Hahnville had to wait a little bit longer than expected for its road battle with Central Lafourche, the game rescheduled midweek to be played Saturday morning due to aftermath of Hurricane Zeta. But once the Tigers arrived, they proved to be hungry as ever.
HHS racked up 38 first half points to quickly put the Trojans away, eventually securing a 52-6 victory in District 7-5A competition.
It marked the second time Hahnville played a game suddenly rescheduled due to storm-related concerns, the first coming in Week 2 where the Tigers faced Terrebonne on a Wednesday. Saturday’s game represented the first of three straight road matchups for Hahnville (4-1, 3-1), and the team took care of business.
While prep teams tend to enjoy the comforts of playing at home – and on Friday nights, for that matter – Hahnville head coach Daniel Luquet said this is a group quickly learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
“This year has been anything but common,” said Luquet. “So we talk about this a lot, because of that we have to be uncommon as football players and as a football team. Last year, we had to do something similar when we played H.L. Bourgeois on a Saturday because of a storm. You have to be able to face the adversity and find a way to go with the flow and get it done.”
Hahnville got started quickly and Central Lafourche (0-5, 0-3. Andrew Naquin led HHS down the field for its first scoring drive, connecting with Corey Lorio for a touchdown pass to make it 7-0 less than three minutes into the game.
Naquin found paydirt on a run with 50 seconds left in the first quarter to double the lead to 14-0. He’d account for his third touchdown of the day shortly after, finding running back Trey LaBranch on another touchdown pass to make it 21-0 with 10:49 left in the second quarter.
LaBranch added another score midway through the quarter, this time via the ground game, rushing for it this time to make it 28-0. Tate White pushed the Tigers over the 30-point mark, his field goal with 38 seconds to go before halftime giving HHS a 31-0 lead. But the Tigers weren’t finished in the first half just yet: the HHS defense quickly got the ball back for the offense, and Cole Villasenor punched it in on the ground to cap the ensuing drive to make it a 38-0 halftime lead.
Villesenor added a second touchdown run after halftime, while Jeremy White scored two of his own on the ground to round out the Hahnville scoring.
LaBranch finished with 118 total yards and a score on just eight touches. Naquin completed 7 of 19 passes for two touchdowns and one interception, and added 55 yards and a touchdown on two carries. Troy Kendrick and Dakota Williams each had three receptions, Kendrick tallying 50 yards and Williams 39. White tallied 52 yards on eight carries.
Thus far this season, LaBranch has rushed for 873 yards and 11 touchdowns on 74 carries. Naquin has passed for 78 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions – his touchdown mark already equaling his 12-game season total from a year ago. Kendrick has led a talented pass catching corps with 28 receptions for 382 yards and four touchdowns thus far, with Lorio tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns with four of his own.
The win was the fourth time this year Hahnville has scored 47 or more points.
Defensively, Cincere Simmons had a big day with three quarterback sacks, setting the tone on a day the Tigers decisively won the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
“I was really impressed with the way our defense played and pleased with how we controlled the line of scrimmage,” Luquet said.
One of the biggest assists of the week came a night before, however, for a Hahnville team that maintains district championship hopes – Destrehan rallied to defeat East St. John, which handed Hahnville its only district loss earlier this season. That leaves HHS and ESJ tied in the loss column, with Hahnville and Destrehan set to play in the regular season’s final week at Hahnville.
An instance where Hahnville might have been cheering on a Destrehan win?
It truly is 2020, after all.
“We’re one game closer to that goal,” Luquet said.
Be the first to comment