HHS football game cancelled

Homecoming festivities will go on

Hahnville High School’s Friday football game has been cancelled after four students from opponent Vandebilt Catholic were killed in an automobile accident.

Two of the students, T.J. Cantrelle, 17, and Ian Haydel, 15, played on Vandebilt’s football team. Cantrelle was the team’s starting quarterback, while Haydel started at safety.

The two other students  killed were Megan Hitt and Gabrielle Hebert, who was a cheerleader. Both girls were 17.
Hebert is the granddaughter of Charles and Amanda Babin of Luling.

The bodies of the four students were found inside a 2008 Ford truck that was submerged in a canal between Bayou Blue and Coteau roads at about 1:45 p.m.  on Sunday, Sept. 26.

According to the Houma Courier, Cantrelle, who was driving the truck, sent a text at 1 a.m. Sunday morning alerting family members that the group was close to home.

When the teens failed to appear at 3 a.m., the parents began their own search. The truck was discovered by police almost about 10 hours later using a GPS signal from one of the teens’ cell phones.

Authorities say that the truck, which was heading west on La. 182, ran off the road in a slight right-hand curve and crossed the oncoming lane. The vehicle then crashed through a guard rail and landed upside down in St. Louis Canal.

“We sympathize with Vandebilt Catholic,” Hahnville head coach Lou Valdin said. “We lost an athlete over the summer, so we can understand what they are going through.”

Valdin was referring to 17-year-old basketball player De’Vante Alexander, who was found unresponsive at practice and later died from a congenital heart defect.

Hahnville’s game with Vandebilt Catholic will not be rescheduled, but the school will still hold its homecoming festivities this week. The king and queen will be crowned on Thursday night and the dance will be held on Saturday, according to Regina McMillan, spokeswoman for St. Charles Parish Public Schools.

The homecoming court will be introduced at halftime of Hahnville’s Oct. 29 game against St. Amant.