The Hahnville Tigers finished the regular season as the third-ranked 5A team in Louisiana, but will have to fight their way to a state title from the eighth playoff spot, beginning with a showdown against LaGrange.
But for Hahnville head man Lou Valdin, the Tigers are sitting pretty for one particular reason.
“I like our bracket because we could play two home games in the next two weeks, and if we do have to travel, it would only be to Houma,” he said. “We do have to play a couple of tough teams early, and in the playoffs you don’t really know how you stack up against the bracket because you don’t know a lot of the teams.
“But when you don’t know the teams, any familiarity is good and our players are used to playing at home.”
And they are used to playing well in the friendly confines of Tiger Stadium.
Last week in front of the Tiger faithful, Hahnville throttled East St. John 42-21 to claim an outright district championship. In fact, the only time the Tigers didn’t look invincible at home was in their 34-42 double overtime loss to Lutcher. Take away that game and the Tigers are outscoring their opponents 218 to 30 in Hahnville.
But even though they are playing at home, LaGrange is no pushover. The Gators are 7-3 on the year, with two of those losses coming in close games with Acadiana and Barbe. The reason LaGrange has been so successful this season is that they combine a varied offense with a powerful defense.
“They run multiple offenses,” Valdin said. “Last week against Washington they lined up in 28 different formations, so the key for us on defense is going to be lining up correctly.”
A majority of the Gators’ offensive production comes from running back Darius Edwards, who has rushed 100 times for 768 yards and 10 touchdowns. Edwards has also hurt teams through the air, catching 15 passes for 320 yards. Another double threat, Brandon Williams, has rushed for 602 yards on 104 carries and has caught 16 passes for 137 yards. He has seven total touchdowns.
Quarterback Derek Bellard has also looked good at times and has thrown for 762 yards and nine touchdowns with only two interceptions.
“They are very similar to East St. John because they have a great running back that has a lot of speed and a big receiver that goes out and makes big plays,” Valdin said. “That balance makes them hard to defend.
“If our defense doesn’t have the same performance this week that it did against East St. John then our season’s over.”
While LaGrange has several playmakers on offense, they also have a talented defense that is led by defensive tackle Risean Broussard. Broussard, who is listed at 6’2, 289 pounds, has already committed to the University of Tennessee and is rated the No. 13 tackle in the state.
But as long as Hahnville plays their game, Valdin believes his team will be able to move the ball successfully.
“I don’t think they can sellout on stopping our running game because Brian (Ensminger) has been great at getting the ball downfield,” Valdin said. “We have just been really balanced this year.”
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