The agony of defeat

Hahnville loses to East St. John 45-25.

Tiger linebacker Roshon Thomas makes a tackle against Wildcat quaterback Johnnie Thiel.

The Hahnville Tigers, playing at their nearly undefeatable home field, fell hard in 5A district play to East St. John 45 - 25. It was a night that Hahnville players, coaches and fans knew would be a test for their young team going up against a highly-ranked East St. John offense.

In the first series of the game East St. John put points on the board. Hahnville came right back and scored only to miss the extra point and trial 7-6. Hahnville standout receiver, Laron Byrd, made a spectacular catch on the drive netting 60 yards and quarterback Early James ran in for the score on the next play.

The game looked like a shoot-out at that point but Hahnville was unable to match them bullet for bullet as East St. John went on to score three more unanswered touchdowns and extend their lead to 28-6. Hahnville scored again as the running game came alive with the running of Ivory Washington. Early James then connected with Jordan Stephany on a 17 yard pass to get the sideline pumped up as Hahnville cut the lead to 28-12 after the 2-point conversion failed.

However on the next series East St. John dashed right back and scored again to extend the lead to 35-12. Hahnville was able to answer this time. Early threw another bomb to Byrd to get the ball down the field and then followed up with a nice throw to tight end Wesley Thigpen to bring the score closer, 35-18, as the first half wound down.

The second half fireworks were not as impressive as the Tigers were unable to put much together or stop the Wildcats from scoring again as the game wound down.