HAHNVILLE — Hahnville High School and Zachary High School each have 12-2 records and advanced to this Saturday’s Class 5A state final via thrilling road semifinal wins, against Acadiana and West Monroe, respectively.

“They are very similar to us,” Hahnville coach Nick Saltaformaggio said. “They lost to two good teams; we’ve lost to two really good teams. It’s a similar makeup. I’ve said this all along and I truly believe it. If everything on Saturday night is equal, we have Pooka. I’m going to go with that. It has been a good formula.”

Pooka, also known as Tigers running back Anthony Williams, is the unquestioned star of this season’s Louisiana high school playoffs.

The senior broke free for a game-deciding, overtime, two-point conversion in Hahnville’s 43-42 Class 5A semifinal victory at Acadiana, propelling the Tigers to their first state championship game since 2003.

In all, Williams carried the ball 24 times for 234 yards last week. He surely has one more big game left in him, which will be needed against Zachary.

Saltaformaggio said his decision to go for two was an easy one, especially with the intense play his team demonstrated in the second half.

“We had played so hard that we were exhausted,” he said. “Conversely, they played equally as hard and were exhausted. The call to go for 2 was an easy call. I never wavered from it. My whole belief, as a coach, is you are going to play to win the game. I know it’s a Herm Edwards quote, but that is exactly right. I never thought about tying the game and going to a second overtime.”

Zachary’s Saturday night state championship appearance will be the school’s second title-game showing in three years. The Broncos won the 2015 crown.

They sport a strong special teams, led by Martell Fontenot, who connected for three field goals last week while averaging more than 37 yards-per-punt and booting two kickoffs into the end zone.

Saltaformaggio said his coaching staff barely celebrated last week’s victory, arriving back in St. Charles Parish shortly after midnight before breaking down film and formulating a gameplan on Saturday and Sunday.

Tigers players had the weekend off before walking through in helmets only Monday and returning to normal practice intensity Tuesday.

Along with himself, Saltaformaggio’s staff boasts championship game experience.

“Everybody knows what’s at stake,” he said. “Each one of these guys knows what it’s like to go 15 weeks, what the environment is going to be like in the Superdome and what our kids are thinking. All of those things are going to play.”