By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

Ranked second overall in Class 5A and backed by a tidal wave of preseason hype, Hahnville entered Friday night’s game against John Ehret with every intention of showing that there was plenty of substance behind its status.

Surely, the Tigers all but erased their doubters.

Behind Alfred Blue’s 119 rushing yards and a dominating defensive effort, Hahnville trounced the visiting Patriots, 42-0, in Boutte.

“It was everything you could want from your first game,” said Hahnville coach Lou Valdin.

Blue averaged nearly 10 yards a carry and scored three times in what Valdin deemed a better effort than his jamboree showing a week prior.

“He ran a little harder,” Valdin said. “Against St. James, he was ambling up to the line, waiting for blocks, and when you do that, you get holding penalties. We told him to hit the hole, then make your move at the second level. I thought he did a much better job this time.”

Defensively, Ehret couldn’t get much going – Hahnville (1-0) held the Patriots (0-1) to a mere 58 yards of total offense. That came in stark contrast to the 374 the Tigers gained on the night.

Hahnville wasted little time to jump out on top, scoring with 9:07 left in the first quarter on a 9-yard Blue run to make it 7-0.

That lead grew to 14-0 on the Tigers’ next possession, when Blue added his second score on a 3-yard plunge. That run was set up by the previous play, a pass from Brien Ensminger to Derek Howard for 45 yards.

Tigers receiver James Butler would find paydirt next with 2:42 left in the first quarter, on a 31-yard scoring pass from Ensminger. That made it 21-0.

Valdin said the strong start forced Ehret coach Billy North into some tough decisions.

“When you fall behind like that, you start having to take some chances to rally. If those backfire, it can get ugly quickly,” said Valdin. “They had to roll the dice starting in the second quarter, and it didn’t come out the way they needed it to be.”

Indeed, Hahnville added two more scores in the first 2:09 of the second quarter. Lloyd Richard’s 19-yard scoring run and Alfred Blue’s 14-yard touchdown run made it 35-0, and Hahnville coasted from there.

Defensively, Valdin said he saw much improvement from the jamboree.

“We got good pressure on the quarterback, and I thought our secondary did a really good job,” he said. “I thought St. James exposed us back there a little bit. We worked on it in practice, and our defensive backs got their first real chance to see their mistakes on game film. They were much improved.”