For the second straight week, Hahnville went toe-to-toe with one of the state’s top teams, but came up just short.
Unlike last week’s shootout loss at East St. John, this time it was a defensive slugfest as defending Division II non-select champion Lutcher held on for a 14-7 non-district victory Thursday that saw both teams play to a scoreless tie in the second half. The Bulldogs’ defense came up huge in the redzone, intercepting two passes to derail Tiger drives and forcing a missed field goal attempt on a third trip.
Much like last week, it was a double-edged sword for a Tigers team that struggled mightily in the season’s opening month – the offense moved the ball well against one of the state’s most talented defensive teams and the defense held Lutcher to less than 200 total yards of offense.
But for a Hahnville team now badly needing to add victories if a return to the playoffs is to be realized, the missed opportunities were frustrating, and there is no doubt now that the Tigers’ backs are against the wall – it will need to run the table in its three remaining games to have a chance.
“We shoot ourselves in the foot at the most inopportune times,” said Hahnville head coach Daniel Luquet. “Two turnovers in the redzone again, penalties setting us back … even if we don’t score touchdowns on those drives, three field goals win this for us. We continue to make simple mistakes … we have to be more football savvy.”
Trenton Chaney was the Bulldogs’ backbone on the first drive of the night, getting Lutcher (5-1) down to the 1-yard line of Hahnville (1-5) on three consecutive runs before Quinn Smith took the ball in on a quarterback keeper to make it 7-0.
Hahnville answered on the ensuing drive. After Calvin Smith drew a penalty on a pass downfield, the Tigers went on the move. Kobe Louis caught two passes from Ryan Gregson to get Hahnville inside the LHS 30. Chase Brooks ran a sweep from the 15 on into the endzone to set up a 1-yard Gregson sneak, tying the game 7-7.
It seemed things might be headed for a shootout after two drives, but both defenses dug in from there. The next key drive came after a shanked punt by Hahnville allowing Lutcher to take over at the 27-yard line of Hahnville. Chaney made the field position could, rushing for a 27-yard touchdown that gave LHS a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.
Hahnville marched down into the Lutcher redzone on its next drive, a Gregson 21-yard pass to Louis with 44 seconds left in the half putting HHS down at the Bulldogs’ 15. Kai Brown came up with the big play for Lutcher, intercepting a Gregson pass over the middle to secure his team’s halftime lead.
The Tigers extended their first drive of the second half with a fake punt – Smith took the ball up the left side to convert on fourth down off a direct snap to him. The drive was derailed on a fumbled exchange on a third down sweep play and tackle for loss.
But a fumbled punt by Lutcher gave Hahnville its second chance for a game-tying score, HHS taking over at the LHS 16. Again, a Bulldogs player stepped up to end the threat when Dale Smith intercepted a short pass.
A third chance for Hahnville to tie came in the fourth quarter, keyed on a pass by Gregson to Smith on a wild play that saw Smith juggle the ball, Lutcher nearly coming away with an interception, Smith regathering it and then separating for a big gain to the LHS 25.
This time, it appeared Hahnville was inches away from tying things up – a pretty fade from Gregson to Louis in the corner of the endzone was caught, but the latter was ruled to have come down out of bounds and the play was incomplete. On the next play, a disastrous penalty pushed HHS back 15 yards to the HHS 29. A field goal attempt sailed no good and Lutcher took over.
The Bulldogs ran out most of the remaining clock from there via the ground game – HHS forced a punt with less than 30 seconds left, but it was fumbled on the return, ending the game.
“We did some good things, but when we have to execute and make a play in scoring range, we’re compounding the problem with a mistake,” Luquet said. “Not knowing an assignment, drawing a penalty … we’re not consistent enough on offense to make those mistakes.”
Louis set a personal season-high in receptions with 7, those going for 96 yards. Gregson completed 17-of-28 passes for 183 yards and two interceptions. Smith was a workhorse for the Tigers, carrying 18 times for 50 yards and catching 7 passes for 65 yards.
Defensively, Hahnville held Lutcher to 176 yards on the night, including just 38 passing yards. But turnovers did Hahnville in, with three on the night.
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