Hahnville pushes past Thibodaux in battle of undefeated teams

Terrebonne, H.L. Bourgeois set to meet in annual rivalry tilt

October 15, 2019

Trojans’ offense evolving beyond the run in recent weeks

October 15, 2019

All season long, Thibodaux has had a flare for the dramatic and the ability to find ways to win close, hard-fought games decided in the final seconds.

But on Friday night against Hahnville, Thibodaux got a dose of their own medicine, this time losing one of the close ones that they’d become so accustomed to winning.

Hahnville beat Thibodaux 36-28 on Friday in a battle of the unbeatens. Thibodaux led the game several times, but couldn’t finish. Hahnville scored twice in the final few minutes to secure the win.

Thibodaux coach Chris Dugas said he’s disappointed in the result, but not in the effort of his kids, adding that he thought his team played hard throughout the game.

Thibodaux is now 5-1 on the season.

“Our kids were hurt, but we want them to have that feeling,” Dugas said. “We want this to motivate them, and look, in some ways, this may end up being a blessing in disguise for us. We’re still in a good position to earn a high seed, and we know if we keep taking care of business, all of our goals are still in front of us — from the district championship to the playoffs and to everything else.”

Friday’s loss hurts because it was a game that truly could have gone either way.

Thibodaux tied Hahnville 7-7 in the first quarter with each team showing their explosiveness.

Hahnville struck for a score on a long scoring drive capped by a touchdown run from Corey Lorio.

Thibodaux got a long touchdown pass from quarterback Luke Alleman to Marquel Price to tie it up.

In the second quarter, Hahnville got another touchdown, but Thibodaux added a touchdown and a field goal to take a 17-14 lead.

Alleman connected with Darwin Davis on the touchdown strike. Just before halftime, kicker Peyton Domangue drilled a 41-yard field goal to give his team the lead.

Alleman was special throughout the game. He completed just 16-of-38 passes, but he was pounded by Hahnville’s aggressive, blitzing defense.

Dugas said inability to win up front ended up dooming the team at the end.

“We have to be better at the line of scrimmage,” Dugas said. “I thought we got beat up front and it messed up our rhythm offensively.”

In the second half, Thibodaux’s inability to run the football and salt the game away haunted them.

Hahnville struck first with a touchdown run to go on top 21-17 late in the third quarter.

Thibodaux then struck back and got another Domangue field goal to cut the lead to 21-20 — a lead which held to the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, it looked like Thibodaux was going to work some more of its late-game magic.

Hahnville was driving deep into Thibodaux territory looking to score and drive a nail in the coffin. But Thibodaux forced a fumble, which Tyren Young picked up and ran the length of the field for a touchdown.

After a 2-point conversion, Thibodaux led 28-21.

But Hahnville finished the game with a flurry and some late-game magic of their own.

With just a few minutes to play, Hahnville took the ball down the field and punched it in — a drive capped by a touchdown run from Darryle Evans to make the game 28-27 with 3 minutes to play. Instead of kicking the extra point for the tie, Hahnville coach Nick Saltaformaggio opted to go for the jugular with a 2-point conversion play.

It worked — a sweep to Jerry Spencer which put Hahnville up 29-28.

“We wanted to try for it all,” Saltaformaggio said. “On the road, facing those guys with the playmakers they have, we knew we wanted to go down there, score and try and take the lead. That’s what we did.”

Thibodaux had a chance late, but couldn’t convert. They turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory, which gave the ball back to Hahnville on a short field.

They scored again inside of 2 minutes to secure the final score.

Thibodaux had one final chance to try and get 8 points, but they couldn’t convert.

Dugas said his team’s inability to run the football late cost them on Friday.

“When you throw the ball 40 times a game, that can bite you in the tail sometimes,” Dugas said. “We have to be able to find a way to keep it on the ground and work down the clock in some of these close, late-game situations.”

TERREBONNE GETS HUGE WIN AGAINST DESTREHAN

Last year, Destrehan beat Terrebonne twice — their only two losses of the season.

This year, Terrebonne struck back and secured a signature win over their rivals.

The Tigers beat Destrehan 30-22 on Friday, using dominant defense throughout the game to secure the win.

Terrebonne led 17-7 at halftime, then 23-7 at the end of the third quarter. Quarterback Ryan Williams was smooth with both his arm and legs in the win, and standout Ja’khi Douglas made several big catches, as well.

But the game got close late.

Destrehan scored 15-straight points to trim the deficit to 23-22 — the last points coming on a safety.

With possession and a chance to win the game late, Wildcats’ quarterback Jai Eugene was picked off by Jakobe Carter, who took the ball to the house to secure the win.

“It’s big for our football team,” Terrebonne coach Gary Hill said. “All year long, we’ve told the kids that we were close. We just had to put it together for a full game. I think we did that on Friday.”