Hahnville wasted no time in taking control of Friday night’s District 8-5A – and homecoming – game with H.L. Bourgeois, taking a 21-0 lead into halftime on the way to an eventual 42-0 victory at Tiger Stadium.
Calvin Smith scored three touchdowns, while Jha’man Preston and Patrick Jackson added rushing scores of their own in the win for Hahnville (3-1, 2-0). Landen Teague connected with Kobe Louis for a touchdown through the air.
Homecoming week can be a treacherous one for prep teams – and though Hahnville has dominated the series between these teams, the Braves entered the game at a record of 3-1 and have been much improved this season. But the Tigers were locked in and focused from the jump. That focus was nowhere more apparent than on the defensive side of the ball for Hahnville, which recorded its first shutout of the season.
“We had to keep our head in the game and do what we always do at practice,” said Tigers’ defensive lineman Raymond Williams, who derailed the Braves’ first drive of the night with a sack. “We come out on Friday, do a job and show everyone what we’re all about … I honestly felt like we could have come out in the first half better, but at the end of the day it’s all about getting that ‘W.'”
Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne said it was good to see the team focused and able to build on what it’s established so far this season – and, of course, to see a shutout represented on the scoreboard.
“I thought the defense played well – we were better assignment wise and tackling wise,” Boyne said. “We emphasized that Monday and Tuesday and we came out tonight and did what we worked in practice. Any time you come out and do that, you’re happy.”
Boyne was especially pleased to see the Tigers maintain its level of play into the second half.
“I thought we played, maybe, our best half of the year (in the second half),” Boyne said. “We got the stop right away and then scored running the football. We mixed in passes … I was really pleased with the second half.”
Hahnville capped its first drive of the night with Smith’s first touchdown run, lifting the Tigers to a 7-0 lead.
He set up his second scoring run with a 54-yard run to the Bourgeois 10-yard line before ultimately punching it in from the 1, making it 14-0 early in the second quarter.
A difficult situation came about a little later in the quarter when running back Fabian Celestine, who’s established himself as one of the team’s most explosive playmakers early this season, was injured near the Tigers’ sideline. Celestine was carted off the field with an apparent leg injury. HHS head coach Greg Boyne said the extent of the injury wasn’t yet known.
Despite an emotional lull following the injury, Hahnville executed to complete the drive, Teague finding Louis on a slant in the red zone for a touchdown with 7:31 to go before halftime.
The Tigers scored almost immediately to begin the second half, with Smith capping Hahnville’s first drive of the third quarter with a breakaway run to make it 28-0.
Preston and Jackson each followed up with touchdown runs as Hahnville put things away. The teams agreed to a running clock in the fourth quarter.
“Homecoming week, can be distracting, and coming off a big win (against Terrebonne), that can be a distraction,” Boyne said. “No matter how many times you say we’re not gonna be distracted, you have 16 and 17 year olds and it’s going to happen … I thought we handled it for the most part pretty well.”
