With Lakeshore driving in attempt to tie the game, Brayden Fontenot’s interception in the endzone in the final moments of play sealed a 28-21 victory for Hahnville over the host Titans Thursday.
While it was a non-district game for Hahnville (8-2), it was one that carried a great deal of weight. Lakeshore (8-2) ranked No. 2 in Division II non-select power points, and Hahnville’s win figures to jump the Tigers up from its 15th spot in Division I non-select. How far the Tigers move up will be determined by the rest of the week’s results.
But the win almost certainly cemented a home game in next week’s opening round of the playoffs for the Tigers, who shook off a loss to rival Destrehan to bounce back on a short week of preparation.
“All in all, a pretty good performance,” said Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne. “They’re the No. 2 team in 4A for a reason. Very well-coached. Coach Indest and their whole staff does a tremendous job … playing on a Thursday night, on a short week after the emotional loss last week, I can’t say enough about the players and the coaches. I really appreciate their effort, because it’s one thing to play on a short week, but another to come out and play a team the quality of Lakeshore.”
Fabian Celestine scored twice for Hahnville, while Bennett Naquin and Michael Propps also scored touchdowns for the Tigers. Landen Teague threw a pair of touchdown passes.
Hahnville led throughout the game, but Lakeshore scored to cut what was a 28-14 lead to 28-21, then drove deep into Hahnville territory before Fontenot clinched the win on his interception.
“The play before, they ran a fade route up the sideline, and it was overthrown. We thought they might go back to that play. Instead they came over the middle and Brayden was sitting right there ready for it,” Boyne said.
Boyne said cementing that opening round home game was certainly a goal for his team.
“Last year, when we played (in the playoffs) here, the atmosphere was awesome,” Boyne said. “As far as the draw, where you fall, you can think you want to be somewhere, but it might be a bad draw. We have a couple coaches who kind of project it out, and they think we’ll be somewhere between 8 and 11. So we’ll see who it is on Sunday.”
The brackets are released Sunday morning by the LHSAA.
