Booker T. Washington heads to Boutte this Friday night as the two teams kick off the 2025 prep football season under the Friday Night Lights of Tiger Stadium.
Hahnville defeated the Lions 42-6 in last season’s opening week on a very rainy night at Tiger Stadium. But since then the BTW program has progressed by several lengths under head coach Wayne Reese Jr. Booker T. Washington finished last season with a record of 5-7, but qualified for the playoffs and made a run to the Division II-Select quarterfinals.
Wins over L.B. Landry and Sophie B. Wright to end the regular season sparked the Lions, which qualified for the playoffs as an 18th seed and dominated its opening round game against Buckeye, 56-14. BTW drew University Lab in round two and advanced by forfeit due to the LHSAA ruling a University player inactive earlier in the year. The Lions were ultimately ousted by No. 7 Leesville.
Booker T. Washington loses a large senior class, including several starters since last season. It does bring back a senior quarterback in Cory McCraney, last year’s starter. Kevin Clark and Saul Fernandez join him in the backfield and power the rushing attack.
Dylan Butler will play two ways and is a standout both offensively and defensively for the Lions. Linebacker Jeloni Taylor is another productive player on defense.
Booker T. Washington tied McMain in last week’s jamboree action.
Hahnville is looking to “bounce back” in a way after St. James got the better of the Tigers in last week’s jamboree – of course, that was an exhibition and the action only truly counts for the first time when the ball kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday.
Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne said the Tigers have hit the ground running in practice this week.
“We’ve had two really good days so far,” Boyne said Tuesday evening. “Crisp, sharp, executing at a high level. I told them if we’d practiced last week like we have been so far this week, the results for us at the jamboree probably look a lot better.”
Boyne said the team’s made some adjustments to the practice routine – more live periods and starters-against-starters sets. It’s part of a means to an end the Tigers are pursuing: improved tackling, which Boyne noted was not what it needed to be against St. James.
“We have to tackle better. And when we say we aren’t tackling, a lot of that’s on coaching, a lot of that’s on me – are we making sure we’re getting live reps with the varsity guys against one another so they’re seeing the speed. When you go from seeing a scout team to a team like St. James that’s loaded with speed at every position, maybe it’s more the speed of the game as opposed to technique,” Boyne said.
Team speed is a strength of Booker T. Washington, Boyne said. “They’ve got a lot of athletes and defensively, they play a lot of man – it’s pretty much all man coverage,” said Boyne. “Talking to some people who played them 7-on-7 during the summer, they thought (Booker T. Washington) was much improved and had a lot of good things to say about them.
“But at the same time, our focus is on the guys in purple and gold anyway. If we don’t fix the things we did wrong against St. James, it almost doesn’t matter who you play.”
This being the first week of the season, it means the first varsity start for several players breaking into the lineup for the first time.
“You want to see how they handle that,” said Boyne. “Can you play under the lights at home without getting too nervous? We do have a bunch of new starters … we want to make sure they maintain their composure, stay on an even keel emotionally. If something great happens, we celebrate it. And then on to the next play. And if something bad happens, same thing. We don’t get down about it, we move on.”
SENIOR STANDOUT – One player Boyne said stepped forward in a big way during the jamboree was senior wide receiver Kevias Singleton.
“I thought he played really, really well,” said Boyne. “He blocked well. He caught a post that – it looked like he scored on film, but it was called down at the one – I thought he elevated his game.”
Boyne said the coaches challenged Singleton to raise that game after a scrimmage performance against Holy Cross that was less than his best.
“We got on him pretty good in film, and he really responded – and that’s what you want from your senior,” Boyne said. “If he plays like he did against St. James, with Bennett (Naquin) on the other side and Fabian (Celestine) and Landen (Teague) in the backfield, we’re going to be tough to stop offensively. He had a great week of practice and he carried it over to Friday night. I was very pleased with how he played.”
ST. JAMES 28, HAHNVILLE 21
While defense ruled the day a week prior in its scrimmage with Holy Cross, Hahnville’s jamboree clash with St. James was just the opposite – this one saw points piled up, and plenty.
In the end, St. James earned a 28-21 victory in the final dress rehearsal for the regular season, played at Lutcher High School as part of a River Parishes doubleheader.
“We made different mistakes from last week (at the scrimmage) … most of our mistakes last week were on offense, tonight most were on defense,” said Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne. “All correctable errors. Fundamentals. Lining up, getting the play, executing. Again, drops – somewhat of a concern. I thought Landen (Teague) threw the ball really well except for maybe one throw under pressure. The good thing is, they count for real next week and this one didn’t count … we have a lot to learn from.”
The jamboree format saw the teams square off for two 12-minute periods, separated by a normal halftime of rest.
St. James was last season’s state runner-up in Division III non-select.
Hahnville struck first, with Bennett Naquin punching in a 4-yard run to make it 7-0. After St. James answered, the Tigers went deep. Landen Teague threw a post route to Kevias Singleton who nearly scored – his 50-yard reception set up a 1-yard Fabian Celestine touchdown run to make it 14-7.
But with the score tied at 14 early in the second half, St. James went to work. Kani-King Young’s 6-yard touchdown run capped the Wildcats’ first drive of the second half and made it 21-14. After a defensive stop, St. James added to that lead, with Ja’Juan Jackson completing a pass to Jakias Villanueva that went for an 85-yard touchdown.
Hahnville was undeterred, and Celestine found the endzone for the second time on a 29-yard touchdown run with 4:24 left.
The Tigers needed a stop; St. James wasn’t eager to give the ball back. Jackson converted a third down by finding Villanueva at the sticks; King-Young hammered through the line to convert another for a first.
Hahnville was able to force a turnover on downs with 17 seconds left and took over near midfield. But the Tigers failed to get out of bounds on a completed pass and time ran out.
While noting there was plenty of things to correct on the night, Boyne said he saw good things from the HHS offensive line, and also that it was good to see Celestine get loose. The junior running back had a two-score night; he’s returning this season from a broken leg suffered late last year.
“Fabian’s worked tremendously hard to get back. It’s been a slow progression – that’s on purpose, we didn’t want to put him back out there too early before he was ready. I’ve only seen two of those (tib-fib fractures) in my 25 years. That’s a major injury … he’s 100 percent and I think tonight helped, going against a good defense, he saw he could do what he used to do.”
