Hahnville gaining confidence as season goes on

After building big leads in each of their previous contest, the Hahnville Tigers had to come from behind to pick up their seventh win of the season, using a last second field goal by Brandon Larousse to defeat Dutchtown 17-14.

"I was worried because that was the first time we had been behind all season," Valdin said. "We kept our composure and we were able to come back."

As has been the case all season, Hahnville stormed out to an early lead over Dutchtown when B.J. Young connected with Laron Byrd for a 17-yard score. Though he would soon become the hero, Larousse missed the extra-point attempt, giving the Tigers a 6-0 lead.

"That's something we need to get better in," Valdin said. "We need to do a better job of blocking and executing on special teams."

Dutchtown junior running back Eddie Lacy then gave his team the advantage with a 51-yard touchdown run, but Hahnville marched right back to take a 14-7 lead to start the fourth quarter when Young again connected with Byrd.

After Dutchtown was able to tie the score on another Lacy touchdown run, this one for 10 yards, Hahnville answered with a fumble recovery that set the stage for Larousse's game-winning field goal.

"We played hard," Valdin said. "I thought our pass protection was good, and on defense, thought our coverage was good."

And while the Tigers were glad to get out of Dutchtown with a win, the road doesn't get any easier when they travel to East St. John on Friday.

"They have a gigantic running back, who is leading the state in rushing right now, and they have a big, tall receiver who catches everything thrown to him," Valdin said of East St. John. "They also finally settled on a quarterback, so they aren't one dimensional. They can throw the ball well and run it."

Last week, that quarterback, Andre Millet, almost led East St. John to a victory over Destrehan. Millet connected on eight of his nine pass attempts for 220 yards and a touchdown. East St. John running back Alex Singleton also provided a spark to his team, rushing for 146 yards on 33 carries. Even with those gaudy stats, Destrehan managed to lock up a 31-28 win with an interception in the end zone.

East St. John will come into the contest with a 4-4 record that is extremely deceiving. Their losses have come to John Curtis, Acadiana, Bastrop and Destrehan. Meanwhile, their wins have come against Patterson, Carencro, St. Amant, and Dutchtown.

"No. 1, we must line up correctly because East St. John comes out in a bunch of crazy formations and we have to be ready," Valdin said. "We also have to hit their tailback before he gets into open field because there aren’t too many defensive backs that can bring him down.

"Offensively, we need to continue to mix it up run and pass," Valdin said.

So far this season, that plan has worked out nicely for the Hahnville Tigers.