By LEONARD GRAY

BOUTTE – A slow start was quickly remedied, and Hahnville slammed the John McDonogh Trojans 56-6 Friday night.

Both HHS quarterbacks Laron Landry and Bryant Lee, each threw for two touchdowns, and Darius Reynaud rushed for three touchdowns in the game.

A three-yard pass to Derrick Johnson opened up the Hahnville scoring in the first quarter, joined by the PAT by Alex Romero. Romero was eight-for-eight in PAT kicks. The Trojans recovered a Tigers fumble in the period and drove 94 yards for a Geory Lewis touchdown, but the score was called back on an illegal-man-downfield penalty.

In the second quarter, Pernell Nash pulled in a five-yard pass for the 14-0 score, and Lionel Evans joined the scoreboard, midway through the period to make it 21-0. Two minutes later, Damian Smith for the Trojans scored on a 47-yard ramble. The extra point failed, leaving Hahnville with a 21-6 lead.

Reynaud scored the first of his three touchdowns to finish the Tiger scoring for the first half, which let Hahnville head for the locker room with a 28-6 lead. It took Hahnville and Reynaud three plays into the second half before he scored his second TD on a 31-yard, which put the Tigers up to 35-6. Two and half minutes later, Reynaud scored from four yards out to boost the tally to 42-6.

Then, with Lee in as quarterback for the remainder of the game, a quick 26-yard pass to Derrick Brown moved the numbers up to a 49-6 HHS lead, late in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Lee connected with Christian Populus on a 34-yard pass for the final score of 56-6 with 10 minutes left on the clock.

HHS led 19-15 on first downs, rushed for 312 yards and were 12-8 on passes for 157 yards with one interception. McDonogh rushed for 179 yards and were 17-5 on passes for 51 yards.

HHS coach Lou Valdin said the game opened with McDonogh “being more physical,” so he had the team respond by “challenging them at the half to come out with a better effort.”

Valdin said of the slow start by the Tigers, “We made a lot of mistakes we’ve got to correct before East St. John comes to town. We’re going to have to play our best football.”