East St. John shut down with 33-6 loss

By GEORGE MAHL

Sports Editor

RESERVE – The Destrehan Fighting Wildcats weathered the storm Friday night.

Literally.

At a rain-soaked Joe Keller Memorial Field, Destrehan jumped out to a quick 20-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back as they cruised to a 33-6 victory over East St. John. The win puts Destrehan in second place in 6-5A.

“We did a great job of controlling the ball tonight and keeping their offense off the field,” said Destrehan Head Coach Stephen Robicheaux.

Things got off to an ominous start for East St. John as highly-touted quarterback Ryan Perrilloux was sacked on the first play of the game.

CJ Cinceno’s 40-yard punt return for a touchdown gave the Fighting Wildcats a 7-0 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Cinceno was also responsible for the second touchdown of the game. His interception gave Destrehan the ball deep in East St. John territory. Following a five-yard gain by Dorian Thompson, Chris Bullock took it in from the eight to make it 14-0 Destrehan.

After both teams punted, Destrehan linebacker Donavin Dickerson recovered a fumble, which led Destrehan to scoring their next touchdown of the first quarter.

A screen pass from quarterback Jai Eugene to Bullock was good for a 31-yard touchdown, which made the score 20-0.

Perrilloux was sacked again by Destrehan, which put the Wildcats deep in their own territory.

After a Jamal “Moonie” Breaux punt, Destrehan embarked on a 14-play drive. Despite three holding calls against them and nearly turning the ball over on two consecutive plays, Destrehan went up 27-0 on a one-yard quarterback keeper from Jai Eugene.

East St. John could not get anything going offensively as they punted four times in the first half and turned the ball over twice.

Following an East St. John punt, the Fighting Wildcats marched down the field only to see Kyle Tizzard miss a 29-yard touchdown right before halftime.

The Wildcats seemed to have some momentum as they recovered the second half kickoff. However, East St. John turned the ball over on downs when Perrilloux completed a four-yard pass on fourth and long.

Destrehan then went on a long, time consuming drive that ended when Eugene took the ball in from the one making the score 33-0. The Fighting Wildcats used all running plays during the drive.

East St. John finally got on the scoreboard after they went on a nine-play, 80-yard drive which resulted in a touchdown pass from Perrilloux to Breaux.

“Our defense made big plays tonight. We were in his (Perrilloux’s) face all night,” Robicheaux said.