The Hahnville Tigers are gaining steam.
HHS (3-1, 2-0) are fresh off of a pair of impressive performances in the form of a 51-32 win over Terrebonne and last week’s 42-0 win over H.L. Bourgeois, both wins in front of the home crowd at Tiger Stadium.
Bourgeois (3-2) entered the game riding high with three wins in its first four weeks. In response, Hahnville simply put forth what was possibly its most complete effort of the season, taking a 21-0 lead into the half, matching that with another 21 second half points and earning its first defensive shutout of the season.
This week marks the third clash between Hahnville and a Bayou region team in as many weeks as the Tigers go on the road in Week 6 to face Thibodaux (3-1, 1-1).
Thibodaux went 4-6 last season and made the state playoffs as the 20th seed, falling in round one to No. 13 Southside.
Like Hahnville, Thibodaux only played nine games last regular season because the district matchup last season between these teams was suspended and ultimately cancelled. Gunshots that rang out outside of Thibodaux’s home stadium that night led to the game’s suspension early in the third quarter with Hahnville leading 20-12, and the matchup was ultimately cancelled.
Safety was the priority – as it should have been – but the loss of that matchup ultimately proved a severe blow to the Tigers’ chances to make the playoffs, as Hahnville missed the postseason for the first time in 23 years.
This year’s Thibodaux team is in its second season under head coach Drey Trosclair. And this year’s Thibodaux team is quite unique in its offensive attack.
THS is in its first season of running the Wing-T option, which is fairly uncommon in 2024 in and of itself – though Hahnville saw another version of the option not that long ago in the form of E.D. White’s Veer in Week 2, a 21-18 E.D. White victory.
But Thibodaux will also run its offensive attack from the spread, forcing opponents to prepare and ultimately match up with the two
vastly different looks. Most teams don’t have the personnel to do so, but it’s worked for Thibodaux thus far as THS has posted wins over South Lafourche, 49-6, Assumption, 16-13, and East St. John last week, 28-6. Thibodaux’s lone loss thus far came to Central Lafourche, 36-21.
“They’re playing well, playing with a lot of confidence,” said Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne. “They’re doing a little bit of both (option and spread) now. So, our defensive practice has been kind of split – some option periods and some spread periods, so we’ll be prepared for both.
“You really don’t (see it often), but even at Destrehan, we always said if you have the players to do it, you can put a lot of stress on the defense. They don’t necessarily do it from one snap to the next, but you do have to be prepared to change personnel and group the personnel to be ready for both. We do play a lot of guys on defense, so it’s especially a plus to have so many guys who have experience this year to match up.”
Helping Thibodaux along in that endeavor is a very talented quarterback. Brayden Becnel is a returning starter who tallied 23 touchdown passes against just seven interceptions last season. He has a talented cast around him.
“I think their skill is really good on offense, kind of a mix of Terrebonne and E.D. White. The receivers and backs are all good … when you’re 3-1 like they are, you’ve shown you’re pretty good,” Boyne said.
Defensively, Thibodaux also likes to show plenty of different looks. Boyne said Thibodaux will line up in a 3-3 on one snap and in a 4-2 on the next. Thibodaux also will likely play the most man coverage Hahnville’s seen thus far this year, Boyne said.
Kymari Carter (6’3, 265 pounds) is one of the standouts along a good Thibodaux defensive front.
“The linebackers are very active and the defensive backs play man and they rotate a bunch,” said Boyne. “They throw a lot at you. 3-3, 3-2, 4-2, 4-1, man, 2-man … not much zone, they play mostly man and not many teams do that, so that’s been a big emphasis this week as far as route running and getting ready to face as much man coverage.”
That’ll equate to some valuable experience for sophomore quarterback Landen Teague at this point of the season.
“It changes the routes, it changes the stem of the routes. So, it’s a good thing to see it now – better to see it now than down the line in the playoffs, for the first time,” Boyne said.
Teague is off to a strong start in his first year as starter. He’s completed 40 of 61 pass attempts for 487 yards, five touchdowns and – as impressive and important as any stat for a young starter – no interceptions through four games.
“He’s very comfortable. He’s actually probably harder on himself than I’ve been,” Boyne said. “He holds himself to a high standard. Still a work in progress but each week he’s made strides in different areas. We’ve tried to not throw too much at him at once. We added some new things this week that we were doing late in the summer. I’ve been very pleased with him – he’s very smart.”
Boyne said that while this is Teague’s first starting experience in varsity football, the experience Teague gained during his breakout freshman season on the baseball diamond has only helped his development under the Friday night lights.
“The fact he played 30 games at shortstop and pitched at the varsity level as a ninth grader, I think it’s helped him – there’s pressure involved there. He’s handled it well,” Boyne said.