By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

When Hahnville gets on a roll, results are never pretty for its opposition. Dutchtown was the latest to learn that fact.

The Tigers took a 7-7 score late in the first half and turned it into a dominant 41-7 victory in a District 6-5A game in Boutte on Friday night.

Hahnville (7-1, 3-0) remains in a first place tie with East St. John atop the district heap.

The Tiger defense forced and recovered four Griffin fumbles in the game, including turnovers on three consecutive Dutchtown (5-3, 1-2) possessions from the end of the first half into the second.

“It’s kind of been our staple this year,” said Hahnville coach Lou Valdin. “We hold onto the ball and we take it away. One of the fumbles we ripped out, one came on a bad snap, and a couple were off of hits. It’s been working for us so far.”

In all, Dutchtown fumbled the ball away four times, and Hahnville cashed in with a touchdown after each takeaway.

Once ahead by two scores, the Tigers had the Griffins in a bind – Dutchtown’s run-first philosophy didn’t jive with a comeback effort, and the Griffins completed just three-of-12 passes for 16 yards. That came in contrast to the 215 yards DHS piled up on the ground.

“(Dutchtown coach Benny Saia) doesn’t like to throw, and once we were up by more than two scores, they had to do something they weren’t used to,” said Valdin.

In a rarity, HHS running back Alfred Blue was held under 100 yards, gaining 92 yards on 22 carries. He’d score three times.

But Hahnville’s passing game was efficient behind quarterback Brian Ensminger, who completed 12-of-17 passes for 155 yards and two scores.

“Particularly in the second half, we threw it very, very well,” said Valdin. “We passed much better than we ran. Dutchtown’s got a real good secondary…I wasn’t sure that we could throw on them. I thought we’d have to run to win.”

Blue got Hahnville on the board in the first quarter by scoring on a 2-yard run to make it 7-0.

Dutchtown tied the game on a 68-yard Johnathan Darville run.

“They popped one big one on us,” said Valdin. “But other than that, our defense held them without anything significant.”

The score remained tied until Ensminger connected with Byron Gauthier just before halftime for a 13-yard touchdown. That came as the result of the Griffin’s first turnover, which set HHS up in DHS territory.

“We knew they were receiving the second half kickoff,” said Valdin. “We wanted to go in with the lead.”

The momentum pushed the Tigers the rest of the way. Blue made it a two score game early in the third with his second touchdown run, from one yard away. That came after a fumble set HHS up on the DHS 29.

Then Hahnville began a drive inside the Dutchtown 10, and Blue ran for a 4-yard touchdown to make it 28-7.

Ensminger passed for his two scores in the second half, one going to James Butler, the other to Lloyd Richard.