By Lori Lyons

Contributing Writer

The East St. John Wildcats needed a miracle.

They got a couple.

After Destrehan’s Denzel Arceneaux’s 68-yard kickoff return for a touchdown put Destrehan ahead of East St. John 35-21 with 6:44 left in the game Friday night, things looked pretty bleak for the Wildcats of Reserve.

But East St. John managed to take advantage of some rare late Destrehan miscues and held on for a wild 35-34 victory at Joe Keller Stadium. The win, as much moral as actual for the hard luck Wildcats who have battled a hurricane, flooding, the closing of their school and an injury to a key player, puts East St. John (3-4, 2-1) right back in the District 8-5A race with Destrehan (4-3, 2-1). And as the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard, the entire East St. John sideline erupted in jubilation.

“I’m happy for all those majorettes, the Sugarettes, the band, the fans, the trainers, the doctor, everybody,” an emotional East St. John coach Phil Banko said. “After everything we’ve been through. A lot of people thought we were down. And that’s what I keep telling them. Don’t worry about the play. Have amnesia. Go to the next play. But we made some plays.”

After Arceneaux’s kickoff return sent the Destrehan side into a frenzy and seemed to seal East St. John’s fate, East St. John quarterback Leonard Davis put together an impressive 12 play, 75 yard drive that took only 2:37 off the clock. With receiver Dez Broussard on the sideline for the rest of the year with a broken ankle, Davis has found a new target in sophomore receiver Jared Jackson. The two connected on gains of 31 yards, 8 yards and the final 4-yards of the drive and Eric Joseph’s PAT kick cut Destrehan’s lead to 34-28 with 4:07 remaining in the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, Destrehan’s receiving team let the ball roll around for several seconds before Arceneaux misplayed the ball. East St. John’s Daniel Ellis was on the spot, however, and recovered at the Destrehan 18. Four plays later, Davis ran up the middle from 7 yards out to tie the game at 34. Joseph hit the crucial PAT kick to put East St. John ahead 35-34.

Then it was up to the defense – and fate.

Destrehan drove from its own 35-yard line into East St. John territory. But on first-and-10 at the East St. John 34-yard line, Destrehan quarterback Donavan Isom saw a snap sail over his head for a 22-yard loss back at the Destrehan 44. Three plays later, on fourth and 20, Ellis ran down Isom for a sack, forcing Destrehan to turn the ball over on downs and sealing the fate of both Wildcat teams.

Banko said a lot of his fans probably thought the game was over after Arceneaux’s kickoff return, which came after an impressive 97-yard drive by East St. John that had cut Destrehan’s lead to 28-21.

“A lot of people thought that was the nail in the coffin,” Banko said. “But let me tell you something, before you put my ass in the ground I’m going to be kicking.”

East St. John’s comeback was even more remarkable considering it had turned the ball over six times. Davis was intercepted three times – twice by Arceneaux – and East St. John also lost three fumbles. Davis finished 16-of- 37 for 176 yards and two touchdowns, plus he ran for 111 yards and two scores. Jackson caught eight passes for 102 yards.

“I’ve been working with him this past summer and spring and he had to step up because our best player is injured right now,” Davis said. “He just had to step up big time.”

Davis said the last touchdown to Jackson was improvised.

“It was the same formation but I had to change the play to a slant,” Davis said. “I saw the linebacker come down to blitz and he left it wide open.”

Jackson said only one thing was going through his mind: “I was just praying, ‘Don’t drop the ball. Don’t drop the ball.’ All I can do is thank God.”

Banko praised Ellis for his great game, and for thinking on his feet. Ellis said he just did what his coach told him to do.

“Coach told me to play like I practice,” Ellis said. “I did what Coach told me to do and I think we did wonderful.”

Destrehan was distraught over the game, which seemed to be well in hand at several points in the night. East St. John took the first lead 6-0 after a 10 play, 58 yard drive in the first quarter. But Destrehan answered with an eight play, 73 yard drive. With 2:51 remaining in the quarter, Isom connected with Michael Smith on a 28-yard touchdown. Cameron Walsh’s PAT made it 7-6.

East St. John fumbled the ball away on its next possession, but Destrehan could not capitalize. Arceneaux stopped East St. John’s next drive with his first interception of the night at the Destrehan 33. From there the Wildcats needed only three plays to score, with Isom connecting with Smith on a 41-yard touchdown pass to give Destrehan a 14-6 lead with 8:47 to play.

But East St. John answered. After backing Destrehan up against its goal line, Mason Hernandez punted short from his own end zone. From the Destrehan 28-yard line, East St. John needed only five plays to score. Davis ran in from the 2 then connected with Jackson for the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14 with 2:13 left in the half.

Arceneaux’s second interception of the night stopped East St. John from answering. But Destrehan missed a 40-yard field goal as the half ended.

Destrehan pulled ahead in the third quarter, scoring two touchdowns within a minute of one another. With a short field following an East St. John punt, Mathews scored on a 3-yard run with 8:29 remaining. Then an East St. John fumble gave Destrehan the ball on the East St. John 15. After a 10-yard loss on first down, Will Mathews ran in from the 25 to give Destrehan a 27-14 lead with 7:32 on the clock.

East St. John turned the ball over on its next two possessions. The Wildcats would not score again until the 7:00

mark of the fourth quarter when Davis engineered a 10 play, 97 yard drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jackson.

It was after that score that Destrehan seemed to put the game away with his 68-yard touchdown return. But East St. John has proved to be nothing but resilient this season. The school remains closed and many of its students are still struggling to recover from the massive flooding caused by Hurricane Isaac. The team’s best receiver is out for the year with a broken ankle. And Friday the Wildcats fell behind time and time again.

“They made the plays when they had to; we didn’t make the plays when we had to,” Destrehan coach Stephen Robicheaux said. “(Davis) is a good player. He made plays when he had to and we didn’t. We just let them hang around and hang around.”