While it’s just week four of the prep football season, Destrehan is likely to have a Superdome-in-December type of atmosphere Friday night as it hosts cross-parish rival Hahnville. The potential inside track to the District 7-5A championship— the two squads have been favored by most to finish one and two respectively — future playoff positioning and good old fashioned bragging rights are up for grabs in the latest installment of the heated series, which Destrehan has gotten the better of in each of the past four contests.
While Riverside’s victory over the Tigers last week spoiled a potential battle of undefeated teams, talented Hahnville has championship aspirations and may be rolling into this matchup with its best chance of turning the rivalry around since Coach Nick Saltaformaggio took over the program in 2014.
Saltaformaggio is 0-3 against the Wildcats in his tenure thus far, including a defeat in the 2014 state quarterfinals. Those games represent a third of his losses with the Tigers, and the coach said he knows most people will expect Destrehan to extend their win streak in the rivalry.
“We’ll go in on Friday with people thinking we won’t come out successful,” Saltaformaggio said. “My job is to make sure the kids inside our locker room believe we can and will. I believe we have a good team and that this team will have a long playoff run. I also know that Friday night will be a battle.”
While relatively new to the rivalry, Saltaformaggio has a strong grasp on what it means to the Hahnville and Destrehan communities and St. Charles Parish as a whole.
“It’s a tremendous rivalry for so many reasons,” he said. “It’s not just the two football teams, but the schools, the school system, the Eastbank, the Westbank … people are incredibly passionate about it, and you can’t beat that.”
Destrehan coach Stephen Robicheaux has been through his share of hard-fought games with Hahnville in his previous 14 seasons at the program’s helm. He, too, feels a special vibe when it comes time to take on Hahnville.
“It’s a great deal to put programs like Destrehan and Hahnville on the field against one another, strong teams that have tremendous support from the school system, the community and everyone involved.
“It allows us to go out there and put on a show Friday night.”
A boost for the Wildcats this week will be the return to full-time action of receiver Mike Young, a Notre Dame committed senior and Destrehan’s top returning pass-catcher. Young had missed the jamboree and first two games of the season, but was in the lineup for limited action last week against John Ehret. This time around, there should be no limitations.
“He’s full-go,” Robicheaux said. “He’s gonna be fine and we’re excited to have him back.”
Hahnville’s offense struggled in last week’s 19-8 loss to Riverside, a game played on a rainy night and atop a muddy field.
Robicheaux said that loss doesn’t affect his perception of a very dangerous opponent.
“They played in the slop and I think that hurt (Hahnville),” Robicheaux said.
“Riverside is a 2A school but they really have 5A personnel. We know Hahnville is a good football team and they’re going to be ready for us.”
He added the Tigers boast a number of key players who have been through this kind of action before.
“When you see names like (Anthony) Williams, (Devonte) Clark, (Austin) Perrin … you’ve been hearing those for a long time,” Robicheaux said. “Those guys have been there and are experienced, quality players. Coach Salt does a tremendous job with that team and they could very easily be 3-0 right now.”
As usual, corralling the explosive Williams is atop the list of a Hahnville opponent.
“It’s a big challenge,” Robicheaux said. “You’ve gotta know where he is on the field at all times every play. He can bust one running the ball and he catches it really well. He’s a special player who brings that big-play element.”
Both coaches believe the team that is able to run the ball more effectively will have the upper hand.
“It doesn’t really change from week to week … run the ball, stop the run and you’ll find success,” Robicheaux said.
Saltaformaggio believes consistent gains in the running game will be more important than generating the big play.
“You win games like this by piling up 30 5-yard runs,” Saltaformaggio said. “A 4-yard run, a 5-yard run, those are quality plays. You won’t be successful if you’re impatient.”
He said getting the ball to Williams more, and in better position for success, will be a point of emphasis for his staff.
“(Jeremy Gibson) for Riverside had 31 carries for 161 yards,” Saltaformaggio said. “Two of those went for 100 yards … we didn’t do a good job of continuing to get Anthony the ball. If we do that, maybe he has the big night and those big runs.”
Destrehan entered the season needing to replace nine defensive starters. The defense has been quickly making strides, and last week’s 21-7 win over Ehret represented it’s most complete defensive performance of the season.
“A program like Destrehan, they may have to replace nine defensive starters, but they’ve got such a strong talent-base,” Saltaformaggio said. “You can try to guess whether they’ll be as good as last year or they’ll be better next year … you really just have to see it play out. I know that, as far as I’m concerned, they’re plenty good enough.”
Turnovers were Hahnville’s bane in last week’s loss at Riverside. The first came following a 54-yard Clark run; an interception deep in Riverside territory killed the Tigers’ drive. The second was a fumble that ended Hahnville’s second drive of the night. A third came just before halftime – and followed Hahnville’s own interception just a play earlier – and led to a Rebels score.
Rebels quarterback Jordan Loving accounted for three touchdowns to lead his team.
Williams scored Hahnville’s lone touchdown.
Riverside held Williams in check for most of the evening, building their two-touchdown halftime lead with Williams accounting for just 15 first-half rushing yards. The Rebels also kicked away from the ever-dangerous returner throughout the night.
In the fourth quarter, Riverside took advantage of a 65-yard run by Jeremy Gibson when Loving’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Elliot Veron made it 19-0 with just over 10 minutes left in the game, all but ending Hahnville’s hopes to rally.
“We couldn’t block them really well,” said Hahnville coach Nick Saltaformaggio. “They did a much better job in terms of preparation and execution. Talent-wise, I think it’s fairly close to equal. I felt like our kids played really, really hard. But when you play a team that’s been in the Dome, and has a great chance of doing it again, you’ve got to do the little things right, and we didn’t do enough of them.”
At Destrehan, Kristian Mosley’s big night paced Destrehan offensively in its 21-7 victory over Ehret. Kristian Mosley scored touchdowns from 2 and 53 yards out en route to a 145 yard rushing night and Kohen Granier connected with Justin Jefferson for an 11-yard scoring pass to lift the Wildcats to victory on a rainy night.
Mosley said he was ready to carry the mail for his team.
“They did tell us we were gonna lean on the run a little more, (because) it’s hard to catch the ball in the rain,” Mosely said.
Mosley’s 53-yard touchdown run just before the end of the third quarter all but put the game away for the Wildcats.
“We said hang in there, we can wear them out a little bit eventually,” said Robicheaux. “I think that’s what happened in the second half and we busted a big play.”
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