BOUTTE — The defending Class 5A state champion Hahnville Tigers will open defense of their title Friday night when they play host to Terrebonne at 7 p.m.

Hahnville finished the regular season with a spotless 10-0 record and earned the Class 5A’s No. 2 seed. John Ehret High School earned the top ranking in the state this year.

The Tigers and Terrebonne are certainly no strangers to one another. The two District 6-5A foes met earlier this season, and Hahnville came away with a decisive 41-14 victory.

“We did a good job of stopping their running game and brought a lot of heat against them defensively,” Tigers head coach Lou Valdin said regarding their regular-season encounter.

The Hahnville mentor said that, despite the convincing win against Terrebonne in October, his team will certainly not take its foe lightly Friday night.

“There’s always that fear that you might overlook somebody, but if you do that at this time of year, your season will be over,” Valdin said.” Our kids have playoff experience and will be ready Friday night.”

Valdin said his club has played tremendous defense the entire season and will have to do so again against Terrebonne if it wishes to advance in the postseason.

“Terrebonne has multiple weapons on offense,” he said. “They can run the ball well, have two big receivers and a quarterback who likes to throw the ball deep, so they certainly pose a threat offensively.”

Hahnville indeed has its share of offensive weapons as well. Terrance Isaac, who ran for 168 yards in the Tigers regular-season finale last week against St. James, spearheads the club’s ground game while quarterback Bryant Lee paces Hahnville’s aerial attack.