The stands weren’t as packed, but fans were loud. The cheerleaders and band weren’t in their traditional spots, but they showed the spirit people have come to expect each and every Friday night of football season. And on the field, the Hahnville Tigers were dominating.
Tiger Stadium, ladies and gentlemen, is back.
And it was Tiger Stadium that indeed played host as HHS welcomed Higgins for season opening action, and for new Hahnville head coach Daniel Luquet’s first game heading the program. The Tigers impressed – Andrew Naquin threw four touchdown passes, Troy Kendrick on the receiving end of three of them, on the way to a 49-0 victory in non-district action.
“It’s pretty surreal,” said Luquet. “I know I’ve waited a long time for this. This is a great school with great kids and a great community. But at the end of the day, this is all about the kids. I became a coach because of them. I’ll never forget this win or these kids, I know that … this is a great group.”
Kendrick, a junior, began to make waves last season as a sophomore. Friday night proved his breakout performance.
He said the opportunity to finally kick the season off meant a great deal.
“We went through a lot with everything, with corona … having to stay away from our team first, then we felt like maybe we won’t have a season, and we were working so hard,” Kendrick said. “Tonight, we came out and played great, we put up 49 points … but I know at the end of the day, we’re going to be 10 times better down the line.”
For Naquin, it was one of the best statistical nights of his career. The senior spread the ball to several targets in a more pass-oriented attack than Hahnville has seen in quite some time, and when he wasn’t moving the ball with his arm, he picked up key yardage with his legs as well. And running back Trey LaBranch also flashed his considerable skills, taking full advantage of the wider rushing lanes made possible by the team’s spread attack.
But the Tigers got on the board first via special teams, when Hahnville blocked a Higgins punt resulting in a touchdown to make it 7-0 less than 90 seconds into the game.
Hahnville extended the lead to 14-0 on Naquin’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Collin Zeringue about midway through the first quarter.
Kendrick hauled in the next two touchdown passes, one from 30 yards away and another from eight, showing his physicality as he was able to win a jumpball over a defender in the endzone.
With three minutes to go before halftime, LaBranch turned in his own highlight play, making a move and wiggling free for a 52-yard touchdown run to make it 35-0.
In the second half, Kendrick hauled in his third touchdown catch of the night from Naquin to push the lead to 42-0. Dajon Celestine added a touchdown run in the fourth quarter to round out the Tigers’ scoring.
Higgins intercepted Naquin twice, once on a deflected pass. But the passing game showed its capability, and its improvement has been among the chief goals this offseason since Luquet ascended to the head job from his post as offensive coordinator last season.
“It was the thing we absolutely needed to get better at coming out of last year. We have to be able to throw like we did tonight,” Luquet said. “To be able to run it like Trey did … you just become more complete. We turned it over too many times … when you throw it like this, sometimes you’re gonna turn it over. We work through it. We got a lot of people involved tonight, and I think we still left a lot of points and yards out there.”
Defensively, Hahnville was also very strong. HHS recorded the shutout, but also held Higgins without big plays and largely avoided penalties, both of which were problematic at times last season. For a Tigers defense less experienced than its offensive counterpart, it represented reason for much optimism.
“It’s all about learning for those guys. Every snap they take is another they’ve gained. They really did some good things … it’s 11 guys all playing for each other, doing reps for each other and showing their ability to communicate,” Luquet said.
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