Trailing 20-19 with seven minutes left in the game, the Hannan Hawks faced a fourth- and-11. From punt formation, the center snap went to up-back Gino Gioe. He tossed a pass to Lee Laughlin, who broke open over the middle, cradled the ball and sprinted to the end zone for what turned out to be the winning points in the Hawks’ 25-20 victory over the Lusher Lions at Tornado Alley in Hammond Thursday night.

Unable to run out the clock at midfield, the Hawks were forced to punt to Lusher with 3:10 remaining. The Lions dug deep into their bag of tricks in their attempt for a come- from-behind victory.

Running back Andrew LaGarde took the handoff from quarterback William Hughes and threw a pass to receiver Michael Greenberg at the 26. Greenberg was met by Hannan’s Cameron Becnel, who forced a fumble, which was recovered by Laughlin to ensure the Hawks’ victory. From there, Hannan quarterback Andrew Arceneaux took a knee three times, and the victory was finally put away.

Laughlin

The game didn’t start so good for Hannan, as Lusher’s LaGarde took a handoff on the first play from scrimmage and went 71 yards around left end. The extra point attempt was good, and the Lions had a 7-0 lead 21 seconds into the game.

After a three-and-out, the Hawks punted to Lusher, who methodically marched from their 17-yard line to Hannan’s 37.

On third down, Hannan’s Ben Condon snatched a Hughes’ pass out of the air at his 17-yard line and took the interception 83 yards for the touchdown. The PAT by Michael Tiziani was good, and the score was tied with 5:04 in the first quarter.

After giving up the go-ahead score ending an 11-play, 60-yard drive early in the second quarter, Hannan took over on its 44. On third-and-nine, Gioe took a swing pass from Arceneaux, gaining 11 yards to keep the drive alive.

Two plays later, Adam Lewis went off right tackle, cut back to the middle after breaking through the line, and went the distance, tying the score at 13.

“Adam’s pretty banged up right now. He suffered a concussion last week, and he has a sinus infection tonight. He gave us all he could,” said Hannan head coach George Templet.

On their second possession of the third quarter, Arceneaux hit Ryan Deffes in stride at the 20-yard line, and Deffes went the distance to give the Hawks a 19-13 lead.

Once again, LaGarde struck like lightning.

The Lions recovered a Hannan fumble at the Hawk 39. LaGarde took the handoff on first down and rolled 39 yards to the go-ahead score.

At the 9:44 mark, Lusher held a 20-19 lead over the Hawks.

Hannan fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, and on second down, the Lions returned the favor, giving the ball back to the Hawks leading to the dramatic finish.

Templet explained the fake punt, “I felt like we had them outnumbered. That’s a play we practice all the time.”

“I also want to give credit to the coaching staff. They work so hard,” said Templet.

The Hawks, now 2-6, conclude their season Saturday against Grace King at Joe Yenni Stadium in Metairie.