For three quarters, the Hahnville Tigers dominated East St. John at the line of scrimmage as they built up a 21-7 lead. But the Wildcats stormed back in the fourth with three unanswered touchdowns to pull out a 27-21 win that stunned the Tigers.
With Hahnville clinging to a 21-19 lead, East St. John moved the ball into Tiger territory with under two minutes left in the game. On third down, Hahnville was flagged for pass interference on a questionable call.
When one of the Hahnville coaches voiced his displeasure, a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was tagged on, giving the Wildcats the ball on the Tigers’ 8-yard line. A play later, East St. John quarterback Darion Monroe scrambled right up the middle to put his team on top 25-21 with only 1:18 left in the game.
Monroe would toss a two-point conversion for the final margin.
Though the Wildcats won the fourth quarter, the Tigers were impressive in the first three. With starting quarterback Easton Melancon sitting on the bench due to illness, backup quarterback Ronny Green marched the Tigers down the field after Hahnville recovered a fumbled punt return.
Green found tight end Cody Morales up the middle to move the Tigers to the East St. John 14-yard line. Green would score two plays later on a 1-yard run to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Green again was the catalyst on the Tigers next scoring drive, finding Jaylon Bryant in the endzone to put Hahnville up 14-0 with 3:35 left in the first quarter.
East St. John put together a nice drive a series later that ended with a 6-yard touchdown run by Jalen Kenner. However, the Tigers’ special teams unit would strike again in the second quarter.
With East St. John punting from the shadow of their own end zone, the Tigers blocked the kick and junior lineman Javen Toney recovered the ball in the end zone to give Hahnville a 21-7 lead.
The Tiger defense was impressive from that point on and applied constant pressure on Monroe throughout the second and third quarters. Monroe was rarely able to pick up positive yardage on his runs and his receivers couldn’t hold on to any of his passes.
In the fourth quarter, that would change.
East St. John used some trickery to cut into the Tigers lead. Taking advantage of a reverse flea flicker, Monroe lofted a pass to Rashad Green. Though Green was covered, the ball dropped into his hands and he found his way into the end zone to complete the 56-yard scoring strike.
The extra point was blocked, but the Hahnville lead was now 21-13 with 10:39 left in the game.
After the Hahnville offense stalled, Monroe again led his team down the field. This time, he used his feet to get to the outside and he sped 28 yards down the left sideline into the end zone. Though the Wildcats missed on a two-point attempt, they only trailed by two points with just under eight minutes left in the game.
That set the stage for the final touchdown, which was set up by two Hahnville penalties.
The Tigers are now 3-4 overall and 1-1 in district play. They host Higgins at home at 7 p.m.
Click here to view pictures from the game.
Destrehan 20 John Ehret 26
It was dejavu all over again for the Destrehan Wildcats Friday night as they fought from behind and fell short in overtime for the third time this season. The John Ehret Patriots were the victors this time by the exact same score as last week’s loss to Higgins, 26-20.
Destrehan running back Kevin Smith led the team again as he broke the 100-yard rushing mark with 103 yards on 20 carries.
The Wildcats were the first to strike in the game, driving down to the Ehret eight-yard line behind the arm of quarterback Donovan Isom and the running of Smith. Kicker Daniel Cimino then put Destrehan ahead with a 25-yard field goal.
The lead was short lived, however as the Patriots scored on their next drive on an 11-yard run by running back Trey Martin. The extra point was missed, leaving Ehret up 6-3 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
Destrehan turned the ball over on downs on their next possession, and Ehret took advantage of the short field with a long run by quarterback Mike Alexander and a nine-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Trammel Marshall. The extra point was made this time, giving Ehret a 13-3 lead.
After several punts were exchanged, the Wildcats caught a break when the ball was fumbled and Smith recovered it in Ehret territory. Six plays later, Cimino brought the Wildcats within a touchdown at 13-6 with a 28-yard field goal as the first half came to a close.
The third quarter featured both defenses making crucial stops, but the Wildcats finally got the better of the Patriot defense with an 80-yard drive led by long runs from Smith and fellow running backs Lou Donovan Wells and Talvin Michael. The drive culminated with a 14-yard touchdown run up the middle by Smith to tie the score at 13 with just 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
Ehret, however, struck back quickly and took to the air with several passes from Alexander to wide receiver Paul Belton. Finally, Alexander took the ball in himself with a nine-yard touchdown run to make the score 20-13.
After recovering from an interception on the next drive, the Wildcats got the ball back with less than five minutes to go in the game. Starting from their own 21-yard line, Isom quickly chewed up 34 yards on a run down the sideline. Then the tandem running of Isom and Smith brought them inside the Ehret 10 where Wells fought his way through several Patriot defenders on a nine-yard touchdown run. With the extra point, the Wildcats tied the score and forced overtime.
Ehret led off overtime with two plays that lost yardage, but Alexander ran a sweep to the left side on the third play and found the endzone from 12 yards out. The two-point conversion was no good, so Destrehan still had a chance to win on a touchdown and an extra point.
Isom took the ball on the first play and brought it down to the six, but two plays that gained no yardage followed. And one final fourth down play was all that remained. Isom took the ball up the middle, but fell inches short of the goaline, giving the Wildcats their second overtime loss in as many weeks and their third of the season.
Next Friday, the Wildcats face East St. John at home at 7 p.m.
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