LOREAUVILLE — The Loreauville Tigers will kick off District 7-2A action Friday at Franklin with a perfect record after LHS easily disposed of Kinder last week.

“I fully expected a fight to the end,” LHS coach Terry Martin said of the 41-8 rout of Kinder, the 2020 Class 2A runner-up. “All our coaches did. We knew Kinder was young, but the more film I watched, the more nervous I became.”

As it turned out, Martin didn’t need to be on edge as the Tigers (3-0) amassed 419 yards of total offense with 22 first downs.

Evan Simon led a punishing ground attack with 111 yards on 10 carries. Calep Jacob tacked on 106 yards and three TDs on only eight rushes, and Ethan Simon chipped in 71 yards and a score on seven attempts.

Jacob was 5-of-6 passing for 111 yards and a TD. His twin brother, Collin Jacob, averaged 26 yards per catch and had four tackles. On defense, Calep Jacob racked up 12 stops.

“I have to give it up for Calep,” Martin said. “He made one read wrong the whole night. Other than that, he was perfect. He had an exceptional performance on both sides of the ball. We were protecting him pretty well. I hope that continues.”

Martin wasn’t trying to put extra points on the scoreboard with the game out of reach.

“Against North Vermilion, we were up 27-6 and I got conservative,” he explained. “Before I knew it, it was a one-touchdown game. I wasn’t going to let that happen again.”

Kinder was only two of 11 on third down, although the Yellow Jackets did convert four of six fourth down chances.

“They keep pounding you,” Martin said. “Kinder is satisfied with getting three yards a pop. I really expected a slugfest, and five of our linemen who play both ways were beat the hell up by the end of the game.”

With a team that is a championship contender, Martin is demanding perfection from his Tigers.

“One thing we haven’t improved on is walk-throughs in the gym when we’re forced inside because of inclement weather,” he noted.

“With today’s distractions, it’s hard for kids to stay focused. That’s one thing I harped on at halftime of the Kinder game: for them to stay focused. I told them to act like there is no scoreboard. Act like the score is 0-0.”