By Lori Lyons

Special to L’Observateur

 

 

The East St. John Wildcats took the field as a team Friday night at Hahnville. But one player stood out.

Flanked by his teammates walking in solemn procession behind him, East St. John senior wide receiver Dez Broussard was wheeled onto the Hahnville football field, his right leg in a cast to his knee. Broussard, a stand-out pass-catcher for the Wildcats, broke his ankle Tuesday afternoon during practice when another player landed on him following a play. He underwent surgery on Thursday. But he had to be there.

“He called me and said he had to be here,” said East St. John coach Phil Banko. “I told him, ‘Whatever you want.’”

But the one thing the Wildcats couldn’t give their wounded teammate was a win.

East St. John squandered too many opportunities and Hahnville’s defense stiffened when it needed to to preserve a 26-16 victory and stay atop the District 8-5A standings with Destrehan. Both are 2-0.

Tigers quarterback Easton Melancon completed five passes for 77 yards and one touchdown and was intercepted once. And linebacker turned running back Sergio Medina, in his second game at that position, had 17 carries for 77 yards and scored one touchdown.

But the Tigers only had 44 offensive plays to East St. John’s 69, getting points from a safety, a 37-yard field goal by Craig Ford, one rushing touchdown, one passing touchdown and an interception return for a touchdown.

While his team has struggled offensively this season, Hahnville coach Lou Valdin has had to put a lot of his faith in his defense. Friday night that faith was rewarded as the Tigers defense came through with three interceptions, two of those by Jamal Smith. And he returned the last of those 65-yards for a touchdown to stop a late-game East St. John drive and seal the win.

“We’ve been playing good defense the last few weeks,” Valdin said. “Offensively we’ve been struggling in the second half. I can’t say enough about my kids. After last week’s game we looked like Hiroshima after the blast we had so many guys in the training room. But you know he next men come in and do their job. Our kids have a lot of heart. They play tough at home. And now we’re in the driver’s seat. We kind of control our own destiny as far as this district goes.“

East St. John managed to outgain the Tigers 334 yards to 196 and had 21 first downs to Hahnville’s 9. Wildcats quarterback Leonard Davis completed 15 of 29 passes for 230 yards and he ran for both of East St. John’s touchdowns.

Kadeem Vance led the Wildcats’ ground game with 63 yards on 12 carries.

But the Wildcats squandered too many opportunities and made too many mistakes. There were two missed field goals. One bad punt snap went for a safety. Another gave the Tigers the ball at the East St. John 2-yard line and they scored quickly.

Davis was sacked five times. He was intercepted three times, once by Larry Boyd and twice by Smith. And it was Smith’s interception at the Hahnville 35-yard line with 2:46 remaining in the game that sealed East St. John’s fate.

Hahnville led 19-16 and East St. John was trying to put together a last-minute drive in the final four minutes of the game. But Hahnville’s defense had pushed the Wildcats back to their own 40-yard line with back-to-back-to-back sacks of Davis. On fourth-and 20 at the East St. John 40, Davis heaved the ball up the field, but it landed in the hands of Smith at the Hahnville 35 and he toed the Tigers’ sideline all the way to the end zone. Craig Ford’s PAT made it 26-16 with 2:46 remaining in the game.

East St. John would get another chance, but after a 13-yard gain on first down, he threw four straight incompletions and the ball went back to the Tigers on downs with 2:17 left to play.

East St. John coach Phil Banko lamented his team’s lost opportunities.

“Hahnville made more plays than we did,” he said. “That’s what it comes down to. It’s a good rivalry game, a good game like we always expect it. But the credit’s to them.”

The Hahnville offense, Valdin said, is still a concern.

We were getting kind of tired on defense,” he said. “And the fact that East St. John was slinging it on every play, it wears you out. We’ve got to be able to run the football, run the football, run the football and control the clock. But I thought Easton was accurate and did a better job of throwing the football and we needed it. “