The Hahnville Tigers fell hard to the Barbe Bucaneers in the second round of the playoffs.
After pulling off an upset in a lopsided win in the first round of the playoffs versus Ouachita it seemed Hahnville had momentum on their side facing off in the second round at home versus Barbe, who were last year’s runners up in class 5A.
However, the rushing attack Hahnville had relied on for over 300 yards in back-to-back wins was largely shut down by the Bucaneers’ defense.
Meanwhile Hahnville’s defense had their hands full with Barbe’s pass heavy offense and the specter of having to face off against future LSU wide receiver Trey Quinn, who just last week grabbed the record for most receiving yards ever at the high school level.
Although Quinn was the mostly highly touted player on Barbe’s offense, it was quarterback Kennon Fontenot who did most of the damage for the Bucaneers on the night.
On Barbe’s first drive Fontenot connected with Quinn on screen passes to either side of the field, both of which Quinn turned into big gains.
Then, like he would for much of the rest of the game, Fontenot scrambled for first downs and moved around in the pocket to allow extra time for his receivers to get open before making spot on throws across the field.
The combination of Quinn and Fontenot brought the ball down to Hahnville’s one-yard line where Hahnville linebacker Timothy Roberts was able to stuff a run up the middle for no gain. The second time around though the Bucaneers were able to knock the ball in to take a 7-0 lead.
Hahnville’s defense was able to come back and cause back-to-back fumbles to end the first quarter. But quarterback Dylan Keller, who started to mount a drive off a turnover, was injured on a hard tackle and remained out for the rest of the game. The closest the Tigers’ offense would get to scoring in the first half was a long field goal that fell short.
Outside of the first series, Quinn only had little success as a receiver for Barbe, but on the second score of the game he served as a decoy as Fontenot pumped faked the ball towards him and then threw a 29-yard touchdown to another receiver over the middle of the field. Fontenot would follow that up with a 12-yard scramble on the next drive for a touchdown.
However, Quinn would see success in rushing the ball, capping off the half’s scoring with a 12-yard rushing touchdown to take a 28-0 lead into the locker room.
The second half began with another touchdown through the air for Barbe, but Hahnville’s defense struck back with their pass rush and recorded back-to-back sacks by defensive lineman Frederick Brown and linebacker Dequante’ Taylor to push Barbe deep into their own territory.
Taking over at midfield running back Lynn Simmons ran for a first down and caught a pass for another before a pass interference call on the defense put Hahnville within striking distance. Simmons would run in Hahnville’s first touchdown of the game off a 15-yard draw play to close out the third quarter with a score of 35-7.
In the fourth quarter Barbe came back with a rushing attack that ate up nearly half the time remaining before Fontenot connected again on a 29-yard touchdown pass.
On the ensuing kickoff running back Mikquell Chest put in a great effort returning the ball 55-yards up the sideline before Barbe’s kicker took him down. However, a personal foul and ejection would take 15-yards off the end of the return.
With the game out of reach Hahnville gave fans a taste of what next year’s team may look like by putting sophomore Mike Neal in at quarterback.
Neal did not waste any time connecting on a 13-yard pass to wide receiver Brandon Singleton and then making a short throw to tight end Tyler Lamers who took the ball 38 yards down to the one-yard line. Two plays later Chest dove into the end zone to make the score 42-14.
After taking over again on offense Barbe ran the clock out and put an end to Hahnville’s season.
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