ESJ, Destrehan set for quick rematch
Published 11:45 pm Tuesday, November 18, 2014
By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur
RESERVE — Destrehan hasn’t seen many two-touchdown deficits over the past two seasons. Yet there was East St. John, ahead 14-0 late in the first half, as host DHS saw its undefeated record threatened by a local rival.
Destrehan responded that night, scoring 28 unanswered points to nail down a 28-14 victory and a 10-0 record.
But little did anyone know: these teams would be at it again two weeks later.
This time, East St. John hosts as No. 4 Destrehan visits Joe Keller Memorial Stadium to face No. 20 seed ESJ in a regional round Class 5A playoff game.
Destrehan finished as the No. 2 ranked team in the final LSWA poll this season. It advanced via a 54-0 victory over No. 29 Pineville, while East St. John went on the road to upend No. 13 John Ehret.
“We’re happy to be one of 16 teams left in this thing,” ESJ coach Phillip Banko said. “We’re looking to keep making people proud. Everyone you play at this point is good. Everyone is well-coached. Whether it’s Destrehan or one of 14 other teams, we know we’ll have to work at it to come out with a victory.”
Banko said after the first meeting between the teams that ESJ was playing its best football and the toe-to-toe performance against DHS showed that. While Banko admits that game, particularly its early stages, served as a confidence booster for his team, he also said his Wildcats don’t tend to be in awe of anyone they see at this time of year: ESJ has played nine teams that qualified for the state playoffs, including first round foe Ehret.
“We saw a lot of very, very talented athletes against Ehret,” Banko said. “But you know what? It wasn’t the first time we’d seen guys like that. Destrehan has five guys just in their skill positions on offense that can start for anyone. Then when you move beyond their skill guys, there’s two or three more, just on offense.”
In the first Destrehan/East St. John clash, ESJ limited Destrehan’s passing game, attempting to eliminate the big plays that turn so many DHS games into routs.
But on one snap, DHS struck big, Kohen Granier connecting with Kirk Merritt on an 84-yard screen pass.
“If we could take that play away, and you can’t, our chances improve significantly,” Banko said.
“Against Ehret, we didn’t allow any big plays to kill us. Our defense came up big on two fourth and longs and on all three extra point tries. Hopefully we can replicate that to some extent on Friday.”
ESJ didn’t give up many big plays against Destrehan, but DHS chewed up plenty of rushing yardage in its stead. Will Matthews and Kirk Merritt combined to rush for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Matthews is the River Region’s leading rusher this season.
Last week against Pineville, starting quarterback Marquise Darensbourg gave way to Granier for the second half. Darensbourg bounced back, completing 9 of 10 passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
Alfred Smith was explosive as well, catching five passes for 62 yards to go along with a 95-yard kickoff return for a score. Matthews scored a 96 yard touchdown on the first play of the game.