The Hahnville Tigers were two yards away from suffering a shocking playoff loss after West Jefferson staged a furious rally in the last minute of the game on Friday night. But the Buccaneers fell short and the Tigers will now travel to Lafayette to take on No. 2-ranked STM after their 35-31 victory.
The Tigers, who trailed 21-14 at the break, looked like a different football team on both sides of the ball in the second half. Using a pounding running attack that relied on a heavy dose of star running back Ahmad White with an occasional peppering of fullback Treval Dunmiles, Hahnville didn’t have a problem moving the football.
And because the Tigers were having so much success running the ball, it allowed quarterback Brian Ensminger to get the Tigers back into the game with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Dontrell Strickland with 4:49 remaining in the third quarter.
In the fourth, the Tigers would take the lead after Ensminger and Strickland hooked up once again to bring Hahnville to the 7-yard line. Dunmiles then ran two straight times, eventually carrying defenders into the end zone. The Tigers missed the extra point, but went on top 26-21.
The Hahnville defense, which had given up several big plays in the first half before shutting West Jeff down in the second, gave their offense a nice Christmas gift on the Buccaneers next possession.
Jontrell Lockett, who played one of his best games of the year, flew into West Jeff quarterback Shawn Hoye Jr. and knocked the ball out of the signal caller’s hands. Lockett then went down to the ground to recover the fumble at the 31.
It was Lockett’s second forced fumbled of the game.
The Tigers had trouble moving the ball after that, but Ensminger had a gutsy run on 4th and 6, managing to pick up seven yards to the 7-yard line before going out of bounds. Dunmiles would score his second touchdown shortly after to put the Tigers on top 35-21 after a successful 2-point conversion with 3:37 left in the game.
But here is where things got interesting.
The Tiger defense came up big once again when sophomore Sergio Medina intercepted Hoye near the Hahnville goal line with 1:11 left, seemingly giving the Tigers the victory. But the Tigers failed to pick up a first down after Medina’s pick, and instead of punting it back to West Jeff, Hahnville took a safety with 38 seconds left in the game.
On the ensuing kick, West Jeff had a huge return and would score after Hoye tossed an 8-yard touchdown. The Buccaneers successfully completed a two-point conversion and trailed 35-31.
West Jeff then recovered an onsides kick, which worked perfectly and allowed them to start on Hahnville’s 49 with 9 seconds left. Hoye lofted the ball to the end zone on the first play, and the Tigers were flagged for interference, moving the ball to the 34 with 1 second left.
That’s when Hoye found Patrick Bethley wide open on the 2-yard line. But before Bethley could make a turn and head into the end zone, he was knocked out of bounds by Tyren Hills to preserve the Tiger win.
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