HHS vs DHS on Friday, Oct. 10, 7 p.m.at Tiger Stadium
Dominant ‘D’ key for Tigers
As they have done all year, the Hahnville defense dominated another opponent last week, which gave the offense the ability to overcome sloppy play for a 28-0 win over John McDonogh.
The win was the Tigers’ third straight after an opening-season loss to South Plaquemines and was the fourth game that the defense has managed to shut down the opposition. John McDonogh finished with -10 total yards on offense, which included -45 yards rushing and only 35 yards passing.
“I thought that we played well defensively, but we took a step backwards offensively,” Hahnville head coach Lou Valdin said. “We also had way too many penalties and turned the ball over too much.”
The Tigers fumbled the ball twice in the game – though only losing one- and had 14 penalties for 125 yards. John McDonogh was just as sloppy, with 10 penalties for 90 yards and a turnover.
But like they have done in their victories this year, Hahnville ran the ball well, which allowed them to take an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter after a 22-yard run by Jai Steib and a 50-yard scamper by Alfred Blue. The Tigers wouldn’t score again until the final quarter, when Brian Ensminger snuck in the ball from 1-yard out and Blue finished up the scoring shortly after with his second touchdown of the night.
Because of the misfire by the offense, Valdin says they had a lot to work on this week.
“I’d like to see our receivers do a better job of catching the football and our offensive line do a better job of run blocking,” he said. “We also need to reduce those silly penalties and not turn the ball over.”
And though Valdin felt the offense stumbled, he saw several positives from his defense.
“I thought we really played well as far as containment is concerned,” he said. “John McDonogh had a mobile quarterback, and we were able to keep him from getting outside.”
The ability of the defense to contain a mobile quarterback is something that will come in handy Friday night when the Tigers open up district play against rival Destrehan.
The Wildcats have dominated their opponents so far this season, including last week’s 35-6 manhandling of John Ehret, who was the fourth-ranked team in 5A.
Destrehan (4-0) is averaging close to 33 points per game while allowing less than seven points a game.
“Destrehan is just a very solid team without any weaknesses,” Valdin said. “Most of their lines are back from last year and they are very good on both sides of the ball. Their quarterback is very mobile, their receivers do a great job of running their routes and they have two good backs with great speed.
“They are just a solid, solid team.”
The offensive and defensive lines have definitely been a large part of the Wildcats’ success so far this season.
The offensive line returns four starters from last year’s state championship team, including seniors Bobby Gorman, Kyle Wagner, and Blaine Wagner and sophomore Ashton Duhe. On defense, Darrington Sentimore, Calvin Ursin and Brennon Nora have shut down their opponents’ running games, while also applying enough pressure on quarterbacks to prevent them from going downfield.
Destrehan also has plenty of talent at the skill positions, with quarterback Wynrick Smothers, running backs Myron Smith and Henry Lenox and receivers Brandon Armstrong, Corey Vidal and Kyron King. Each one of those players has come through at certain points this season and will only get better as the year goes on.
“They like to throw a lot of screens and they run a simple defense, but they don’t make any mistakes,” Valdin said. “For us to have a chance, we have to play mistake-free football and we can’t have penalties or turn the ball over.”
In the end though, it will come down to Hahnville’s ability to run the football.
“We’d like to be able to run on them, because they are so physical, but we won’t know if we can until we get on the field,” Valdin said. “If we can run on them, that would keep their offense off the field, which would be important.”
Of course, the Hahnville defense also has to step up to the challenge.
“I think we do match up well defensively because we have a lot of speed and they are a speed team – they don’t play smash mouth football,” Valdin said. “We do play man, so we are probably going to give up some big plays.”
And as long as Hahnville doesn’t beat themselves, Valdin thinks his squad has a chance.
“We are playing a team that is better than us right now, and the key is to not beat ourselves,” he said. “We have told the team that they can’t let Hahnville beat Hahnville. We have to play the best we can, and if we get lucky and Destrehan makes some mistakes, then we have a chance.”
Editor’s note: In last week’s Hahnville article, Jeremy Sellers was credited with returning a fumble 19 yards for a touchdown. Instead, it was actually Cameron Elmer who came through with the big fumble return.
Focused Wildcats ready for Hahnville
Destrehan aced their first major test of the season, running all over fourth-ranked John Ehret 35-6 in front of a live television audience and stretching their season record to 4-0 in the process.
The Wildcats, who have not tasted defeat in more than a year, got off to a slow start in the first quarter before picking up a couple of touchdowns in the second on a 9-yard run by Myron Smith and a 12-yard touchdown pass from Wynrick Smothers to Kyron King.
Though Destrehan would blow the game open in the second half, those early scores would have been all they needed to pick up the victory.
“I was really pleased with how we played,” Destrehan head coach Stephen Robicheaux said. “It was a big game with the fourth-ranked team in the state and you’re never sure how the team will respond. They came out and played well and I was really pleased with their effort.”
While the offense has been clicking on all cylinders, thanks largely to an offensive line that returns four starters from last year’s state championship team, it has been the defense that has shined so far. The Wildcats are allowing less than seven points a game and show no signs of bending anytime soon.
“We’ve been really fortunate here to have always had good defenses, but it all starts with the defensive line,” Robicheaux said. “This line is the best one I’ve ever had due to the way the three guys we have there work together.”
That line is anchored by recent University of Alabama commitment Darrington Sentimore, who had 120 tackles, 31 tackles for loss and 16 sacks last year. Joining Sentimore are junior Calvin Ursin, who also started last year, and senior Brennon Nora, who towers over the opposition at 6’3 265 pounds.
But talent can sometimes go out the window when Destrehan faces off against their next opponent – arch rival Hahnville.
The Tigers are 3-1 this year and also boast a pretty stout defense, giving up only 11.5 points per game. Hahnville opened the season with a tough overtime loss to South Plaquemines, but rebounded soon after to crush Helen Cox 32-12, O.P. Walker 36-14 and John McDonogh 28-0.
“Hahnville had a tough game to start the season and they didn’t have a lot of time to prepare,” Robicheaux said. “I feel like they could easily be 4-0 right now if their schedule had played out like it was supposed to.”
The Tiger defense, led by senior Wendell Boyd, has been particularly effective against the run, holding John McDonogh to -45 rushing yards last week and keeping Walker to under 100 yards rushing the week before. Hahnville also has a solid running game, with backs Jai Steib and Alfred Blue, which has allowed them to grind out the clock and give their defense time to recharge.
“They run the ball real well and defensively they have a great all-metro lineman,” Robicheaux said. “The thing is, they always play us close no matter what.”
Last season, Hahnville actually took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter before Destrehan was able to fight its way back into the game and pull out a win in double overtime. This time, Robicheaux wants to make sure his team concentrates on the game at hand and not give in to the outside pressure that comes from the rivalry.
“We have to make sure we are focusing on Hahnville and that we don’t get caught up in any of the distractions that come from this week,” Robicheaux said. “We want to continue to get better every week and that’s what we’re working on.”
With his offense continuing to improve each game, and his defense bullying every opponent they have faced so far, Robicheaux feels his team matches up well with the Tigers.
“I like how we match up with them,” he said. “I think our offensive line, especially, matches up really well with their defensive line and I think that’s going to be the key to the game.”
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