By Lori Lyons

Contributing Writer

 

DESTREHAN – Any St. Charles Parish football fans who elected to skip Friday night’s annual contest between cross-river rivals Hahnville and Destrehan are probably kicking themselves this morning. And they probably should.

The Tigers and the Wildcats fought an epic battle for parish bragging rights. But there also was a district championship on the line for Hahnville and a trip to the playoffs for Destrehan.

After three and a half hours and the highest scoring in the 88-year history of the series, it was Hahnville which emerged with a 47-44 overtime victory and sole possession of the District 8-5A championship.

Tigers’ workhorse running back Sergio Medina , who rushed 39 times for 230 yards and four touchdowns, scored the game-winner from 2-yards out in overtime to seal the win for the Tigers (5-4, 5-0) and was selected the Player of the Game. The former linebacker-turned-running back scored on runs of 2, 12, 43 and 1 yards. Quarterback Easton Melancon ran for 95 yards and passed for 95. Cody Morales scored on a 1-yard run and Craig Ford kicked a pair of field goals, including a 43-yarders.

Destrehan quarterback Donovan Isom passed for 289 yards and three touchdowns on 16 completions. He also ran for a touchdown and Lou Donovan Wells ran for two. Wide receiver Ricky Jefferson caught eight passes for 91 yards and a touchdown.

But Medina was easily the catalyst for the Tigers’ victory, with more than half of the team’s rushing carries.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s true or real,” Medina said of his performance on Friday, which earned him a medal and a trophy from one of the game’s sponsors. “It feels outstanding. A lot of players did good. It was a great game. Both teams went back and forth.”

Medina’s game-winning run on fourth-and-goal capped a comeback which saw the Tigers rally from a 27-10 deficit in the first half. It also came after Destrehan’s Cameron Walsh kicked a 30-yard field goal on its first possession in the overtime period to take a 44-41 lead.

But as Destrehan has learned this season, no lead is safe. The Wildcats saw leads slip away against both East St. John and Bonnabel in recent weeks. Hahnville was the third opponent to rally.

Destrehan seemed to be on mission as the game began. After forcing Hahnville to punt on its first possession, the Wildcats stunned the west bank of St. Charles Parish with two quick touchdowns in the game’s early minutes. Destrehan scored on the second play of its first possession, when quarterback Donovan Isom hit receiver Ricky Jefferson on a 37-yard touchdown pass with 9:33 on the clock.

Less than a minute later, Destrehan’s defense forced a Hahnville fumble which Brandon Scott recovered at the Hahnville 40. On the first play from scrimmage, Isom hit Derrick McGee on a 40-yard touchdown pass that gave the Wildcats a 14-0 lead with 8:38 on the clock. At that point Destrehan had 14 points on three plays in 35 seconds.

Then Hahnville got rolling. The Tigers put together a 9 play, 80 yard drive with Medina running for most of it. With 5:33 remaining Medina ran in from the 2-yard line to cut the lead in half.

But another Hahnville fumble, this one recovered by Destrehan’s Matt Gunter, led to yet another Wildcats touchdown. This one came on a 26-yard run by Isom with 1:05 remaining in the first quarter. The PAT failed, leaving Destrehan with a 20-7 lead.

Hahnville countered with a 43-yard field goal by Craig Ford that made it 20-10 with 10:18 remaining in the first half.

But Destrehan came back with an impressive drive that included a roughing the kicker penalty on a high-snapped punt and, later, a faked punt at the Destrehan 44. Four plays later, Lou Donovan Wells ran in from the 20-yard line to put the Wildcats ahead 27-10.

Hahnville then would score the next 24 points, tying the game at 27 on a 43-yard run by Medina with 5:34 remaining in the third quarter. And 16 seconds later, Jamal Smith would scoop and score on a Destrehan fumble at the Wildcats’ 6 to take its first lead, 34-27.

After that the teams would match touchdown for touchdown. Destrehan tied it at 34 with 4:01 remaining on a 10-yard pass from Isom to Jefferson. Hahnville answered with a 70-yard drive capped by Morales’ 1-yard run to go ahead 41-34 with 9:09 left to play.

Destrehan’s next score came after Hahnville muffed a punt at the Destrehan Hahnville 20-yard line with 6:54 remaining. After a pass interference penalty moved the Wildcats to the 9. Three plays later, Wells scored his second touchdown from the 4 with 5:04 remaining to tie the game at 41.

And there it would stay until Walsh’s 30-yard field goal, then Medina’s touchdown.

The win also capped a remarkable comeback on the season for the Tigers, who started out with a four-game losing streak that had some Tigers’ fans counting their team out of the playoffs early. Instead, Hahnville Coach Lou Valdin led the Tigers on a five-game winning streak and what likely will go down as one of the biggest wins in one of the best games in the series’ history. “We don’t quit,” Valdin said. “We just get better every week. We didn’t fold up the tent when we were 0-4, we weren’t going to fold up the tent when we were down by two touchdowns at Destrehan. I just reminded them that two other teams came from behind and beat them. It’s big. To start out 0-4 and win the last five and go into the playoffs with a little momentum, it’s big.”

The Tigers also dedicated the win to former Destrehan coach Chris Stroud, who now is an assistant at Hahnville. Valdin presented the rivalry trophy to Stroud after the game.

“I’m just humbled,” Stroud said. “It’s a great rivalry. I’ve been on the other side of it. I told the Hahnville kids before the game, I love those players. I’m just glad we came out with the victory.”

Destrehan coach Stephen Robicheaux, who succeeded Stroud in Janurary, will miss the playoffs for the first time in his coaching career.

“Let me say this. I’m so proud of our kids,” Robicheaux said. “We put them in a bad situation. We came in, I was part time in the spring. The offensive coordinator came in late. The defensive coordinator came in July. These kids are dealing with all this adversity and they fought through it. And we’re five points away from being 7-2. The one thing I’m looking at is, this program is better now than when we took it over. If we can just continue to get better and better, we’ll be OK.”