St. James 16 Hahnville 14
Last-Second Field Goal Lifts St. James Past
Hahnville 16-14
By Kenny HymelAugust
24, 2006
BOUTTE, La –Coach Gaille couldn’t have told his team any better. “There is never a reason why anyone carrying the name of ‘St. James’ should ever hold their head down and give up. Tonight, we learned just what happens when you keep you heads high and never quit.”
Wildcat Juarelle Narcisse successfully lofted the game-winning 25-yard field goal as The St. James Wildcats (Class-2A) defeated the Hahnville Tigers (Class-5A) 16-14 in the second game of the River Parish Jamboree late Thursday evening.
Yea, it was a Jamboree, however, Narcisse’s game winner came as time expired and marked the first time St. James has won by a last-second field goal since Alvin Bartolomew did it for the Wildcats against East St. John back in 1999.
It was not surprising to anyone that Hahnville outsized St. James by more than just a steak dinner or two. That wasn’t enough to intimidate a very sound Wildcat defense which quickly gave Hahnville fits.
The great play of the defense let to first-half dominance of field position by St. James. After two very impressive punt returns by Luther Ambrose, the Wildcats lit up the scoreboard when Juarelle Narcisse took in an untouched 8-yard run straight up the middle. The point after was no good and with 59 seconds left in the first half, St. James led 6-0.
Hahnville failed to cross their own 30-yard line in the first half.
Midway through the second half, the Wildcats got a huge play when Marcus Dumas hit Craig Duronslet for a 63-yard pass down to the 6-yard line. On the very next play, Luther Ambrose sprinted around the left side into the end zone for the score. Narcisse connected with the extra point and St. James led 13-0 with 7:31 left in the game.
This is where the Wildcats would make a costly mistake. On the following kickoff, Hahnville was able to return it for a touchdown. With a successful point after, Hahnville now only trailed 7-13.
The Wildcat defense was later placed in a tough position but did force Hahnville to a forth-and-goal from the 7-yard line. Shades of last year’s Desterhan game danced in everyone’s head as Hahnville converted the forth-down play with a touchdown pass. The point after was good and Hahnville took the lead 14-13 with 2:51 left in the game.
Another great return by Luther Ambrose gave the Wildcat offense a chance.
Antonio Phillips scrambled and found a very wide-open Kenny Zenon who managed to get the ball down to the 6-yard line with only 10 seconds left in the game. St. James had only one time out left and elected to take one more shot at the end zone but this time Hahnville was waiting for Ambrose around the corner. A quick time out set up a field goal attempt for the Wildcats.
Wildcat players all held hands and all took a knee as Narcisse and the field goal unit took the field. A good snap and a good kick and Narcisse connected the extremely dramatic 25-yard field goal that brought a huge cheer among the players and fans.
While only a Jamboree, I will say that this was the most exciting Jamboree I have ever been to.
Hahnville hosted the Jamboree that included an early evening battle between West St. John and East St. John. East St. John won 37-12.
With the pre-season coming to an end, the Wildcats will now prepare for their season opener at home next Friday night against West St. John.
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