By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

It was an odd first half between Hahnville and East Ascension Friday night – after each team recorded a safety, the teams went into halftime tied 2-2.

“That’s a first,” said Hahnville coach Lou Valdin.

But things quickly returned to the status quo for third ranked Hahnville, which scored 35 second half points to record its fifth lopsided victory of the season, 37-2, over the host Spartans.

“East Ascension came out, popped us in the mouth, and rattled our brains a bit in that first half,” said Valdin. “The difference in the second half was that they turned it over and we didn’t.

“Our team found out that district play is a little more intense than non-district. We hadn’t had a chance to really figure that out before, because the last two years we started with Destrehan, and that’s always a big deal.”

Alfred Blue rushed for 103 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Tigers (5-1).

Shea Majoria led the HHS defense with 10 tackles.

Hahnville forced six East Ascension turnovers, all on fumble recoveries.

The Tigers went ahead 2-0 after a low snap on a Spartan punt attempt forced East Ascension to take a safety with 2:45 left in the first quarter.

But Hahnville returned the favor when a high snap traveled through the endzone on its own second quarter punt attempt, with 5:45 left in the first half.

“East Ascension had a good plan,” said Valdin. “Our problem in the first half was we just didn’t have enough possessions. They were able to burn a lot of clock.

“We also had some penalties force us into passing situations. So we weren’t really able to even get Alfred the ball.

“Once we settled down though, we were able to establish the run with him.”

Hahnville started the second half quickly. A muffed punt aided the cause first, when Hahnville recovered a fumble at the Spartan 2. Blue plunged in to make it 9-2 with 8:56 left in the third.

East Ascension (3-3) followed up that miscue with another, fumbling away the ensuing kickoff. Blue capped a short drive with a 1-yard score to make it 16-2.

“Those special teams turnovers really hurt them.

“And once we got ahead, they weren’t able to stick to their game plan,” said Valdin. “They couldn’t grind it out anymore.”

The Tigers would see Blue add a 53-yard touchdown run later in the quarter, as well as a Jerqwinick Sandolph 63-yard fumble return to lift HHS to a 30-2 lead.

HHS quarterback Brian Ensminger would combine with Lloyd Richard for a 13-yard score in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.