Hahnville put together the ideal performance in its last game before the playoffs begin next week, putting on a show for the home fans at Tiger Stadium Friday night – and likely ensuring a chance to play there again in each of the next two weeks.
The Tigers rolled to a 52-7 victory over Central Lafourche, excelling in all phases. Hahnville ranked ninth in Division I non-select’s power points ranking, one spot behind Thibodaux, but Hahnville knew a win Friday would present a chance to move up. With Thibodaux’s loss to Lafayette Renissance, it seems likely Hahnville will place in the top 8 when official seeding is announced, which would mean the Tigers host a playoff game in Round 1 and, if Hahnville wins, would host in Round 2 as well.
“The beginning was a little shaky, but I thought we played well in all three phases overall, which is important going into the playoffs. I thought we ran the ball really well. Defense, once again, great performance, didn’t give up anything until the JV was in,” said Hahnville head football coach Greg Boyne. “It was a really good all-around victory.”
Boyne said the Tigers knew they had to be ready for anything, as Central Lafourche’s only way into the playoff field was a win at Hahnville Friday night.
“We talked to the kids this week about – to put yourself in their position, you know what’s on the line, and we figured they’d pull out all the stops. We told them they’d try trick plays, onside kicks, fake punts, going on fourth down, because they’re trying to get in. I thought our kids were prepared,” Boyne said.
Landen Teague threw two touchdown passes and Fabian Celestine rushed for two scores to pace the Tiger offense – though Hahnville (7-3, 5-1) had to wait a bit to get on the board. Teague was intercepted early on by Central ‘s Malikk Bentley, which controlled the ball for a majority of the first quarter, though the Tigers ultimately kept the Trojans (4-6, 1-5), off the board.
Once Hahnville got the ball back, however, it would not be slowed. The Tigers drove down to the Central 24-yard line and Teague went over the top to Aaron Williams, who hauled in the pass in the back of the endzone to make it 7-0.
Celestine and the ground game supplied the next two scores on runs of 15 and 11 yards to make it 21-0 late in the second quarter.
Just before halftime, Teague connected with Treson Fields for a 10-yard scoring pass. Hahnville put an exclamation point on the first half when Riley Folse sacked Central quarterback Brock Babin on the final play of the second quarter, and Hahnville led 28-0.
Landon Aymond made a field goal in the third quarter to extend the Hahnville lead to 31-0. That grew to 38-0 on a touchdown run by backup quarterback Madden Mayeux.
Hahnville scored on back-to-back fourth quarter possessions on runs by Jah’mar Lewis and Demari Celestine.
“I started off with a pick, but we bounced back really well,” said Teague. “Our defense only gave up seven points, and we know we can win every game if they can do that. And after my pick on offense, we got back out here, bounced back and finished the game well … we just knew we had to score. We know our defense had our back like they always do, and we just had to go out and score so we could win the game.”
It was another strong defensive performance by Hahnville, which has grown into a fearsome unit over the course of the season.
“We knew what we had to do tonight,” said senior safety Brayden Fontenot. “We knew we needed to keep our level of play up, and we came out and did our job. Now, we move on … (defensively) we started kind of slow this year, but we had a talk as a group and it’s really come together since then. This is a close group, a good group.”
Fontenot added that while playing at Tiger Stadium to open the playoffs is exciting, “the job’s not finished.”
“We’re excited, but we also know how it’s ended for us the past two years. Nobody’s going to lay down for us. We’ve got to go out and play our best,” Fontenot said.
