By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

It was more of a fight than Destrehan Coach Stephen Robicheaux wanted to see for a while. But nonetheless, the No. 2 seeded Wildcats captured their 26th straight victory on Friday night after hosting and defeating No. 31 Jesuit, 29-7 in a Class 5A bi-district playoff game.

Destrehan led 14-7 in early in the third quarter before Destrehan closed the game out by scoring 15 consecutive points.

“We didn’t play real well early,” said Robicheaux. “We had 8-to-10 penalties, a number of drops, missed assignments on defense. I did a poor job getting them ready to play.

“But at the same time, I’m happy to still be playing. I just think we took a step back.”

Destrehan will now host Ruston in the regional round. Ruston defeated Denham Springs 28-13 in the bi-district round.

The efforts of Destrehan quarterback Wynrick Smothers proved a major deciding factor. He completed 21-of-30 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for two scores.

Destrehan was penalized 10 times for 83 yards in all, however, and when Jesuit’s Payten Jason scored on a 5-yard run early in the third quarter, it cut Destrehan’s lead to 14-7 and served as a wakeup call to the defending 5A champions.

“I think at that point, our guys realized Jesuit was for real, and that they came ready to play,” said Robicheaux.

Smothers put Destrehan up by two scores again, 20-6, after scoring on a 15-yard run with 5 minutes left in the third quarter.

Then a Jesuit punt attempt went awry deep in Blue Jays territory, leading to a Destrehan safety and a 22-7 lead.

Marshall Charles capped things with a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Destrehan could officially breath easy.

“My hat is off to Jesuit, their players and coaches,” said Robicheaux. “They played their hearts out. I think our guys took them a bit lightly, a 5-4 team coming in. We needed to prepare them better.”

Destrehan out gained Jesuit 387 to 242 in total yardage, and had 20 first downs to 16 for the Blue Jays.

Smothers scored on a quarterback sneak from a yard away for the game’s first points in the opening quarter. He found Kyron King for a 6-yard score in the second quarter to make it 14-0 at halftime.