Time and again, the Hahnville defense came up with critical stops in the second half at Thibodaux.
And faced with a third-and-two – and a chance to clinch the game with less than two minutes left to play – the Hahnville offense surged for exactly what was needed.
It added up to a critical victory for Hahnville Friday night, as HHS earned a hard-fought 24-20 win and handed Thibodaux just its second loss of the season.
Fabian Celestine’s 20-yard touchdown run with 7:57 left in the third quarter proved the game-winning touchdown, putting Hahnville ahead by four – it was the only touchdown in a second half in which Hahnville (6-3, 3-2) shut Thibodaux out. The touchdown was Celestine’s second of the night.
He’d come through again on Hahnville’s final possession, earning some tough yardage on third-and-two to secure a first down with 1:42 left to play – and Thibodaux (7-2, 4-2) out of time outs.
“I knew it was big. We needed to get two tough yards, and I just had the mindset if we get these tough yards we’re gonna come out with the W. And that’s what happened,” said Celestine. “This (win) was pretty big. We’re fighting to try and get two home games, so next week’s going to be big for us too.”
The win was a key one for Hahnville in terms of playoff positioning – the win over Thibodaux, currently ranked ninth in power points in Class 5A non-select, moved Hahnville up into the top 10. A win over Central Lafourche next week would secure at least one playoff home game for Hahnville.
“Coach (Lowell) Narcisse has done a tremendous job since he’s been here. So, to come here in what was a playoff atmosphere, it gives our kids something to come back to when we get on the road in the playoffs,” said Hahnville head football coach Greg Boyne.
Each stop by the HHS defense was crucial over the game’s final stages, several coming deep in Hahnville territory. Thibodaux’s final possession saw it face a 4th down just outside of the Hahnville redzone. Damien Robertson’s pass was broken up by Brody Benoit and Hahnville forced a turnover on downs.
“Everybody knows what that offense can do,” Boyne said of Thibodaux. “To shut them out for a couple of drives or a quarter, let alone an entire half – hat’s off to Coach (Malter) Scobel and the defensive staff, they made some tremendous adjustments at halftime.”
Boyne said his team has had several players step up whenever their number is called.
“You know, Benoit, and (Nicholas) Troxler … there’s a lot of kids, whether they start or not, they come in and they make plays every week,” said Boyne. “The linebackers rotate. There’s really no starter. There’s no selfishness. They’re in the game, they know their job and they make plays … (Benoit) made the play when his time came, and it was a huge stop.”
Benoit said the fourth down play Thibodaux ran was one Hahnville drilled against many times in the days leading up to the game.
“Credit to our coaches. We’ve got a couple of guys out with injury, and it’s really a team effort. We’ve had guys coming in who don’t normally play, and they stepped up big time. Our coaches changed the scheme up a little bit and we played more man. It was a complete team effort tonight,” Benoit said.
Thibodaux’s prior possession saw HHS flush Robertson out of the pocket – Robertson took off up the field but slid near Hahnville’s 10-yard line, ruled just short of the yardage needed to convert the first.
Early in the second half, Hahnville also made a successful goal line to force another turnover on downs.
Thibodaux led 13-10 in the second quarter when Hahnville took a 17-13 lead on a Jackson Porter touchdown with 1:34 left before halftime.
But Thibodaux answered immediately. A deep bomb from Robertson to Carlton Ingram set Thibodaux up at the HHS 10. The two connected again, with Ingram finding open space on a crosser into the endzone that put THS back up 20-17 going into halftime.
Landen Teague found Aaron Williams for a big gain on Hahnville’s first possession of the second half. That set up Celestine’s go-ahead touchdown run.
