The Hahnville Tigers stayed in the hunt for the district championship Friday night with a runaway 38-13 win over the St. Amant Gators.
Running back Ahmad White again was the driving force behind the offense, rushing for 290 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Derek Howard also put up big numbers as he caught five passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, quarterback Brian Ensminger showed little signs of the injury that hobbled him two weeks ago, throwing for 218 yards and two touchdowns.
The defense also was successful in Head Coach Lou Valdin’s plan to keep the Gator offense off of the field as much as possible. Linebacker Ben Taylor and defensive lineman Jordan Thompson both recovered fumbles and the defense as a whole became only the third squad this year to hold St. Amant under 30 points.
Both teams started slow as the defenses dominated most of the first quarter. But the Tigers put together a long drive near the end of the quarter that culminated in a one-yard Ensminger sneak for a touchdown.
After that score, the Tiger offense shifted into high gear. On their next possession, Ensminger connected with Desvon Joseph for 40 yards to start the drive and then ended it with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Howard.
Four minutes later, Howard was in the end zone again on a 21-yard strike from Ensminger to give the Tigers a 21-0 lead going into halftime. The Tigers would then make it 28-0 towards the middle of the third quarter on a 30-yard touchdown run by White.
With the game seemingly out of hand, the Gators then found new life on a 56-yard touchdown run by Matt Marrero and then on a 62-yard run by quarterback Jaylin LeBlanc. But with a 24-yard field goal by the Tigers’ Austin Freman sandwiched in between the two, Hahnville still held a comfortable 31-13 lead.
The Tigers would tack on one more score on a 40-yard touchdown run by White as they secured their sixth victory of the season.
The Tigers are now 6-2 overall and are 3-1 in district play. Hahnville will travel to Reserve next Friday to take on the East St. John Wildcats in the final game of the regular season.
Click here to see Hahnville vs. St. Amant photos.
Destrehan posts incredible comeback win
It was a tale of two halves Friday night at Wildcat stadium.
In the first half, the East Ascension Spartans took advantage of a Destrehan turnover with a fumble recovery in the end zone and then put two field goals through the uprights to lead 13-0 at halftime.
After a 68-yard run by the Spartans’ Michael Sparrow early in the third quarter, it looked as if Destrehan was going to suffer its fifth loss in a row.
But, their fortunes changed the rest the way. Their scoring run began on a seven-yard touchdown run by Kevin Smith.
Still down by 13 going into the fourth quarter, Destrehan needed good things to happen quickly. And quarterback Dillan Dent fulfilled that need with a 90-yard touchdown pass to De’Ante’ Armstrong. Then, the Wildcats blocked a Spartan punt and defensive back Aaron St. Pierre ran it back 45-yards for the score.
And the Wildcats capped it off with a drive ending in a one-yard touchdown run from Smith to seal the victory.
The Wildcats are now 3-6 on the year and 1-3 in district play. Destrehan will host the St. Amant Gators next Friday night in their final regular season game.
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