While there is still a week to go before Destrehan and Hahnville square off in the annual, unofficial “Super Bowl of St. Charles Parish,” the atmosphere at Hahnville this Friday night won’t be all that subdued, either.
Two River Parish contenders collide this week when Riverside visits Hahnville for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Tigers will attempt to go 3-0, but standing in their way is a Rebels (1-1) team ranked sixth in Class 2A.
“You know, it comes at a good time,” Hahnville coach Nick Saltaformaggio said. “Obviously, it comes right before the really, really big one that opens district, and it’s an opportunity to play a really, really good team. I think it’ll be good for our kids to get a taste of that kind of atmosphere, with two good, local teams playing one another.”
Riverside bounced back from an opening week loss to Ehret with an impressive 27-19 win over Parkview Baptist, which entered that game as the top ranked team in Class 3A.
The Rebels went undefeated in the regular season a year ago, reaching the Division III semifinals. This year’s Riverside team has a different look to it than that one: gone are defensive line anchors Jon Anderson and Richie George as well as receivers Von Julien and Darrion Cook. Junior quarterback Jordan Loving is sidelined indefinitely with a back injury, and his projected successor, Jared Butler, is likely to be out until midseason with shoulder soreness.
The cupboard is hardly bare, though. Riverside lost by one in the season’s opening week to 5A John Ehret, 29-28, and led throughout its victory against Parkview Baptist. The team has tabbed Herb McGee, one of the area’s most productive wide receivers over each of the past three seasons, as its quarterback, and he’s made a seamless conversion so far. Last week, he passed for a touchdown and ran for another, tallying 104 yards through the air on the night.
Among the Rebels’ other top weapons are running back Brandon Sanders, who rushed for 84 yards last week, and wide receiver Tyler Gauthier, a big play threat who also scored in the game.
“They’re very talented,” Saltaformaggio said. “You throw classification out the window when you’re dealing with teams like Riverside. It’s not about the population of a school, it’s about the population on the field, and they fill the field with exceptional athletes and players.”
Saltaformaggio is familiar with Riverside coach Bill Stubbs — the two coached against one another when Saltaformaggio was at Chalmette and Stubbs was at Salmen.
“It’s not my first go-round with coach Stubbs,” Saltaformaggio said. “They’re outstandingly coached. This is a typical Bill Stubbs team. They’re physical along both lines. They’re athletic all-around. Their skill kids are as good as anybody’s.
“The crazy thing, you’d think being down to their third quarterback there would be a big drop off. But there’s no drop off. McGee, and their skill players, they present a lot of problems. They’re a team without a lot of weaknesses.”
One could certainly pick up a trend from Hahnville’s early season schedule; this will be the third straight shotgun-spread offense the Tigers face before taking on Destrehan’s version of the offense. Much as was the case the last two weeks, Saltaformaggio said his team must tackle well and maintain positional discipline to minimize exposure to the big play. He also said matching Riverside’s strength in the kicking game will be critical — RA kicker and punter Gauthier is among the state’s best and possesses one of its strongest legs. Placekickers Thomas Rasco and Matt Boyer have handled placekicking duties thus far, for Hahnville with Rasco making his first varsity field goal last week. Aaron Bourgeois handles punting duties.
Linebacker/pass rusher Evan Veron and defensive back JaJuan Bell are among the leaders for the Rebel defense.
Last week, Hahnville generated a number of explosive plays in its 38-7 win over Patterson. Mike Neal threw touchdown passes of 81, 61 and 49 yards (to Michael Gray, Anthony Williams and Kevin Comardelle, respectively). Devonte Clark rushed for 71 yards on seven carries while Drew Dunn rushed for 70 yards on 14 carries.
Anthony Williams totaled 90 yards combined rushing and receiving on 12 touches.
Neal completed 4 of 9 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns.
Hahnville outgained Patterson 411-237 in total yardage. The Tigers did not commit a turnover on the night.
Saltaformaggio was pleased with the big play capability, but the coach also warned that the Tigers can’t fall into the trap of overreliance on those “chunk” plays.
“If the big play is there, obviously, you go after it and love to get it,” he said. “But the really successful teams are ones who can drive the football and control possession. That’s what you can control consistently … Riverside is very good at the point of attack. Their secondary doesn’t make mistakes, and when you make mistakes on the back end, that’s usually where those big plays come from.
“We have to be able to run downhill. Those guys, sideline to sideline, cover as well as anyone on defense.”
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