It was a long road back for Fabian Celestine – but he certainly found his way.
Led by Celestine’s four touchdown night, Hahnville fired on all cylinders as it opened the season with a victory at home in Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers defeated Booker T. Washington 43-6, holding the Lions scoreless until the final minutes of the game. Hahnville scored 43 unanswered points to begin the game, triggering a running clock from the early third quarter onward.
Celestine was dominant. Three of his touchdown runs were scored on the ground and he housed a screen pass for his fourth and final one of the night. All four touchdowns were scored in the first half – in fact, Celestine scored three times during a span of four minutes and 25 seconds late in the first half.
It was a monster performance for the junior running back, who late last season suffered a serious injury to his leg – a tib/fib fracture that ended his 2024 season, one that was seeing him show quite a bit of promise as the primary backup to then-Tigers star Calvin Smith.
Celestine worked hard to get back to form. On Friday, he showed exactly what that form looks like – tough running between the tackles and the kind of game-breaking long speed that can change a game at a moment’s notice.
“It was just a mindset thing. I needed to just get the injury out of my head,” said Celestine.
He added with a smile, “Four touchdowns – to be honest, I was just aiming for two, and I got four. That’s crazy. Just have to keep working, keep pushing. I guess next week I’m trying to get five.”
Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne said beyond the numbers, Celestine excelled in an often overlooked phase of the game.
“He did a really good job in pass protection, which is something he’s been working on,” Boyne said.
Beyond his recovery, Celestine said being the Tigers’ starting running back – a role that’s carried great tradition – has been a longtime goal.
“It’s what I’ve been waiting for my whole high school career,” Celestine said.
On the other side of the ball, Raymond Williams had a stellar game as well. Williams recorded two sacks and recovered a fumble, all in the first half alone.
“We want to be better than last year, to fix our mistakes from last year,” said Williams. “That (playoff) loss to Chalmette made us look at a lot of things. We learn from our mistakes and get better and better each day.”
Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne has called Williams the leader of the defense and one of the vocal, emotional leaders of the team as a whole.
“I want to bring that energy that spreads to everyone on our team out there on the field,” Williams said. “I love this sport and love being out here and being able to play again.”
It was Williams who effectively ended the Lions’ first drive, making a tackle for a loss of five that led to a punt. Hahnville wasted no time as it scored on Landen Teague’s pass to Bennett Naquin, a quick slant Naquin took for a red zone touchdown with less than two minutes elapsed in the game. Jackson Porter’s two-point conversion run made it 8-0.
After another Tigers’ defensive stop, Celestine got loose for the first time, scoring on a 22-yard run to push the lead to 15-0.
Booker T. Washington got a drive going on the ensuing drive. A pass breakup in the endzone by Avonte Smith, then a strong open field tackle by Lance Marshall on a screen pass forced a fourth down – and Williams registered a sack there to end the threat.
Perhaps the lone blemish on the night for Hahnville was a rash of defensive penalties – most of which occurring on a second quarter Booker T. Washington drive. The Tigers committed penalties on three different third down attempts, creating first downs. Still, Hahnville was able to make a defensive stop.
And that led to Celestine’s biggest run of the night. Hahnville took over at its own 38 and Celestine took the opening play of the drive 62 yards for a touchdown to make it 22-0 with 5:31 left in the first half.
It was Williams’ turn again – and then once again Celestine’s. Williams recovered a fumble to set Hahnville up in scoring position. Celestine knifed through the defense for a 16-yard touchdown to make it 29-0.
For good measure, each of the Tiger stars of the night added one more big highlight before halftime. Williams recorded another sack to force a punt, and Celestine finished the half by taking a screen pass from Teague for a touchdown to make it 36-0.
Treson Fields added a touchdown run early in the third quarter to round out Hahnville’s scoring.
Hahnville finished the first half with more than 200 yards of offense.
“That’s pretty efficient, effective,” said Boyne. “Landen was on point … Fabian, the night he had with four touchdowns, you don’t see that too often from guys. He’s healthy and he looks it.”
Boyne also gave a nod to backup kicker/punter Aiden Agreda, who made all four of his extra point attempts in relief of Myles Borey and placed a punt that was downed inside the 6.
“Myles has a sore back, and Aiden got pushed into duty – he did a great job,” said Boyne.
