Tigers look to rebound after Valdin’s worst season start

September 27, 2012 at 9:36 am  | Mobile Reader | Print 

Hahnville wide receiver Rickey Preston goes up for a pass. The ball was intercepted by St. Aug.

"I’ve never been 0-3 as a coach and that’s since 1979 so this is new territory for me," Valdin said. "It’s getting to the point where our season is on the line."

The Tigers were handily defeated in the first game of the year by 4A state champion favorites Edna Karr and were brought down in the second week of the season by the Lutcher Bulldogs, who pulled off a shocker in a come-from-behind win that saw Hahnville’s defense give up 19 points in the fourth quarter. Last week the Tigers lost to St. Augustine, who racked up 32 unanswered points in the first half.

This week the Tigers face off against the 1-3 McDonogh 35 Roneagles.

McDonogh 35 is coming off a 24-6 loss to St. Paul’s, who got their first win of the season against the Roneagles.

The Tigers are hoping to follow in the footsteps of St. Paul’s, but Valdin said McDonogh has some serious players they will have to get around first, especially in their running game–an area Hahnville’s defense has struggled in throughout the season.

"Their tailbacks – No. 2 and No. 24 – they are the ones that can beat us," Valdin said. "The thing that scares us the most is the option and the sweep. If they get around the edge they are gone."

Valdin said McDonogh 35 is full of speedy players. In a game against St. Augustine, the Roneagles even returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.

Valdin said the Tigers will definitely need to overcome fundamental problems to win against McDonogh.

"We’ve got to do a lot better job than we did against St. Augustine in blocking and tackling," Valdin said. "It sounds simple, but we didn’t do a good job blocking and tackling, protecting the quarterback, running the football and getting them on the ground."

In addition, Valdin said his team has not shown the aggressiveness he expects out of them.

"I don’t think we have been a physical team," Valdin said. "When you are not running the ball and you’re not tackling you are not being physical."

Valdin said the Tigers will have to focus on playing their best game and not turning the ball over, a problem they have had in the past two games, if they want to win.

"We’ve just got to do the things we are coached to do. We can’t beat ourselves. I think we have good talent, we have talent to win, but we don’t have the talent to turn the ball over and still win," Valdin said. "There are ten teams on our schedule to beat us, don’t let Hahnville beat Hahnville."