With a 2-7 record heading into the final game of the season, New Iberia Senior High knew that it was not going to make the playoffs this year under first-year head coach Josh Lierman.

When Lafayette High scored its first touchdown less than two minutes into the game, the Jackets could have easily folded up their tents and let the visiting Lions roll to a win.

But they didn’t.

Shanga Charles had three touchdowns and the NISH defense rallied to take the lead and held off a fourth quarter LHS rally as the Jackets closed out the season with a 35-31 win over their District 3-5A rivals to finished the season with a 3-7 record (3-5 in district) and go into the offseason with some positive momentum.

“It happened the way it should have happened,” Lierman said. “The kids had to dig down deep and find something within them.”

“That’s part of this process, finding a way to win. They learned how to win tonight. It’s never going to be easy but they took a huge step forward and I couldn’t be more happy for these seniors.”

After spotting the Lions a 7-0 lead, NISH scored twice on Shanga Charles touchdown runs to take a 14-7 advantage. Then, after LHS tied the game at 14-14, NISH scored two more times in the second quarter to take a 28-14 lead and led 28-17 at the break.

A third quarter touchdown put the Jackets up 35-17 and then the defense held off a late Lafayette High rally that saw the Lions cut the lead to 35-31. The defense finally won the game as they forced a turnover on downs as Lafayette was at the NISH 15 yard line with 30 seconds left in the contest.

“We had games this year where that run would have set up back quite a bit,” Lierman said. “But it didn’t. It was on to the next play and that’s what we’ve been preaching all year, the next play is the most important one.”

Lierman was proud of how his team performed and very excited that his seniors finished off their last game with a win.

“This team faced adversity tonight and really fought back from it,” Lierman said. “We wanted to win the game for the seniors. When you win the last game, it gives you momentum going into the offseason with a good taste in your mouth, which is good for us and what we are trying to do here.”