Hahnville travels to face E.D. White Friday night for a game that carries a bit of added meaning compared to much early season fare.
One can expect this game to be played at a playoff level intensity.
Both teams enter this game with a record of 0-2, and both have faced stern tests so far. E.D. White fell 21-20 in the season’s opening week to Thibodaux. Last week, E.D. White fell 35-7 to Dutchtown.
Only one of these teams will be able to avoid falling to a mark of 0-3. It will be a fight on Friday night.
“It’s definitely not my first choice to have to play an 0-2 team of that caliber on the road,” said Hahnville head football coach Greg Boyne. “They’ll be looking for that first win just like us, but they’re at home. So it’ll be tight. It’ll be physical. I think overall it’ll be similar to the first two times we’ve played (in this recent series).”
The Tigers and Cardinals have squared off in each of the past two seasons, the teams going 1-1 in those games, each with a win at home.
Last year, HHS took a 28-7 victory at Tiger Stadium. This one will be in Thibodaux where HHS will attempt to be the first to earn a road win in the series of recent years. The Cardinals were 8-4 last season, the 8 seed and a quarterfinalist in Division II, falling to eventual state champion SCC.
This will be head coach Kyle Lasseigne’s seventh year guiding E.D. White. His teams are physical and everything starts with running the ball and stopping the run.
“Very physical team, and they’re very well-coached,” said Boyne. “That’s an option team, so you know defensively, you have to be on your rules and on your game. Then they’re very solid on the defensive end. They’re not as big as they’ve been in the past couple of years, but they play some young kids with good size and they’re strong. They do a good job.”
Alex Vicknair quarterbacks the Cardinal offense. As one might expect given the team’s option-based attack, he can hurt a defense with his legs.
“We’ve seen him the past two years since we play them in freshman and JV. And with him, we’ve seen he’s very athletic and he’s got a good arm,” said Boyne. “He doesn’t have the experience last year’s guy (at quarterback) had. But to run that offense, you’ve got to be smart and you have to be athletic. You have to have a solid arm. He’s got all of the things it takes.”
Reese LaFont will play both running back and wide receiver and is a Nicholls commitment.
“He’s their best player,” said Boyne. “They’ll split him out when they go spread, which isn’t a lot, but they’ll do it. They’ll play him more like a slot wing back. They’ll get him in motion and he’ll run the sweep. He’s got good size, a good build, and he’s fast. He’s just a really good athlete.”
Boyne said E.D. White is talented along the offensive line, as usual with the program, but not as experienced as in past years. Sophomore Coltyn Duplantis – the son of Hahnville softball head coach Jeremy Duplantis – brings size and strength at 6’1 and 250 pounds to the offensive tackle position.
Defensively, the Cardinals have reloaded this year. Nine starters from last year’s team have departed.
“They’re playing some young guys who I think are going to end up being really good,” said Boyne. “They play an even front, which we haven’t really seen yet. We’ve seen odd fronts pretty much the whole time. And they play a lot of different coverages on the back end, but after St. James and Shaw, you’ve almost seen it all this summer.”
BREAKOUT GAME – While Hahnville fell 28-27 in overtime against St. Charles Catholic Friday night, slot receiver Kaiden Bran put together a career best performance. He caught three passes for 113 yards – his best yardage total to date at HHS – and is a key part of an emerging, talented wide receiving corps at HHS.
“He’s not super imposing, super fast or super big. He just catches everything you throw his way,” Boyne said. “He’s fought and battled for playing time and he’s finally got it. I was impressed with all of our receivers. I think they’ve played well and are a bright spot for us early on. You can see Landen (Teague)’s confidence with those guys growing.”
