ST. MARTINVILLE – The St. Martinville Tigers are 1-2, but there’s no reason the sound the alarm. 

In all three games, the No. 10 team in Class 3A has been matched against larger schools, including a 39-19 setback at home vs. Breaux Bridge last week. 

The two opponents that beat the Tigers — 5A Lafayette High and Breaux Bridge — have a combined record of 6-0.

SMHS is heavily favored heading into this week’s road game at 0-3 Northside, where head coach Vincent DeRouen worked previously.

“That’s way in the past,” DeRouen said of his time at the Lafayette school.  “I don’t even think about it much anymore.  We’re working on us – hopefully being a better team.”

With strong safety Bailey Mitchell finally cleared for action following an ankle injury suffered during the 2018 regular season, the Tigers should be an improved team.

“Bailey has been moving around well, and we’re excited to have him back,” DeRouen said.  “He’s been doing his exercising and staying in good physical condition.

“He just hasn’t been in full contact.  We’ll see Friday night if he’s in game shape.”

With Mitchell’s return, fans can expect to see sophomore Mandrel Butler get more touches on offense.  

Butler, who also starts in the secondary, helped the Tigers mount a second-half comeback bid with a touchdown run vs. Breaux Bridge.  He led the team in rushing with 45 yards on seven carries.  

“I think we’re going to see Butler running it a little more,” DeRouen said.  “He’s a good talent.  We’re also going to see Mitchell run some plays on offense.  

“We’ve been a little paranoid with using Butler so much in the offensive backfield because we’ve needed him so badly in the secondary.  Now that Bailey is back, we can use Mandrel a lot more on offense.”

After falling behind 33-6 at the half last week, the Tigers closed the gap to 33-19 and had the football with a chance to cut the deficit to one score.

“We didn’t shut down, we didn’t lay down,” DeRouen said.  “We just have to figure out why we started so slowly.  Breaux Bridge has some great weapons, and I don’t think we matched their intensity early.  In the second half, we fought and made a game of it.

“We start 12 sophomores.  Hopefully, this is a wake-up call for them and in the future, they can learn from it.  We’re inconsistent.  A lot of times, we’ll do some good things, and then we’ll run the same play and not block correctly.”

Another defensive back who will play both ways is Latrevon Wiltz, who caught a touchdown pass in the third quarter from sophomore quarterback Tanner Harrison.

“We’re trying to get him the ball more,” DeRouen said of Wiltz.  “We tried early and weren’t able to do it, but later in the game, some stuff started shaking for us pretty good.”  

Senior Brian Wiltz Jr., who plays both quarterback and receiver, rushed for 44 yards on 13 carries and completed his only pass, a 15-yard touchdown, to D’Aaron Marshall.  

Wiltz is averaging close to 11 yards per carry on the season (33-353, 2 TD).