Turnovers and penalties frequently disrupted the flow of Friday’s District 5-1A game between Elton and Hamilton Christian at Cougar Stadium, but the Indians overcame some second half mistakes to pull out a 22-20 win over the Warriors and secure a spot in the playoffs.

“I thought our guys never quit,” Elton head coach Marcus Lejeune said. “This was another big win for our program against a quality program.

“We had a lot of bad things going on, and we could have tanked it. We went out there and did what we had to do to win.”

Both teams needed a win Friday to secure a playoff spot.

Elton (6-3, 4-2) entered the game ranked No. 24 in nonselect Division IV.

“I am excited,” Lejeune said. “We have a bunch of young guys that this is going to be new for them.

“We are guaranteed a spot in there now that we won, so we are happy with that. It is good for our program. We have five seniors and four juniors, so we have a lot of young guys that play. It will be a great experience for them too.”

Hamilton Christian will have to wait for Sunday’s Louisiana High School Athletic Association bracket release show at 11 a.m. to see if their season will continue. The Warriors were ranked No. 22 in select Division IV as of Friday morning and must stay in the top 24 to make the playoffs.

“One good thing about it is that we are going to learn from this,” Hamilton Christian head coach Dexter Washington said. “I think we are still going to make the playoffs.

“The team below us was real low. I am proud of my guys and proud of the way they fought. We are still a young football team, and we are going to bounce back.”

The Indians looked like they had tied the game with 5:31 left in the third quarter but fumbled the ball at the goal line. The Indians bounced back when Anthony Gaspard picked off a pass with 48 seconds left in the third quarter. That led to Makelin Lemoine’s 11-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter, and Davin Simon’s two-point conversion pass to Bryce Robinson for a 22-20 lead.

Elton’s Wyatt Lejeune and Robinson recovered fumbles in the second half, and the defense broke up a Hamilton Christian pass in the end zone with 7:58 left in the game.

Elton running back Tristan Leblanc ran for 173 yards on 31 carries and scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.

The teams combined for six turnovers and 264 penalty yards.

“We had a lot of sloppy things that we need to clean up,” Lejeune said. “We had to play through a lot of adversity with penalties, then that fumble and another touchdown called back.

“It is just some things that we need to clean up on. It is typical of a young football team.”

Hamilton (4-6, 3-3) took a 20-14 lead with 8:24 left in the third quarter on a 12-yard run by quarterback Sammy Knight but turned the ball over on three of its final four possessions, ending its three-game win streak. Knight finished with 104 yards on 11 carries, and Kylan Alexander scored twice in the first half and ran for 130 yards on 20 carries.

“Turnovers and penalties,” Washington said. “Tonight we didn’t play the way we have been playing.

“I think the last week, homecoming activities and having a little success, I don’t know if these kids understood how to handle success and stay humble with it. I don’t want to take anything away from Coach Lejeune and what he has done at Elton. That is a tough little group. They ran that ball, they blocked, they came off the ball and they have a tough running back.”