LOREAUVILLE – Some gifts keep on giving.

For the Loreauville football team, twin brothers Collin and Calep Jacob have moved onto the college ranks after leading the Tigers to an undefeated regular season in 2021, but their impact continues to be felt at LHS.

Before the Jacobs graduated, they spent considerable time with then-freshman Hayden Benoit, which ultimately played a huge role in Benoit rejoining the football team after he had left the middle school program to concentrate on other sports.

That turned out to be a gamechanger for LHS coach Terry Martin when quarterback Trevor Dooley was sidelined with an injury. Martin needed a quarterback, and Benoit stepped in and got the job done.

“I think Hayden gravitated towards football after hanging around Collin and Calep and talk about a good thing that he did,” Martin said.

Benoit came out for spring training and was penciled in as the team’s future quarterback with a projected strong safety role for this season, but Dooley’s injury thrust the 5-foot-10, 170-pounder into the starting backfield.

“I knew he had the potential to be pretty good,” Martin said of Benoit, who has passed for 760 yards and seven TDs. “He has a live arm and can put a lot of zip on the ball.”

The LHS quarterback is responsible for making split-second reads in Martin’s complex offense, which has made the position an ongoing learning experience.

In last week’s 20-17 win at Catholic High, Benoit put it all together.

“On a third and nine, he stepped up in the pocket and made a throw,” Martin said. “A couple of plays later, he threw a dart to Landon Lancon. He had a good game and has progressed at a position that is so hard to play.”

“It was really hard learning the signals and passes. There are a lot of plays and a lot of different formations,” said Benoit, who continues to be more comfortable on the field. “I feel way more confident than in my first game when I was nervous and not trying to mess up.”

The Tigers (5-4, 3-1 District 8-2A) are No. 15 in the Division III power ratings and have won three of their last four heading into Friday’s home game against Delcambre (5-4, 1-3).

Benoit has stayed in contact with Calep Jacob, last year’s quarterback, and Jacob has made time for his successor while juggling the demands of college football at UL.

“I talk to Calep a lot,” Benoit said. “He told me that I’m a leader as the quarterback of the team, and that I need to make sure everybody is looking up and not down.”