Tigers, Wildcats will join forces in Nicholls’ all-star game

Ten Hahnville and Destrehan football players will team up and take the field together in the 13th annual HTV-Lions Club Bayou vs. River Region All-Star Showdown.

The game will be played in John L. Guidry Stadium on the campus of Nicholls State University on Friday, Dec. 14. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Hahnville will have seven all-stars playing in the game, including running back Sergio Medina, quarterback Easton Melancon, punter Brooks Vial, linebacker Gabe Taylor, defensive tackle Juvon Gales and offensive linemen James Diggs and Eddie Brooks. Destrehan players include cornerback Rondai Robinson, offensive lineman Noland Sharpe and defensive tackle Joe Sharp.

Tickets for the game cost $7 and can be purchased at the gate.

The all-star game pits talented prep athletes from Bayou Region teams H.L Bourgeois, Ellender, South Lafourche, Assumption, South Terrebonne, Thibodaux, Central Lafourche, E.D. White, Terrebonne, Houma Christian, Covenant Christian and Vandebilt against standout high school athletes from River Region teams Destrehan, East St. John, St. James, Hahnville, St. Charles, West St. John, Lutcher and Riverside.

John Lambert, assistant coach at Hahnville High School, will lead the River Region, while Terrebonne High School head coach Gary Hill will lead the Bayou team.

The game will also be broadcasts on a tape-delayed basis by HTV-10, and the times of the rebroadcast will be announced at a later date. NFL draft analyst Mike Detillier and HTV 10’s Stan Gravois will provide play-by-play and commentary.

The River Region won the 2011 contest, 16-14. With under a minute to go, Destrehan kicker Daniel Cimino executed an onside kick and three plays later kicked a 42-yard field goal for the River Parish team as time expired. Jordan Caillouet, a linebacker from Central Lafourche, was named MVP for the Bayou Region and Ronnie Green, a quarterback from Hahnville, was named MVP for the River Parish team in the 2011 game.

NFL running back Brandon Jacobs, an alum of Assumption, holds the all-time rushing record in the game with 230 yards set in 2000. Phillip Livas, a 1st Team All Western Athletic Conference player from Louisiana Tech and South Terrebonne graduate, is second behind Jacobs after running for 201 yards in the 2006 game.

All of the proceeds go to college scholarships and to Thibodaux Lion’s Club causes such as the Lions’ Cripple Children’s Camp and Eye Foundation.

The Thibodaux Lion’s Club is the primary sponsor for the event and strives to award not only student-athletes, but support group members as well. Last season alone, the Thibodaux Lion’s Club distributed a total of $7,500 in scholarships to student-athletes and cheerleaders that participated in the game.