Fans have been waiting for it all season, and it finally is upon us. Win or go home, playoff time. Destrehan got a first-round matchup against Ouachita Parish, who went 5-5 in a very tough district in the regular season. But you have to look past records in November and just play your best game to ensure you come out on top.
To kick the game off, Destrehan would settle for a field goal on their opening drive. But their defense was able to step up and it was not long before they were back on offense and in the redzone again. WR Greg Wilfred would have a huge touchdown that was called back earlier in the drive, but he would get it back on a jet sweep, shaking off one defender with a juke on his way into the endzone. This would push their lead out to 2 possessions as the end of the first quarter was nearing.
Destrehan has options across the board on offense and this time QB Jackson Fields found LSU commit WR Phillip Wright III with no one near him. Nicknamed “Flash”, Wright would turn upfield, turn on the jets, and there was no shot of him getting caught in the open field with his 4.3 40 speed. He would walk into the endzone for a huge touchdown to push their lead to 16-0.
With the end of the first half looming, Ouachita needed an answer to keep their playoff hopes alive. Their QB Montrell Conner was an absolute problem all night using his dual-threat skills. He is a super exciting player to watch and even if you know the QB run is coming, it still feels impossible to stop at times. He would beat everyone out. to the pylon, diving in for the Lions’ first score of the game. They would go for 2 to try to make it a possession game but the Wildcat defense was able to hold them out of the endzone, keeping the score 16-6 entering the half.
Coming out of the half, Ouachita got the ball but was not able to move with the same success that they did in the first half. The halftime defensive adjustments worked for Destrehan and got their offense the ball back. But both defenses stepped up in the second half and the Lions were able to force some stops as well. But it would not be long before QB Jackson Fields would find himself back in the redzone knocking on the door to get in. After a false start, the Wildcats would have a 3rd & Goal from the 11-yard line. But this was no problem as Fields would drop back and deliver a beautiful fade ball to WR Jabari Mack, dropping right in his hands for the touchdown. This touchdown made it a 23-6 game with the end of the 3rd quarter approaching. This wasn’t the dagger but it felt like Destrehan had control of the game at this point.
QB Montrell Connor was the main factor throughout the night for Ouachita’s offense and he would get them into the endzone for the second time of the night, on the same play they ran for the first one. He would not be able to use just his speed this time and had to juke to make a defender miss to get in. But he would shake him off with no problem, crossing the goal line to try to put his team back in this game and cutting the lead down to 11.
The offense was clicking at this point in the game and Destrehan was having success with everything they tried. They would pull out a double pass trick play for a huge gain. Jackson Fields delivered it laterally to WR Jabari Mack and as soon as the outside defender bit down to attack the ball, Mack pulled back, on the run, and let a perfect spiral fly down the sideline to WR Phillip Wright and he would take it all the way down to the 1-yard line. Very reminiscent of their last connection, QB Jackson Fields would find WR Jabari Mack once again with a fade ball placed perfectly over his shoulder to blow this game open, taking an 18-point lead. This was the dagger in Friday night’s game and with an 18-point lead to start the 4th, it would take a miracle for Ouachita to complete this comeback.
In the 4th quarter, in the first round of the playoffs on a chilly night, Destrehan was in the position to feed Malachi Dabney all quarter and he ate on every opportunity they put in front of him. They would salt away the clock by pounding the run game. Jackson Fields would take a knee with under 10 seconds left to end the Lions’ season and send Destrehan to the second round.
For Ouachita Parish, this is not the last that we will see of them. Their best players on both sides of the ball, QB Montrell Conner and DT Dylan Berymon, are only juniors and I am sure they both will be coming back with a vengeance next year to try to push their teams as far as they can take them. On the other side, Destrehan is really coming together right now with everything working for them on offense and their defense still being the lockdown squad that they have been throughout the season. They head on the road to take on Northwood- Shreveport next week, in a 7-10 seed faceoff, in what should be a great matchup.
Check out my interview with Destrehan QB Jackson Fields postgame below:
67
0
17
20
