By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

Hahnville’s dreams of a state championship were dashed by a relentless Rummel defense on Friday night, as the Raiders trounced the Tigers 24-7 in a Class 5A quarterfinal game at Joe Yenni Stadium.

Top-seeded Rummel (13-0) remains undefeated with the win, and in search of the first state championship in school history. It will travel to face Westgate in the state semifinals on Friday.

It ends the season of a Tigers team that was regarded as perhaps Coach Lou Valdin’s best since the 2003 bunch that won the Class 5A state title.

It is the second time in three seasons that Hahnville sees its season end at the hands of Rummel.

Valdin said his team’s loss was a simple one to explain away – the Raider front seven is very, very good.

“We couldn’t block ‘em,” said Valdin. “We couldn’t block their defensive line, we couldn’t pick up the blitz, we couldn’t protect our quarterback, we couldn’t run the football.

“Their front seven whipped our offensive line. That was the story of the game.”

Rummel did not allow an offensive touchdown in the game – the Tigers’ lone score came via a Brion James fumble return.

Rummel rushed for 238 of its 263 total yards.

Valdin said his defense played well enough to win, but was simply on the field too long.

“We couldn’t sustain a drive,” he said. “There was relentless pressure on our quarterback. When we gave him time, he made some nice throws. But we couldn’t do that on a regular basis.”

Hahnville (11-2) rushed for only 48 yards. Tailback Alfred Blue finished with 87 yards on 11 carries.

HHS Quarterback Brian Ensminger completed 14-of-27 passes for 122 yards. He was intercepted twice.

Entering the game, Hahnville averaged 41 points per contest.

Damian Williams put the Raiders on the board first, scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:17 left in the first quarter. That was set up by a Terrance Jones 52-yard run into HHS territory.

The Tigers tied things up on James’ fumble recovery and 31-yard touchdown return with 1:39 left in the first quarter.

Rummel took a 10-7 lead into the half on a Marc Raziano 34-yard field goal.

Luke Cartozzo put Rummel ahead by two scores when he ran for a 2-yard score with 8:06 left in the third quarter.

Terrance Jones capped the scoring off with a 9-yard touchdown run with 2:29 left in the fourth quarter.