It’s the story that absolutely dominated the Internet last week. The small town of Destrehan, Louisiana became the focus of everything from national news outlets to us harbingers of all news bizarre on the Internet, as high school English teachers Shelley Dufresne and Rachel Respess were arrested on charges of having a threesome with a 16-year old student. But while people have either shaken their heads in disgust at this news or high-fived their bros in awe of the mystery male student, the 12,000 citizens of Destrehan simply want to move on with their lives and focus on what really matters – high school football.
Last Friday night, in front of the home crowd at Wildcat Stadium, No. 2 Destrehan defeated its unranked rival Hahnville 24-6 thanks to a huge offensive burst in the second half. The crowd was probably excited to see the home team get the win in rivalry week for the second consecutive year for bragging rights, but much more importantly, residents needed anything to talk about aside from Dufresne and Respess having a threeway with a 16-year old student. The international attention was so bad, according to the Times-Picayune, that it basically ruined the fun of rivalry week.
“This is the biggest game of the year — Hahnville’s playing well, Destrehan’s probably going to state — but it’s not being talked about,” said Mike McNamara of Destrehan. “This incident has overshadowed everything else that’s going on. It’s not going away soon. … Facebook and social media make sure everybody knows about it. Somebody told me there was an article in a Jamaican newspaper.”
That’s when you know you’ve made it.
“People are still talking about it. It’s a really sad situation,” said Toni Rice, who graduated from Destrehan High, as did two of her sons. “I was in the barber shop last night. We would generally have been talking about the rivalry with Hahnville. Nobody’s talking about that. It definitely has put a damper on things in the parish.”
Jill Lirette said the off-color jokes, the gossip at the ball fields and the social media frenzy have “exhausted” her. “We should be concentrating on the rivalry” she said. “This does not feel like rivalry week. This has sucked the energy out of it.” (Via the Times-Picayune)
Two things: 1) It is so cool that people still hang out in a barber shop and talk about local gossip. I love small town America so much. 2) Did Jill Lirette wink and blow on her finger guns when she gave that quote? I sure as hell hope she did.
Just when we thought that this story couldn’t get any more scandalous, it also turns out that Dufresne’s dad is a state District Judge. I’m guessing Thanksgiving dinner is going to be incredibly awkward this year.