Hahnville moved to 4-2 Thursday night and even added a new offensive wrinkle — the downfield passing game — to their ground-heavy attack.
The Tigers rolled up and down the field en route to a 49-7 non-district victory at Pearl River in a non-district game, one that saw Anthony Williams dominate again on the ground and Jha’quan Jackson connect with his receivers through the air for multiple big plays.
Jackson scored once on the ground and connected through the air with Michael Gray for another touchdown. Meanwhile, Williams scored on a pair of touchdown runs in what was limited action for the standout tailback, who did not play at all in the second half.
HHS led 28-0 at halftime and dominated on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. In the second half, Brandon Comardelle got loose for a 56 yard touchdown run, while Termon Nash scored on another run. Backup quarterback Andrew Naquin connected with Brandon Johnson for another score.
The Hahnville touchdown passes Friday were the first of the season for a team that’s made its hay dominating via the run. Getting the passing game cranked up was a priority for Hahnville coach Nick Saltaformaggio, whose Tigers have now scored 40 points or more in four of its first six games.
“(The passing game) is always gonna be big because so many people are crowding the line of scrimmage on us,” Saltaformaggio said. “Jha’quan really threw some nice balls, as did Andrew Naquin, a ninth grader. It’s something we stress in practice every day, something we know we need to be able to do. I think it’s really a confidence thing for us now. We need to be able to throw it effectively off of play action, and we did tonight.”
Saltaformaggio said he was pleased to see not only his quarterbacks get going, but also his receivers, who he said have been unselfish all season for a team that’s leaned so heavily on the run.
“It’s always good to reward kids who work hard,” he said. “They haven’t had a lot of balls thrown their way. They’re very unselfish, and they’ve blocked the perimeter like champs.
“I know this … if we can get the passing game going, we’re going to be pretty dynamic offensively going forward.”
He also credited his team for taking control early on a night with some distractions in the air due to the impending weather situation that could be brought by Tropical Storm Nate.
“When you can get out with a win against a 4-1 team, on the road, on a Thursday and with all the storm craziness going on right now, you’ve got to be pretty happy,” Saltaformaggio said.
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