John Ehret edges Hahnville in thrilling shootout, 46-41

HARVEY – In much hyped matchup of traditional Class 5A powers, this one lived up to all of the anticipation.

Junior quarterback Travis Mumphrey put together 289 yards of total offense, running back Terrell Brown punched in three touchdowns and John Ehret’s defense stuffed Hahnville on fourth down late in the game to lead the Patriots to a 46-41 win over the Fighting Tigers at Hoss Memtsas Stadium.

The Patriots potent offense helped to spoil an equally impressive performance by Hahnville, led by Anthony “Pooka” Williams and his 164 rushing yards with three touchdowns. Tigers starting quarterback Ja’quan Jackson piled up 163 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. The duo’s juggernaut outings were not enough, however, to make up for 400 yards of offense by the Patriots.

John Ehret’s allowed 41 points and over 300 yards themselves but stepped up when it mattered the most, sacking Jackson for a two-yard loss to help stuff a last-gasp effort by Hahnville with 2:14 left in the game.

Brown carried the ball for four yards to convert a fourth down with 1:14 to go allowing Ehret to kneel out the clock for the win.

Ehret interim head coach Del Lee-Collins and Hahnville coach Nick Saltaformaggio both knew their offenses could put up numbers, but neither expected such a high scoring affair.

“Absolutely not,” said Lee-Collins, who picked up his first win leading the Patriots since taking over last month as interim coach. “I expected our offense to perform well but I didn’t anticipate anything like this.”

“Never in my life,” said Saltaformaggio regarding the high score. “But that’s why we lost tonight. And this was personal for me, they beat us in the playoffs last year.”

Hahnville found success with the ground game, with Jackson gaining over 110 yards rushing in the first half alone, but had just 41 yards passing on four attempts all game.

Mumphrey on the other hand looked like a true dual threat, putting together 112 yards passing and 177 yards on the ground.

Brown looked unstoppable all night long, rushing for 134 yards to go with his three scores. His lone miscue, a fumble in the second quarter, actually worked out in Ehret’s favor. Patriots receiver and Colorado State commit Jammal Houston scooped the loose ball up and went 83 yards for a touchdown to give Ehret a 19-14 lead.

Hahnville struck back, however, with Williams returning the ensuing kickoff 70 yards to set up Jackson’s scoring run, giving the Tigers a 21-19 lead at halftime.

Ehret would regain the lead quickly as Deron Coleman returned the second-half kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, making the score 26-21 – a lead the Patriots would never surrender.

The special teams struggles caught Saltaformaggio’s ire.

“We can’t give John Ehret short fields,” he said. “We have some issues we need to fix against a good team next week.”

“There’s some issues we need to fix,” Said Lee-Collins. “On defense for sure, but I’m happy with the win and now we gotta get ready to face another strong opponent next week.

John Ehret (1-1) faces Destrehan next week while Hahnville (1-1) will meet Brother Martin.