Last minute comeback falls short as Hahnville upset by Thibodaux

With 32 seconds left in the game Hahnville was poised to tie up the contest after recovering an onside kick only moments earlier.

Freshman kicker Dalton Melancon, the third kicker the Tigers have used in the past two weeks, boomed the ball off the hold by wide receiver Waylon LeBlanc. It was obvious he had the distance and players and fans alike began to cheer before the ball clanged high off the left upright no good. With no timeouts left Hahnville (2-2) had no choice, but to watch Thibodaux (4-0)down the ball and end the game with a score of 19-16.

Click here to see photos from the game.

Despite the closeness of the contest in the final seconds, the game actually looked like an easy win for Thibodaux who went up 19-7 at the end of the first half and held onto the lead until late in the fourth quarter.

Hahnville had a few good drives in the second half, but two fumbles in the red zone eliminated their chance of narrowing the score.

One of those fumbles ended with Thibodaux pinned deep back at their goal line. Thibodaux senior quarterback Peyton Bonvillian dropped back and was met by two Hahnville defenders and looked to be heading toward the turf for a safety when he miraculously twisted out of a tackle, rolled toward the sideline and unleashed a 40-yard bomb to an awaiting receiver in the middle of the field.

Hahnville’s next series ended again with a fumble deep in Thibodaux territory. Only this time Hahnville was able to keep their opponents from advancing the ball and rather then risking a blocked punt deep in their own end zone, or a return for a touchdown, Thibodaux’s punter ran off as much of the clock as possible before stepping out of bounds to take a safety and narrow the score 19-9.

Hahnville took over on the next series and advanced the ball deep into Thibodaux territory off a long scramble by quarterback Austin Perrin in his first career start. Perrin followed the scramble up with a 28-yard strike to senior wide receiver Brandon Singelton who jumped up and snatched the ball out of the air in the end zone to bring the score to 19-16. Despite linebacker Chris Marshall recovering the ensuing onside kick that is as close as it would get for Hahnville.

In the first quarter Thibodaux held the ball for all but three plays, one of which was a fumble by Hahnville that set up the first touchdown of the night on a four-yard run up the middle by Thibodaux running back Jaquan Chenier.

Hahnville was able to come back two drives later, after recovering a fumble by Thibodaux, with senior running back Rickey Preston running in a seven-yard touchdown to bring the score to 7-7.

However, Thibodaux struck right back and Bonvillian eluded waht looked to be a tackle for loss and turned it into a long gain. Chenier followed that up with a short run for another touchdown. After Hahnville blocked the point after attempt the score was 13-7.

At the end of the first half it looked like Hahnville had received a godsend when Thibodaux muffed a punt at the seven-yard line and Hahnville recovered. With three seconds to go in the half freshman kicker Matthew Boyer’s kick filed goal attempt was blocked and a Thibodaux defender scooped up the ball and ran it in for an 85-yard touchdown that served as their final score of the game, which gave them enough of a lead to hold onto for the remainder of the contest and take the win home.

 

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