Leading 10-6 with Thibodaux driving into its territory early in the third quarter, Hahnville needed a momentum shift.
And the Tigers certainly got it.
Hahnville scored three touchdowns over the final six minutes of the third quarter to take a 31-6 lead and all but put the visitors away in what was ultimately a 34-20 victory at home in Tiger Stadium.
“I think we went back to what we do well fundamentally on both sides of the ball,” said Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne. “We tackle well. We work the heck out of tackling … we made it an emphasis and I think the kids are starting to understand – if the defense plays like it did tonight, we’re going to be a dangerous team.”
HHS handed Thibodaux its first loss of the season and the first of the Lowell Narcisse era. The former St. James star quarterback is in his first season as head coach of THS (5-1, 2-1).
Bennett Naquin scored twice and Fabian Celestine tallied 154 yards of offense in the win. Celestine rushed 26 times for 93 yards and caught three passes for 61 yards.
After securing a defensive stop, Hahnville drove down for the touchdown it needed to create some separation. Celestine made a strong run to the 1-yard line in which he pulled several defenders for extra yards before he was down. Landen Teague scored on a quarterback sneak to make it 17-6 in Hahnville’s favor.
HHS (5-1, 2-1) got the ball back again and again it drove down to score, this time capping things with a Naquin run from the quarterback position to make it 24-6.
“It’s a good wrinkle, good changeup for us,” Boyne said. “Bennett’s a 4.5 40 guy. He also can throw the ball. He’s multi-dimensional. We try to stress the defense as many ways as we can. And he and Landen play off each other. We’ll leave Landen at receiver and move Bennett to quarterback and vice versa.”
Brayden Fontenot’s interception and return for a score just before the end of the third quarter gave Hahnville a 31-6 lead.
“The statistics show if you get a defensive or a special teams touchdown, your chances of winning jump up to 80, 85 percent. Fontenot, heck of a play, read the pass, read the quarterback, jumped the route for an easy touchdown.”
Fontenot said Thibodaux had worked that concept a few times during the game, and this time Hahnville had a counter ready.
“We’d seen it a few plays before. They went back to it a few times. We saw it and robbed it … we made adjustments throughout the game. If we can just limit the big plays we’re going to be a really good defense,” Fontenot said.
Myles Borey kicked a fourth quarter field goal as well to round out Hahnville’s scoring. Thibodaux quarterback Damien Robertson threw touchdown passes to Khyren Folse and Jonathan Bell in the fourth quarter.
Teague and Naquin connected for an early touchdown pass that put Hahnville ahead 7-0. It was a largely defensive first half, with one key sequence a Thibodaux goal line stand late in the second quarter. Borey would add a field goal after a HHS defensive stop.
