Ouachita Parish could have gotten down during a four-game losing streak during a ruthless District 2-5A gauntlet. Instead, it got better.
And, as senior leaders explained, the Lions got better in ways that showed up quite tangibly Friday as the No. 14 Lions (8-4) scrapped their way to a 21-19 upset of No. 3 Destrehan (8-3) on their way to the program’s first quarterfinals since 2021.
“We messed up in them games, and we knew where we messed up at, and we overcame them by practicing in stuff that we needed help in more,” said defensive tackle Dylan Berymon, one of Louisiana’s top 2026 prospects. “And I really think the four games that we lost, it really helped set us up for the playoffs and this big games right here.”
Special teams, for instance, had been costly at times — never more so than allowing 17 points to Neville in a 38-37 loss in Week 8.
On Friday, the third phase was pivotal in the Lions claiming an early lead and playing from ahead on the road against their higher-ranked hosts.
Speedy three-phase weapon Wydell Clark Jr. fielded a punt midway through the first quarter, cut back, eluded at least three attempted tackles and then exploded off to the races 56 yards to a 7-0 lead.
“They were heavy-blocking, because they were down by the (goal line) so they couldn’t let us block it,” Clark said, smiling: “My coach was yelling at me last time because I didn’t fair-catch it or catch it, so I knew I had to catch it. Then it wasn’t but one person in my face, and I never go down when the first person comes to me.”
A combination of Ouachita’s disruptive defense and Destrehan’s costly penalties and miscues kept the Wildcats’ often-explosive offense from every getting into a rhythm on its way to its season-low scoring output.
When Destrehan finally managed to move the ball a bit on its third possession, the Lions eventually not only stopped the drive, but then blocked the field-goal attempt on a great jump by Deandre Mansfield off the edge.
And when the Wildcats did find the end zone late in the half on a 7-yard Malachi Dabney run, trouble with the hold allowd Ouachita to maintain a 7-6 edge at the break.
“It was amazing,” Clark said. “We’ve been harping on that since we lost to Neville. Neville was the team that beat us off of special teams, so we knew after that going into plays we can’t have no more special teams (errors). We got more people on special teams, more playmakers. We’ve got more people that want to play, so we’re gonna go play special teams like it’s offense and defense, because it matters.”
The Lions’ defense continued to stand tall in the second half, bookended by a pair of critical fourth-down stops — one early in the third to deny Destrehan from cashing in a Cameron Florent fumble recovery for any points to the final stand to shut the door on the Wildcats’ comeback hopes.
In between, quarterback Montrell Conner Jr. and the offense began finding enough success to always keep Ouachita one step ahead of its hosts.
The Lions followed their first fourth-down stop with their longest drive of the game, an 88-yard march on which Conner made plays with his legs and spread the ball around to Kevon Whitlock, Macario “M.J.” Dade and finally to Cameron Brooks to extend the lead to 14-6.
“Coming out of halftime, our coach gave us a talk, and from there, we knew it was on,” Conner said. “Defense gave us multiple and multiple chances to put the ball in the end zone, so we knew we had to capitalize off that.”
Destrehan answered late in the quarter as LSU-committed wide receiver Jabari Mack broke a run out to the sideline, bounced off a pair of attempted tackles, accelerated away, cut past another defender and cruise the final stretch of the 60-yard highlight.
But Ouachita held up on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt and held onto the 14-12 lead.
The Lions put together another long drive early in the fourth, and Dade burst through a third-down running lane and 22 yards to the end zone and some breathing room on the scoreboard, 21-12.
“We had called an A-gap run, but the nose guard crashed inside, so I kinda bounced it,” Dade said. “And I got tackled, but I put my hand down. At practice, we work a drill where we put our hand down as we’re getting tackled and push ourselves back up, and I pushed myself back up, and I just exploded out there as hard as I could.”
Destrehan continued to battle. But, again, the combination of its own errors and Ouachita’s answers wouldn’t allow the Wildcats to quite get over the hump.
Another long Mack run set up a red-zone opportunity, but a fumble a couple plays later bounced right to Mansfield for a Lions takeaway.
“They have a lot of team speed, and they’re really good on defense,” Destrehan coach Marcus Scott said. “Obviously the guys up front set the tone. I thought that we moved the ball. Obviously I thought that some things on our end prevented us from doing what we normally do offensively. I thought that they did a good job, but I also thought that we did some things on our end that kind of prohibited our progress.”
Dabney popped a 55-yard touchdown with 5:43 remaining to pull back within 21-19, and the Wildcats forced a quick punt to open the door on a potential rally.
Berymon, Orlando Freemont, Cayden Powell, Jeremy Jones and company swarmed and suffocated the possession, though, before Destrehan could even get going.
“These teams like (Destrehan), they’re special teams — we just happened to see four of ’em in district,” Ouachita coach Benjy Lewis said. “So that’s just kinda how it goes. We’re prepared for this. i don’t want to take anything away from the program that Destrehan and coach Scott have here. It’s an awesome program, and we want to be like them, so that’s why this is such a huge win for us.”
