Rare is the time a football coach, or any coach for that matter, asks for their players to slow down a notch, to take it easy.

Destrehan head coach Stephen Robicheaux has found that rare instance, and it normally has something to do with Darrington Sentimore, a Tasmanian Devil dressed in pads and a helmet.

“We’ve got to pull him off the field,” Robicheaux said. “There’s no such thing as holding back. He gets mad.”

He has to be kidding, right? Pull a player out of practice? For going too hard?

“We have a sophomore starting running who hasn’t practiced since (Aug. 15) because of Darrington,” Robicheaux said midway through this past week. “He’s that type of kid. He likes to hit.”

Sentimore, a 6-foot-2, 280-pound defensive tackle, is No. 10 on HSGametime.com’s top 11 players in the state of Louisiana for 2008.

Few would find it hard to argue that he’s one of the best.

As a junior, he came up with 85 tackles, 17 of which were for a loss totaling minus-60 yards. He had nine sacks for minus-69 yards. He had two pass breakups. He forced three fumbles. And he recovered one loose ball.

The man-child is all over the field. It’s the only way he knows how to play.

“That comes from me working hard every day,” Sentimore, a polite and affable senior, said. “I figure if you practice hard, you can play hard.”

Like Clark Kent transforming into Superman, Sentimore has his change of clothes. Only, he goes from his school uniform into a football one.

His S is his number stitched to the front of his jersey, the same one plastered in the minds of offensive linemen and skill players everywhere.

Asked about whether he’s Superman-like, he wholeheartedly agreed.

“Oh yes, especially Friday nights,” Sentimore said. “I’m a different person. I’ll really hurt somebody if I hit them like I want to.”

A year ago, Sentimore was hitting lots of people like he wanted, helping the Fighting Wildcats go 15-0 and win the Class 5A state championship. Though the Destrehan offense stood out, the defense certainly held its own, allowing only 12 points per game.

“One of the reasons we won the state championship was how we played defense,” Robicheaux said. “We were fortunate because we came together with an explosive offense and had the defense play well, too.

“Darrington is a big part of our defense. He’s one of the most intense players once the whistle blows that I’ve ever been around. He’ll hit a coach, a player, a pole – he’s going to run and hit something. He’s real intense, real fast for his size.”

Sentimore runs between a 4.7 and 4.8 40-yard dash. But to Robicheaux, the most impressive aspect of the lineman’s game is that he never slows down, not during the 48-minutes of football on Friday nights and not during the week’s practices.

“The way he plays the game at the high intensity,” Robicheaux said. “That don’t stop attitude. Coaches have to watch out in practice. He’s coming from somewhere and he’s going to hit something. That demeanor makes everyone around him better.”

So, what’s he thinking when he gets asked to sit out during practice?

“I’m like, ‘Man, what are you talking about. This is football,’ ” Sentimore said. “I don’t try to hurt nobody when I’m out there. That’s just making them better and stronger.”

It’s that type of attitude that has colleges going after him. He has offers from just about every major college you can think of.

“It’s very special,” Sentimore said. “I just figure it’s special because they’re paying for my education. I have an opportunity to play at the next level.”

And because he has the all-around ability and physical traits so few possess, Sentimore will definitely have the “opportunity.”

“I think the speed and size sets him apart,” Robicheaux said. “A lot of guys have the size but don’t possess the speed. A lot of guys might be smaller and have the speed.

“What you’re looking for is a bigger person with speed, and Darrington possesses that.”