New Orleans — Saturday’s 4A and 5A LHSAA State Championship games will feature some of the best players in Louisiana, including Destrehan senior running back Kyle Edwards and Edna Karr junior wide receiver Destyn Pazon.
“You know any time you make it to the state championship game, a part of that is having great players too,” said Edna Karr Head Football Coach Brice Brown. “I think the key to it is having talent but it’s how you coach that talent as well.”
“It’s been documented that the River Parishes and the New Orleans area has the best athletes in the country,” said Destrehan Head Football Coach Stephen Robicheaux. “I’ll tell you what– it’s true. There’s tremendous athletes. We’ve been very blessed at Destrehan High School to have great players come through and this year is no different.”
Kyle Edwards has more than 1,800 yards rushing and 27 touchdowns this season. He’s helped lead the Wildcats to the Superdome riding a 7-game win-streak after a (4-3) start to the season.
“I can’t do it without the rest of my team,” Edwards said. “I can’t just take all the credit because without my O-line I can’t do anything without them. They create the holes for me. Coaches set-up the plays and I just execute.”
“Just a great person, unbelievable kid and leader of this football team,” Robicheaux said. “He pretty much took this team on his back and said ‘Hey, let’s go win some games,’ and here we are playing for a state championship.”
As a junior, Destyn Pazon has yet to commit to a college, but is getting interest from several division-one– and Power 5– schools.
“I think it’s a little too early to say,” Pazon said. “I just want to weigh my options and make the best decision for me.”
“His ability to get yards after the catch,” Brown said about what makes Pazon special. “I think once he catches the ball, his big body allows him to ricochet off defenders. And he has the ability to extend the defense. I think when you can do short and long, that’s what makes him one of the best wide receivers in the nation.”
Pazon and the 3-time defending state champs are ready for a rematch with Warren Easton from last year’s title game and are riding some serious momentum on a 9-game win-streak. They’re averaging 47 points this post-season with their closest margin of victory in those 4 playoffs being 19 points.
“My role is basically just do my 1/11th just to get the job done,” Pazon said. “All my motivation and what I do is for my brothers.”
“He’s very talented so our job is to not mess it up and just give him the ball as much as we can,” Brown said.