For the first time since 2019, the Hahnville Tigers are on to round two of the playoffs.
The Tigers had to regroup and rally against a H.L. Bourgeois team that brought the fight to Hahnville, but that’s exactly what HHS did in a 49-39 victory over the Braves in the opening round of the Division I non-select playoffs.
It was a monster night from Calvin Smith and the Hahnville offensive line that paved the way in this one. Smith rushed 20 times for 264 yards and three touchdowns, the senior back imposing his will on the game.
However, Bourgeois led at halftime of this one, 25-21, after an interception return for a touchdown just before halftime – a massive turnaround from the midseason meeting between the District 8-5A foes that Hahnville won 42-0.
Hahnville took control in the second half, leading 49-32 at one point.
No. 8 seeded Hahnville (8-2) will host Chalmette in round two. The No. 24-seeded Owls upset No. 9 Terrebonne, 20-17, winning on the final play of the game.
H.L. Bourgeois, the No. 25 seed in Division I, finishes the season with a record of 5-6.
Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne earned his first playoff win as a head coach in his first year at the helm of the Tigers program.
For Boyne, emotions were mixed after the game – pleased for his Tigers to advance, in particular a senior class that had not experienced a playoff win, but also disappointed in a large number of mistakes made over the course of the night that made this far closer than the first meeting between the Tigers and Braves.
“We tried not to mention it, but the seniors knew (of the playoff win dry spell),” Boyne said. “That can weigh on kids and you could kind of see it tonight … so getting that off our back is huge and I’m happy for our guys to go out and get that win in the playoffs.
“(At the same time) we made mistakes. There were too many personal fouls to even speak about – that’s disappointing, disgusting, honestly. You are going to make mistakes over the course of a game, but those are mental penalties that we can control, and we didn’t.”
One thing that came as no surprise to Boyne was that Bourgeois would enter the game with a lot of fire after suffering a lopsided loss the first time.
“I thought they’d come in as a prideful team – credit to Coach (Sterling) Washington and his team, they took the fight to us. We went ahead of them and they fought back to take the lead. It was a battle,” Boyne said.
The game was tied 7-7 and it looked like Hahnville was on the verge of a stop of Bourgeois in Hahnville territory. Raymond Williams sacked quarterback Conner Wallace, helping to set up a 4th and 15.
But Wallace threw a long ball to Kadar Mitchell down the left sideline, putting Bourgeois ahead 13-7 – Frederic Downing Jr. blocked the kick on the point after to keep the deficit to six.
Hahnville took the lead when Bennett Naquin scored on a 50-yard run to make it 14-13 midway through the second quarter.
The Tigers looked to be on the verge of breaking the game open after blocking a punt to take over at the Bourgeois 12. Smith punched it into the endzone to lift Hahnville to a 21-13 lead.
But Bourgeois struck quickly again – and again, it was Wallace to Mitchell for a 66-yard touchdown over the top.
And with 21 seconds before halftime, disaster stuck as Bourgeois’ Brennan Coffman intercepted a pass and returned for a touchdown to jump ahead of the Tigers just before halftime, 25-21.
“That is on me,” Boyne said. “I should have called for a run and got out of there – we didn’t play a good first half. With (kicker) Myles Borey, I felt like a long field goal is always possible … I shouldn’t have put Landen in that situation.”
The Tigers regrouped at halftime.
Smith broke loose very early in the third quarter to score on a long run, making it 28-25 in Hahnville’s favor. Jha’man Preston also scored a touchdown as the Tigers extended out to a 49-32 lead, and into the second round.
“We had some crazy things happen. Twice a cornerback falls and we give up a wide open touchdown … we missed some assignments and we might need to simplify things a little defensively,” Boyne said.
“We’re scratching our heads over a few things tonight, but we’re glad to still be playing. It beats the alternative, for sure.”
