Not even a night off by PJ Martin could deter De La Salle.
Playing without their standout running back and Metro area rushing leader, De La Salle managed just fine as linebackers Drew Poche and Jordan Scott returned first-half interceptions for touchdowns to key a 38-7 victory against Kenner Discovery on Thursday night at Tad Gormley Stadium in the District 9-4A opener for both teams.
Martin was among six De La Salle starters, two on offense and four on defense, whom Coach Graham Jarrott opted to hold out rather than risk injury in what was expected to be a one-sided affair. Five of the six, including Martin, could have played if needed, Jarrott said.
De La Salle (6-0, 1-0 in 9-4A) increased his regular-season winning streak to eight games that began with a 43-6 victory against Kenner Discovery in Week 9 of last season. The Cavaliers entered ranked No. 6 in the state in Class 4A.
Kenner Discovery (4-2, 0-1) had a four-game winning streak while suffering broken his first loss under interim coach Dan Erwin. The Swamp Owls are 3-1 since Erwin replaced PJ Sprunk, who was removed from his coaching duties two games into the season because of an internal matter at the Kenner school.
How it was won
With De La Salle leading, 7-0 Poche stepped in front of a Julian Caronna pass and raced 56 yards up the Cavaliers sideline for a two-touchdown advantage and what proved to be the game-winning points.
After an exchange of scores, Scott then picked off Caronna and returned the interception 45 yards for a 24-7 halftime advantage. Defensive back Malik Cornelius added a third defensive score with a 29-yard interception return off of Caronna with 1:15 remaining in the third period.
The Cavaliers limited the Swamp Owls to 11 yards rushing and 106 total, with half of that total coming from Kenner Discovery’s 53-yard second-quarter scoring drive that ended with Caronna’s 32-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Donte Morgan.
De La Salle’s two offensive touchdowns came via quarterback Evan Arceneaux’s 12-yard scoring pass to running back Jeramiah Wills on the Cavaliers’ second possession and then on an 8-yard run by quarterback Marc Dix II that capped the team’s first drive of the fourth period . A 56-yard run by Wills set up Dix’s touchdown run.
Wills rushed 10 times for 149 yards to pace De La Salle’s 266-yard rushing attack that also featured 64 yards on eight carries by Kobe Pounds and 47 yards on 10 carries from Jason Banks.
Player of the game
Drew Poche, De La Salle: The sophomore linebacker’s 56-yard interception return was not his first career interception return for a touchdown. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound also had an interception return for a touchdown as a freshman in De La Salle’s playoff victory against Teurlings Catholic last season.
They said it
De La Salle coach Graham Jarrott: “We were resting some guys with bumps and bruises left over from the East Ascension game. Our medical staff told me that giving these guys a week off would be a help. So we wanted to get some other guys some work. No disrespect to Kenner Discovery, but we have an unbelievable game next Saturday against the defending Class 3A state champions from Mississippi.”
De La Salle LB Drew Poche: “Tonight we did our job, but we obviously can play better. We’ve got some mistakes we need to clean up next week at practice. But we did our jobs tonight. We definitely knew that we had to step up and make sure we played our roles.”
Jarrott: “The defense saved us, because it should have been a 10-7 game. The defense played hard from the start.”
