Just when his team needed it – Beaux Woods called game.
With Hahnville holding a 13-12 lead with just over a minute left, the Tigers’ defensive end forced a fumble by East St. John quarterback Damon Scott that cemented a HHS victory at Tiger Stadium.
“If I’d kept going up the field, I’d have overran him,” said Woods. “Once I noticed he was able to step up, I retreated and instead of just trying to get a sack, I wanted to punch the ball out and get the ball back for us … everybody on the field stepped up and played their part. We played with energy and we weren’t giving up.”
That was one of four turnovers forced by the Tigers (5-3, 3-1) on a night its defense and special teams led the way. Brody Benoit intercepted a fourth quarter pass as well and recovered a deflected punt earlier in the second half.
“Four turnovers, and at least a dozen stops,” said Hahnville head football coach Greg Boyne. “(Offensively) we put them in a position to give up a lot more than 12 points, honestly. We were bad on offense. It was a bad performance, a bad performance by me. I put the kids in a bad situation multiple times. Thankfully the defense and the kicking game bailed us out.”
Woods – who made a tackle in the backfield in the fourth quarter as well to secure a fourth down stop for Hahnville – continued to be a force for Hahnville’s defense this season.
“Beaux’s been a weapon all year. He’s hard to block,” said Boyne. “They usually have to double him. He’s so aggressive coming off the edge … he’s a phenomenal player. Since he’s been here, ‘What do I need to do to get better? What do I need to do to be a leader?’ And he’s surpassed all of that. He’s one of our better players and better leaders.”
Hahnville led 10-6 in the third quarter – the Tigers’ touchdown on a Fabian Celestine 8-yard run. But both teams struggled to find offensive footing against the opposing defensive unit. An East St. John (2-6, 1-3) team that’s gotten healthier in recent weeks played Thibodaux tough a week ago in a 28-27 loss and a hungry Wildcats team arrived in Boutte Friday night.
“We talked about it with the kids – they’re not going to come here and lay down. That defense is not the same defense from the some of those earlier games. You saw it against Thibodaux. That’s a good defense with everyone healthy and their coaches do a phenomenal job.”
Two of Hahnville’s most experienced offensive linemen – Kirk Bourgeois and Jacob Savage – were sidelined for Hahnville, compounding matters.
“We had some guys out up front and I should have kept things a lot simpler,” Boyne said. “We miss Bourgeois, we miss Savage, those guys have played a lot of football for us. But it’s on me as a playcaller to put our guys in good situations.”
Midway through the third quarter, ESJ’s Brysen Gray intercepted a deep Landen Teague pass to Dwayne Cola to halt a Hahnville drive.
The scoring drought ended when East St. John’s most dangerous offensive player, Deontae Fleming, caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Scott with 2:13 left in the third quarter. Fleming caught the ball in the middle of the field and was off to the races for the score. It made it 12-10 – a two-point conversion try was no good.
East St. John stopped Hahnville on fourth down on the ensuing Tigers drive, hitting Celestine in the backfield.
Hahnville answered with a fourth down stop of its own, forcing a fourth down incompletion that Fleming nearly hauled in for a 1st.
Hahnville’s Treson Fields made a big gain into ESJ territory and then a personal foul penalty against the Wildcats set HHS up at the ESJ 19. East St. John forced a field goal attempt – Landon Aymond made his second field goal of the night, this one a go-ahead kick from 35 yards that made it 13-12.
“(Aymond) works. He cares,” said Boyne. “He comes out here every day and looks to perfect it. Whatever the coaches tell him to do, he works on it over and over and over again. And he’s become a weapon. He’s a kid that wasn’t on our radar four months ago, and he’s done a phenomenal job of making himself better and doing what it takes to become a good high school kicker.”
Benoit intercepted Scott to end the Wildcats’ next drive. East St. John forced a punt – the Tigers nearly downed Brody Raines’ kick down at the 1, but it went for a touchback – and East St. John had a chance to win the game.
But on the second play of the drive, Woods came up with the forced fumble – and Hahnville earned the win, bouncing back from its loss last week to Destrehan.
“It was very big to come out tonight with the win,” said Woods. “It was a tough loss last week and we had to shake that off mentally. We just wanted to come out here and show what we could do.”
