Hanson has rare visit to North Vermilion on Thursday

The Hanson Memorial Tigers are playing the North Vermilion Patriots Thursday. It may be the first time these two teams have played each other in football.
The season opener gets underway at 7 o’clock.
The Class A Tigers are coming off a 6-5 year in 2014 and lost in the first round of the select playoffs.
Last week against Ascension Episcopal, Hanson lost 28-0 in the Iberia Parish Jamboree. In the jamboree, Hanson quarterback Britt Young completed 13 of 19 passes for 81 yards for the Tigers. Jacob Singley caught four passes for 38 yards and Luke Lancon caught four passes for 17 yards.
Although Hanson is a Class A team with 28 players, North Vermilion head coach Richard Prejean is not taking them for granted.
“Hanson does some scary things on offense,” said Prejean. “They have a solid running game, thanks to a solid offensive line. They have a lot of experience up front.
“While it is a 3A against a 1A matchup, we have to play solid in order for us to win. We have to play solid on offense and defense.”
With the season opener, Prejean said his team is still not 100 percent ready. There are question marks on offense and defense the NV coaching staff is still trying to solve.
The NV offensive line is still not solidified just 24 hours before the first game. There are juniors and seniors battling for O-line positions.
In the Vermilion Parish Jamboree, Abbeville found holes in North Vermilion’s secondary. Prejean is expecting his secondary to play better tonight.
Getting his first varsity start at quarterback for the Patriots will be Dade Dieterich. Expected to get most of the carries is running back Dylan Dent, who ran for more than 50 yards in the jamboree for NV
Hanson’s head coach Brett Blakely said Hanson needs to set the tone early in order to have a chance against the Patriots.
“We want to set the tone early in the game,” said Blakely. “We need to play physically up front and control the tempo.”
Blakely expects to have 17 players go both ways on offense and defense. North Vermilion will have a handful.
Coach Prejean said this will be North Vermilion’s only Thursday game.