Hahnville’s offense started to get in a groove in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s game with Riverside, but it proved to be a little too late.
Led by quarterback Herb McGee and a sterling defensive effort, Riverside came away from Tiger Stadium with a 10-7 victory.
“We didn’t execute the way we should have,” Hahnville coach Nick Saltaformaggio said. “And a lot of that had to do with what (Riverside) did to us. We had a tough time handling McGee. He’s a big, athletic kid and they did a good job getting him out on the perimeter.”
The Tigers (2-1) scored their first points with 4:19 left in game on Mike Neal’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Devonte Cravin.
But Riverside pounded out the remainder of time behind McGee and its offensive line. As he did often Friday night, McGee kept the ball and converted first downs — three on the final drive — to allow the Rebels to burn the remaining clock.
“That’s what we talk about on offense, moving the chains,” McGee said. “Coach put the ball in my hands and I trust my offensive line. They’ve done a great job since week one, and tonight they did it even better … All of those guys opened up the lanes.
“It’s a big win. A lot of people thought we were crazy for scheduling the teams we did. Every player here believes. Riverside football is tough football. That’s the identity we’ve set out to have for ourselves. And tonight we beat a really strong 5A program.”
Hahnville fumbled the ball away in the redzone on its second to last possession, a mistake that proved critical.
“We should have just fallen on it. We tried to make a play where there wasn’t one to be made. It killed us,” Saltaformaggio said.
Riverside scored its touchdown on a 16-yard McGee run in the second quarter. Tyler Gauthier kicked a first quarter field goal for the Rebels.
Saltaformaggio said he wasn’t happy with the way the Tigers practiced all week, and he felt that factor bit them on Friday.
“Football’s really a simple game,” Saltaformaggio said. “You play how you practice. And tonight we played how we practiced all week. I’ve tried to get their attention, and hopefully we learned a lesson tonight. You can maybe get away with (poor practice effort) when you’re playing somebody you’re more talented than, but against equal talent, against a strong team like (Riverside), it comes back to haunt you.”
To see photos from Friday’s game, visit https://www.heraldguide.com/siphotos/2015/09/18/hhs-vs-riverside.
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