The Hahnville Tigers couldn’t have played any better against John Ehret last week, needing only 24 minutes to put the Patriots away 42-0. While the defense put up a shutout, and only allowed 56 total yards, it was the offense that had people talking. Quarterback Brian Ensminger picked up right were he left off in his near-perfect jamboree outing, effortlessly throwing for 137 yards and a touchdown on only seven tries. Running back Alfred Blue was also spectacular, rushing for 119 yards and three touchdowns in one half of action. And while Hahnville head coach Lou Valdin said he was impressed with his teams’ execution, he was especially proud of his offensive line.
“We challenged them last week because Ehret likes to blitz so much,” Valdin said. “We told them that if they protect the quarterback and allow us to run the ball, we would be able to put the game away early.
“If they hadn’t done that, it would have given teams a blueprint on how to beat Hahnville. Now, teams will think twice about using that scheme against us.”
Because Ehret blitzed and played man, Valdin said they were unable to make adjustments once the Tigers jumped out to a big lead.
“That’s why the score was so lopsided,” he said.
By taking John Ehret out of the game so early, it also gave Valdin a chance to give some of his young players action in the second half.
“I was proud of our young defense for preserving the shutout, and offensively we were able to get several young linemen action under the Friday night lights,” he said. “Anytime we get a chance to do that, we’re going to take it because there is nothing like game speed.”
Hopefully, those young players will have the luxury of getting on the field again when the Tigers host Sarah T. Reed this Friday.
Class 4A Reed finished the 2008 season with a 5-5 record and was throttled in the first round by No. 1 seed Notre Dame. They run an option offense, which Valdin said will force his team to remain disciplined on defense.
“We are going to be very basic on defense and this week has really been like a camp week,” Valdin said. “We have really been concentrating on the fundamentals, and if we have those down, we should be able to shut down the option.”
If the Hahnville offense is able to score early and often, the option becomes ineffective anyway.
“Defensively, they use multiple fronts and mix man with zone,” Valdin said. “They do have some athletes, but if we played like we did last week, we shouldn’t have a problem.
“If our offense can get ahead, then the option is less successful because its not an offense that works well if your playing from behind.”
But the option does work well on a short field.
“The key is ball security,” Valdin said. “We don’t want to turn the ball over on our side of the field and instead force Reed to drive the length of the field. That’s something they had a problem doing in a loss against East Ascension last week.”
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