Hahnville dominates again, this time felling East St. John

Anthony Williams
Anthony Williams

Two weeks after the low point of its season, the Hahnville Tigers appear reborn.

Hahnville put together a second-straight decisive win Friday night as it handled East St. John, 49-15, on a night the Tigers celebrated homecoming in Boutte.

Hahnville’s Anthony Williams scored twice, including once on a punt return, and Mike Neal threw three touchdown passes, each to different receivers.

HHS (4-3) led 42-0 at halftime.

“We’re a good football team,” HHS coach Nick Saltaformaggio said. “I keep saying it. We got shellshocked in those three games (consecutive losses to Riverside, Destrehan and St. Thomas More). You know, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. It doesn’t matter if you go 9-0 or 10-0 and you don’t advance in the playoffs. We’re back where we were last year at 4-3. We keep telling our kids, just keep doing the right things in practice and school. We’re getting better now.”

Operating primarily out of shotgun and pistol formations — the results of some tweaking following  three straight midseason losses — the Tigers looked as crisp and fluid moving the football as they have all year.

“It gives us the best opportunity to run the football,” Saltaformaggio said. “Lester (offensive coordinator Lester Ricard) did a great job calling the plays tonight, he really did. He’s getting more comfortable.”

Hahnville scored on the night’s opening drive, Norquell Flowers capping a 10-play, 72 yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge. Flowers also delivered on the drive’s key play, converting a third and 9 on a 17-yard screen pass from Neal.

After forcing a Wildcats three and out, Williams took the first punt of the night to the house, surging up the sideline for a score to make it 13-0 with 6:08 left in the first quarter.

Hahnville’s next drive came up empty, but it took just one play for Williams to score on the Tigers’ fourth drive of the night. He got loose for a 72-yard scoring run, and a Neal to Kevin Comardelle 2-point pass pushed the lead to 21-0 at the 9:21 mark of the second quarter.

Williams finished with 209 total yards (135 rushing, 74 receiving) on 14 touches – not including his return touchdown.

“He’s  in sane. He’s ridiculous,” Saltaformaggio said. “I don’t even have an adjective to describe him. He’s unbelievably great. I’m just glad he’s on Hahnville’s side.”

Not to be outshined, the Hahnville defense was on point as well. ESJ didn’t pick up a first down until there was less than a minute left in the first quarter. Midway through the second quarter, Stephen Cloud sacked ESJ quarterback Marquise Darensbourg two plays in a row, the second time forcing a fumble that was recovered by Jacob Plache. Drew Dunn made the Wildcats pay on a 3-yard touchdown run to make it 28-0 with 6:15 left.

Neal got in on the action to cap the half, tossing touchdowns to Chandler Fremen and Devonte Cravin of 12 and 6 yards respectively. He also connected with Cade Miguez for a second half score.

HHS has outscored its last two opponents by a combined 90-25 margin.

Saltaformaggio said getting a win in their building was important after two straight home losses – the Tigers’ win over Terrebonne last week came on the road.

“Last time we were here, we got smashed,” Saltaformaggio said. “So to come out and do what we did tonight, we feel pretty good about it.”

Click here to see our HHS/ESJ photo gallery. 

 

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