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BY TARA WILLIAMS

SPECIAL TO L’OBSERVATEUR

 

DESTREHAN — So where were you on Friday night? If your answer is not “the battle of the river game,” you had a boring Friday night! Simply put, the longstanding Hahnville/Destrehan rivalry was nothing less than extraordinary and both schools put on a phenomenal show, as they have for the past 60-plus years. The Hahnville Tigers hosted the Destrehan Wildcats this year and it was exactly what was expected…a physical, grueling battle to the end.

The night started quickly, with both teams going at each other in full force. Destrehan picked up a few penalties before handing the ball over to Hahnville. And as fate would have it, Trey Lebranch drew first blood scoring the first touchdown of the night for Hahnville which made the score 6-0. Make no mistake, Destrehan did not take that lying down. They answered back on a QB sneak play by Jai Eugene which made the score 7-6 by the end of the first quarter, which put the Wildcats on top. Into the second quarter, the Tigers scored again with a touchdown from Collin Zeringue, extra point good, which made the score 13-6. Hahnville also came back later with a field goal by Tate White with just 1:42 left to end the first half with a score of 16-7 with the Tigers on top.

Coming into the second half, those Wildcats came back scratching and clawing at the Tigers like a cat in a corner! The Wildcats recovered a fumble by the Tigers which set in motion their ascent to the top. Razan Keller carried and fumbled, but Logan Coates recovered in the end zone, and gave the Wildcats a touchdown, which made the score 16-14, but the Tigers were still on top. Then Hahnville’s Andrew Naquin answered with a touchdown, extra point good, which made the score 23-14 at 5:22 in the third quarter. But Destrehan’s Keller ran in another touchdown and made the third quarter end with a score of 23-21, yet the Tigers were still on top.

The fourth quarter became more physical as both teams pushed hard. However, the

Wildcats started to push more fiercely with another touchdown by Keller after the Tigers fumbled the ball and the Wildcats recovered. With the score at 29-23, the Wildcats topped the Tigers and they remained on top. After a phenomenal interception by Tyler Morton which changed the momentum, the Wildcats came back and scored once more with a touchdown by Keller to make the final score 36-23. This showdown was an extraordinary display of talent from both teams, the Wildcats, and the Tigers alike. It was also the first official showdown between first-year head coaches, Coach Daniel Luquet of Hahnville and Coach Marcus Scott of Destrehan. Magnificent contributors to the game offensively and defensively for Hahnville were Trey Labranch, Taji Sullivan, Andrew Naquin, Rhett Comeaux, Alijah Hamilton, Corey Lorio and Dakota Williams. Monumental contributors of the night offensively and defensively for Destrehan were Razan Keller, Jai Eugene, Daniel Blood, Shane Lee, Logan Coates, Steven Walker, Tyler Morton and Jhase Gooden.