St. James 6 Destrehan 10
St. James Falls to Destrehan in Defensive “War”
6-10
By Kenny HymelSeptember
29, 2006
ST. JAMES, La – Yardage wise, the St. James Wildcats (Class-2A) dominated the Destrehan Wildcats (Class-5A), however, Destrehan made less mistakes and dominated the field position which guided them to a 10-6 victory in St. James Friday night.
There is no question that this game lived up to the “war” it was suppose to be. And it is also no question that the team which made fewer mistakes would win the game.
Give much credit to the Wildcat “Legion of Doom 2006” defense who was forced to defend a very short field 3 times in the early going and still managed to keep Destrehan to just 10 points when it could have been much worst.
The game started with St. James stopping Destrehan “three-and-out” on their first defensive drive. The punt return was fumbled back to Destrehan and yet again, the defense forced another three-and-out.
Just when the St. James offense seemed to get rolling, another fumble with a big return gave Destrehan the ball at the St. James 23-yard line. A few plays later, Destrehan quarterback #8 Jordan Jefferson hit #1 Edwin Reed for a 20-yard scoring pass. The extra point gave Destrehan an early 7-0 lead.
The Wildcat defense was placed in an even deeper hole when a St. James punt was blocked giving Destrehan the ball inside the 20-yard line. This time, #24 Jared Byers came away with a much needed interception for St. James.
The Wildcat offense went three-and-out and quickly gave Destrehan another short field. Destrehan managed to get down to the 1-yard line; however, the Wildcat defense came to life and caused enough havoc to Destrehan to allow just a field goal. Destrehan leads 10-0 in the second quarter and that would be their final points of the night.
A great kickoff return by #14 Terry Isom gave St. James something to cheer about, however, the first play on offense resulted in Destrehan getting the ball back on an interception.
With time running out in the first half, St. James finally had the offense moving the ball consistently. The drive ultimately came down to one play left in the first half at the 5-yard line. St. James kept the offense on the field and attempted to score by running a reverse. #14 Isom was “flipped-tackled” at the 2-yard line. Half over, Destrehan’s defense holds the 10-0 lead.
The Wildcats came out pretty good to start the second half and would finally reach the scoring land when #10 Jaurelle Narcisse powered his way in on a 6-yard run. The extra point was blocked, thus Destrehan still had a 10-6 lead with 7:31 left in the third.
From this point on, the game was as good a defensive battle that anyone could have wanted. The Wildcat offense had a few more chances, but Destrehan’s defense forced a few more turnovers. Time just seemed to “sneak away” and Destrehan was able to hold on for the 10-6 victory.
NOTABLES St. James really has nothing to be ashamed off because the mistakes made were self-made and every single mistake is correctable. The players just need to look at this as a hard earned lesson that will propel an even better St. James team through the most important stretch of the season.
Destrehan is ranked #4 in Class-5A and to hold them down to 10 points and to stay within a score from them – considering all the giveaways and mistakes – is quite an accomplishment. Typically, games like this aren’t even close.
It is very important now that St. James players remember what happen at this point last season. St. James loss a close game to Destrehan which would then play a part in leading to St. James coming out totally flat the following week against Riverside. It’s up to Wildcat players to not let that happen again.
The Wildcats will be home again next week as they begin district play by taking on the Riverside Rebels.
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