascot.

But 15 minutes into the second half, a Destrehan free kick into the box bounced around and off of players before ricocheting into the net — neither team could, in fact, verify the goal scorer, with Destrehan tentatively calling it an East St. John own goal — to give DHS a 2-1 advantage it would hold until the game’s end.

The teams remained deadlocked in a scoreless tie before Daniel Cimino got loose 32 minutes into the game, firing into the left side of the net to give Destrehan (15-8, 6-4) a 1-0 advantage.

But the lead would not stand going into the half.

Just a minute before the half, East St. John (10-11, 5-5) executed a corner kick that set up Tremand McQuater, who scored on a header before his momentum carried him into the goal; the excited senior would charge out into his joyful teammates, and the teams entered the break tied 1-1.

After Destrehan took the lead, each team had opportunities. Destrehan came oh-so-close to making it 3-1 and putting things out of reach on a Cimino kick that drifted a little too far left 19 minutes in. East St. John, meanwhile, saw a chance thwarted on a Jeremy Piper shot that defender Ryan Guidry cleared out of the box.

“We thought we had the tying goal there,” said East St. John coach Paul Dupuy. “We had a number of chances that we just weren’t able to finish

Destrehan was able to maintain control of the ball through much of the game, something both Cimino and coach John LeBoutillier each said was of the utmost importance when facing a team boasting the speed of an East St. John.

“We knew that’s how we had to play,” said Cimino.

“They’ve got lots of speed, but we possessed it well tonight. It’s something we’ve worked on all year. East St. John’s got a great team and this is a big win for us going into the playoffs.”