By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

BOUTTE — Hahnville coach Lou Valdin was in uncharted territory in late September, his team 0-4 for the first time ever in his tenure at Hahnville.

But now Valdin finds himself in some very familiar surroundings. Hahnville turned on the switch at the outset of district play and went 5-0 to capture District 8-5A outright, the final victory coming via  a 47-44 win over archrival Destrehan.

That means Hahnville is once again in the playoffs under Valdin. Their opening round opponent will be a tough one, however — the No. 23 seeded Tigers will travel to Covington to face No. 10 St. Paul’s.

“We’re playing very well,” said Valdin. “Unfortunately, so is St. Paul’s. They’ve been one of the best programs in 5A for the last four or five years.”

St. Paul’s went 7-3 in the regular season and won District 6-5A with a 6-0 mark. It’s lone losses were to Lincoln High of Florida, Salmen and John Curtis.

“They’re similar to a Rummel, a big, physical team. If we have an advantage, it might be in terms of speed,” said Valdin.

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Lutcher, meanwhile, just capped only the fourth undefeated and untied regular season in school history. The Bulldogs clinched it in style, downing Plaquemine, 34-7; the Green Devils were also undefeated in District 6-4A, so the win netted Lutcher the district crown outright for the second consecutive season.

This Friday, No. 3 seeded Lutcher will host No. 30 St. Martinville.

St. Martinville began the season 4-1 but has since fallen backwards, losing four of five in a very difficult District 5-4A. The combined records of the four teams that defeated St. Martinville are 23-7.

Lutcher enters firing on all cylinders.

The Bulldogs have allowed just 19 points over the past seven weeks and have scored 34 points or more in all but one game in that stretch.