Bucs face once-beaten Hahnville (11/20)

Posted November 19, 2009 at 11:55 pm
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By JOHNATHAN MANNING
AMERICAN PRESS

Barbe will meet a team similar to itself when it travels to Hahnville today for a Class 5A regional round playoff game.

Kick off is at 7 p.m.

Like ninth-seeded Barbe (9-2), eighth-seeded Hahnville (10-1) likes a balanced offense.

Quarterback Brian Ensminger, nephew of former LSU QB Steve Ensminger, has thrown for 2,032 yard, while running back Alfred Blue has run for 1,672 yards for Hahnville.

“They have all the ingredients: a big tailback that can run, a good quarterback and a couple good receivers,” said Barbe head coach Jimmy Shaver. “When I picked the top teams at the beginning of the year, I had Central of Baton Rouge, Hahnville and maybe West Monroe.

“That was my top three.”

Barbe heads into its second consecutive game with sophomore Jared Foster at quarterback. Foster, who has thrown for 920 yards and 12 touchdowns against five interceptions, missed five games after breaking his collarbone against Sam Houston in Week 4. In his first start since the injury, he threw for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 57-22 win over South Terrebonne.

“Every day he gets better. He’s very close to where he was. He’s getting it back,” Shaver said, then added jokingly, “if we could play about three more weeks, he’d be OK.”

Kevin Berard filled in for Foster and threw for 670 yards and 10 touchdowns with no interceptions. But the return of Foster allows Berard to move back to wide receiver, where he is a much bigger threat. He has 21 catches for 427 yards and eight touchdowns.

“When we’re mixing it up with the run and the pass, we’re a whole lot better football team,” Shaver said. “It takes out those limitations.”

Barbe has been a scoring machine, averaging 38 points per game behind running back Michael Guillory’s 1,212 yards and 18 touchdowns.

But so has Hahnville at 41 points per game. Blue has rushed for 32 touchdowns and Ensminger has thrown 23.

“(Ensminger)’s good, he’s got that same Ensminger touch,” Shaver said. “He throws the ball well and manages the offense really well. Then you put that 6-foot-3, 220-pound running back there and they can control the football.”

Hahnville runs a man-to-man defense, something Shaver said the Bucs have seen limited amounts — some by LaGrange and some by Acadiana.

“If we’re going to be in this game, we’re going to have to move the ball good,” Shaver said.

Last week, LaGrange, Barbe’s District 3-5A rival, had Hahnville on the ropes, down 26-17 at halftime. But Ensminger threw two touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Tigers to a 38-32 win.

“I’m not sure Hahnville gave (the Gators) credit for being as good as they were, kind of like us against Sulphur,” Shaver said. “When they came out in the second half, they were a whole different team. They dominated. But LaGrange did a good job of staying in the ballgame. It was whoever crossed the line last.”

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