With four games left for his team this regular season, Hahnville head coach Greg Boyne wants to see one thing in particular over the next month.
When the Tigers have the opportunity to finish an opponent – show that knockout power.
“One of the things we’ve talked about with the players is getting off to a fast start and keeping the momentum,” said Boyne. “I thought even (in Hahnville’s win over H.L. Bourgeois in Week 5), we got off to the fast start and then toward the end of the first half, we kind of faded. The same thing happened this week (against Thibodaux). Then we came out pretty fast in the second half.”
Boyne chalks up some of that to human nature, but for Hahnville to get to where it’s looking to go, he said it will have to find a way to push past that.
“I think it’s natural sometimes when you’re out ahead to have a bit of a mental let down,” Boyne said. “And that’s what we’ve talked about. When you have a chance to finish them off – don’t let them hang around and start thinking they can come back. It happened in the playoffs last year against H.L. Bourgeois. It’s something we’ve emphasized.”
The Tigers certainly have knockout power – the third quarter of Friday’s 34-20 win at home over Thibodaux displayed that and then some. Hahnville scored three touchdowns over the final six minutes of the third quarter to take a 31-6 lead and all but put the visitors away, handing Thibodaux its first loss of the season.
This week Hahnville (5-1. 2-1) goes on the road for the third time in the past four weeks, taking on Central Lafourche on Friday night.
Central (2-4, 0-2) is coming off of a 32-14 loss at East St. John. Last season, the Trojans went 3-6 overall, including a 49-7 loss to Hahnville.
The Trojans have had some tough luck in past seasons – in 2023 and 2024, the team lost its starting quarterback, Jeremy Cleveland, before Week 2 of the season.
It’s been a bit of bad luck this season as well – Central dealt with a flu outbreak that sidelined several players last week, and the injury bug has hit again.
But when Central takes the field Friday, Boyne said running back Robert Day will be one player that has the Tigers attention.
“They have a really good running back, and a lot of young guys playing with him,” said Boyne. “Offensively, they’re going to run spread, but it’s primarily 70 percent run.”
Day rushed for two touchdowns in what was a close loss in a shootout against rival South Lafourche in Week 2.
Cleveland has been healthy this season and has flashed his ability at different times, including a strong performance in his team’s 56-24 win over Central Catholic in Week 4.
Defensively, Central plays a lot of zone – it’s likely quarterback Landen Teague will have the chance to spread the ball around to several different targets, as he has much of the season, and that those players will have opportunities to do damage after the catch.
Boyne has been pleased at that aspect of the Tiger offense in recent games.
“I think early in the year I was probably calling too many shot plays, trying to get yards too fast … now, I think we’re back in a good rhythm, taking what the defense gives us and working underneath,” said Boyne.
Of Teague’s 10 completions on Friday, five different players caught passes – Bennett Naquin, Kevias Singleton, Fabian Celestine, Jackson Porter and Aaron Williams – four of them hauling in two.
“It’s a group I was really high on coming out of the summer,” said Boyne. “The past few weeks, they’ve really played at a high level. Bennett’s gotten a lot of the attention, but Kevias is having a really good season. He’s catching everything – I think he’s only got one drop on the season. So, you’re getting what you want from your two seniors and everyone kind of follows their lead.”
