Opelousas _ The Hanson Tigers’ defense stiffened to stop St. Edmunds quarterback Perry Petry in his tracks on a two-point conversion, preserving a 24-22 win in the annual Opelousas Kiwanis Club John Bradley Memorial Football Jamboree at Donald Gardner Stadium Thursday night.

Hanson built up an 18-2 advantage when Beau LeBlanc hauled in a 3-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Drake Rodriguez with 6:47 remaining on the clock in the second half.

Hanson defensive end Micah Baker handed the Tigers an 18-10 lead after recovering a fumble recovery in the endzone with 2:02 showing on the clock.

St. Ed struck for two touchdowns in the final 2:02 on a 44-yard scoring jaunt by Petry and a 51-yard TD reception from Austin LeFleur to pull within striking distance of the Tigers at 24-22 with 43 seconds remaining in the contest.

With the game hanging in the balance, Hanson’s defensive unit corralled Petry, denying him an opportunity to knot the game on the two-point conversion try.

St. Eds opened the scoring with an early safety before the Hanson Memorial Tigers strung together three straight scoring drives to secure an 18-2 advantage.

Collin Broussard, who led the Tigers in rushing with eight carries for 36 yards, gave the HMS Tigers a 6-2 lead on a 2-yard run with 1:13 left in the first half.

With only one second showing on the game clock in the first half, Drake Businelle caught a 25-yard scoring strike from Rodriguez, giving HMS a 12-2 advantage.

Hanson scored a pair of touchdowns to widened its gap to 18-2 before the St. Edmund Blue Jays fought back.

Hanson’s second half scores came as a result of Beau LeBlanc’s 3-yard touchdown and Micah Baker’s fumble recovery.

Broussard led the Tigers in rushing with eight carries for 36 yards while Drake Businelle had six totes for 32 yards.

Quarterback Drake Rodriguez went 10 of 14 for 152 yards and two touchdowns.

Hanson’s Royce Norton led the Tigers in receiving with four catches for 84 yards while Peyton Kellebrew had two catches for 43 yards with Drake Businelle making one catch for the 25-yard TD and Beau LeBlanc bringing in one catch for the 3-yard TD grab.