Hahnville has established itself as a strong second half of the season football team under coach Nick Saltaformaggio in each of the past two seasons — the Tigers rode seven game win streaks into the Class 5A quarterfinals in 2014 and 2015. 2016 looks like it could follow that formula. The Tigers dominated Terrebonne last week to successfully follow up on their thrilling rally to beat St. Thomas More two weeks ago. The Tigers’ run game is cranked up behind Anthony Williams and Devonte Clark. Its defense just pitched a shutout. Quarterback Austin Perrin has set new season-highs in passing yardage in each of the past two weeks, both seeing him tally over 300 yards passing.
But East St. John intends to spoil it all.
The Wildcats are just 2-4 this season, but they almost certainly won’t fly under the Tigers’ radar after their effort last week. East St. John led unbeaten Destrehan for essentially three quarters until DHS scored 20 fourth quarter points to take a 39-20 victory in Reserve. Denied the chance to hand Destrehan its first loss, ESJ now focuses on derailing Hahnville’s momentum train as it hosts the Tigers at Joe Keller Memorial Stadium Friday night.
“They’re very athletic,” said Hahnville coach Nick Saltaformaggio. “They’re big up front on defense. (Marquise) Darensbourg gives them a big run threat at quarterback. They’ve always been very talented and this year’s team is no different.”
Saltaformaggio noted Darensbourg’s toughness and will to win as elements that make him a dangerous adversary.
“We have a lot of guys nicked up, but then you look at this guy, a quarterback with a torn labrum, a painful injury, and he’s helping them be productive,” Saltaformaggio said. “He brings that “I want to win” mentality. He’s a big, big kid. He has started at a very high level for two different teams in this district.”
Defending the Wildcats downfield will present a challenge, Saltaformaggio said. C.J. Turner and Calvin Gardner both bring size and explosiveness to the mix, and avoiding the splash play could make all the difference for the Tigers.
“Those receivers are really tall guys. We’re not especially tall in the secondary. That’s a big concern I have,” Saltaformaggio said. “They’re very dangerous when it comes to getting those 50-50 balls in the air. Two years ago, they were leading us at half, and those jump balls were really hurting us. They make some nice catches and it’s hard for us to defend.”
Saltaformaggio said the focus of his defense will be on keeping East St. John in third-and-long situations, which would theoretically give Darensbourg less time to throw and his defensive backs less real estate to cover.
On the other side of the ball, the Tigers coach praised East St. John’s trio of defensive lineman Myles Myers and Demond Stewart and linebacker Raymond Moore.
Another way to limit East St. John would be to keep the ball and get a lead. The explosion of the Tigers’ passing game over the past two weeks is encouraging to that end.
Perrin completed 15 of 21 pass attempts for 348 yards and four touchdowns last week. He also rushed for another.
“Austin was probably the most set back with weather early on. It took us some time to knock the rust off him,” Saltaformaggio said. “He’s really playing lights out. When you look at our offense, if we go out and have a big night to score 40 points, that would be the third time in six games. We’ve played on a couple of rough fields due to the weather. So we’ve done some really good things and hopefully we’ll see that continue.”
One of Perrin’s chief targets last week was receiver Jamel Byrd, who Perrin got the ball to early and often throughout the night. At 6’2 and 190 pounds, he offers an imposing cover for defensive backs.
“(Byrd) has really worked on his craft tremendously,” Saltaformaggio said. “His play is even more important now because we’ve lost Waylon for the season. Jamel is starting to play the way we envisioned.
“He has the talent and the pedigree, certainly. We’re going to try and get him the ball as much as we can. He’s tall and physical.”
Saltaformaggio said his role will grow going forward and that the Tigers will count on his production even more, in light of a season-ending broken collarbone suffered by receiver Waylon LeBlanc, who hauled in what turned out to be a game-deciding touchdown reception two weeks ago against St. Thomas More.
The Tigers dominated from start to finish in their District 7-5A home matchup with Terrebonne last week, notching a 48-0 victory to earn their first district win and second shutout of the season.
Anthony Williams recorded three combined rushing and receiving scores — including a Hail Mary touchdown reception just before halftime to help spur on Hahnville (4-2, 1-1).
After Devonte Clark got Hahnville on the board with a touchdown run, Williams got loose for his own 11-yard score to put HHS ahead 13-0 midway through the first quarter. That score was set up by a 65-yard reception by Cade Miguez.
With 8:53 left to play in the second quarter, Perrin scored on a 1-yard sneak after connecting with Jamel Byrd three times on the drive, making it 20-0.
Then Miguez added to the scoring on his second long reception of the night, this one a 56-yard score on a screen pass from Perrin.
Hahnville tacked on what looked to be their last score of the first half when Perrin connected with Williams over the middle for a 28-yard touchdown with 2:09 left.
But on the final play of the half, Perrin bought time and threw the ball up into the endzone, where Williams won a jump ball over a host of defenders for a 50-yard score and a 41-0 Hahnville lead at halftime.
Perrin and Byrd combined for a second half touchdown to round out the Tigers scoring.
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