J. EDMUND BARNES

PHOTO 1: Blake Falgoust watches as the ball comes loose and bounces into the endzone during Hahnville Jamboree Friday night. (Photo for L’Observateur by Tommy Williams) HAHNVILLE – Hahnville flexed their district winning muscles on Friday night, manhandling the St. James High School Wildcats for most of the two fifteen minute halves and putting up 28 unanswered points. But the Wildcats didn’t become demoralized. When the Hahnville second string came in to replace the starters in the second half, the Wildcats starters focused and put together a touchdown scoring drive that averted a shutout. But the majority of the game was Hahnville’s. The Tigers kicked the ball off the the Wildcats, and then held them to three and out. Wendell Octave, the Wildcats all purpose player, saw time as a split end, wide receiver, and kicker. In this last duty he saw all too much action, as the Wildcats never crossed the midfield mark until late in the second half. The Tigers scored on their first possession, capping a five play, 41 yard drive with a one yard run by Lionell Evans. In the very next possession by St. James, the Tigers forced a fumble and Paris Pierre recovered the ball in the end zone for Hahnville. But the touchdown was called back due to an illegal block, and the Tigers started their second possession on the Wildcats 23 yard line. It was now the Tiger’s turn to go three and out, but the Hahnville defense was able to put down all of the Wildcats offense. The next Hahnville drive saw the biggest play of the night. On second down with 13 yards to go, Nickolas Cannon threw a pass to wide receiver Mark Young. Young then ran 50 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was no good, and with 4:06 left to go in the game the score was 13-0. The Wildcats couldn’t buy themselves a break during the first half. A decent return by Octave was called back by a penalty, and St. James High School facing another three and out situation. Hahnville got the ball on the Wildcats 39 yard line, and six plays later scored on a one yard touchdown run by Evans. They made up the missed extra point with a two point conversion, as Cannon passed to a wide open Young in the right corner of the end zone. With 10 seconds left in the half, the score stood at Hahnville 21, St. James 0. But the scoring hadn’t ended yet. With time ticking away in the first half, the Wildcats tried to run a play and fumbled the ball again. This time it was recovered by linebacker Ryan Keyes in the end zone and there was no penalty to take the score away. The point after touchdown made the score 28-0 with no time left. The second half saw the offensive machine that Hahnville was grinding to a halt as the second string players were substituted in for the starters. The Tigers turned to a pounding running game that ate away at the clock but never scored. Not that the Tigers didn’t get an opportunity. Hahnville had fumbled away their first possession, but St. James hadn’t been able to move the ball and punted. On the Tigers second possession they moved the ball all the way to the Wildcats one yard line before fumbling again. The Wildcats recovered and averted the touchdown. The game went back and forth, with the Wildcats hanging doggedly on and resisting every Tiger offensive. Finally, with 56 seconds left in the game the Wildcats scored on a 14 yard pass by Blake Falgoust to Octave in the right corner of the end zone. The extra point was good, and the score was 28-7. The Tigers nearly lost their final possession to another fumble, but recovered the ball and ended the game. “We got what we wanted out of the jamboree,” said Hahnville coach Lou Valdin. “Nobody got hurt.” “We were pretty OK as far as special teams go,” continued coach Valdin. “I thought Cannon was real cool throughout and showed a lot of poise. I was pleased. We executed the game plan well.” “The score really became lopsided because of errors we have control over,” said St. James High School head coach Rick Gaille. “Two touchdowns came on plays we should have control over.” “Their defensive line is a lot bigger than our line,” continued coach Gaille. “I was happy the way we competed throughout the whole game. Blake really showed some style, playing with an injured ankle. I don’t think he threw a bad ball the whole game.”