Lafourche Central Market opens Saturday
September 13, 2012
TRMC donates equipment to local high school programs
September 18, 2012
LSU sophomore halfback Kenny Hilliard takes a handoff and surveys the defense.
The linebackers pinch to the inside.
Hilliard reacts and breaks outside for a gain of seven yards.
First down Tigers.
The next play, the defenders learn from their mistakes and
cheat to the edges.
It’s bruisin’ time.
With fewer bodies in the middle of the defense, the powerful and physical halfback barrels through Washington’s defense and boulders into the endzone for a touchdown – his fourth of the season.
Sounds familiar?
It should.
Hilliard got his start scoring touchdowns as an All-American halfback at Patterson High School, where he broke the Louisiana record for most rushing yards in a career with more than 8,600 yards. He also had 106 career touchdowns as a Lumberjack.
“Patterson, St. Mary Parish and that whole area out there, that’s my home man,” Hilliard exclusively told SportsNet this week following an LSU practice. “That’s my home, and all of those people who helped me along the way are in my mind when I’m playing each Saturday here for the Tigers.”
Hilliard’s earliest roots may be sewn in St. Mary Parish soil.
But this 6-foot, 231-pound 20-year-old was born to be a Tiger.
The nephew of former LSU standout turned New Orleans Saints halfback Dalton Hilliard, the former Patterson star said he grew up with purple and gold in his blood.
“That’s just what it was in my house growing up,” Hilliard said his senior year at Patterson. “We’d watch the games and that was the team that we all paid attention to in terms of college. Sure, I watched everyone because I loved football, but it almost always came back to LSU.”
Hilliard’s admiration for the LSU program would come on Saturday afternoons less than 24 hours after his own Friday night stardom.
Hilliard was a standout performer from the very first day he walked onto Patterson’s campus.
As a freshman, he rushed for 1,825 yards and 18 touchdowns.
He followed those lofty numbers up with two of the best statistical seasons in Louisiana history, rushing for 2,377 yards and 34 touchdowns as a sophomore and 2,512 yards and 32 touchdowns as a junior.
“He was just one of those guys that just had ‘it,’” Patterson coach Tommy Minton said during Hilliard’s senior season. “He showed up to work every day and he was just one of those special kids.”
As Hilliard continued to shred opponents’ defenses like tissue paper, colleges started to line up for the halfback’s services.
Alabama, Miami, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Ole Miss were among the schools to offer Hilliard a full ride.
In the end, the decision ended up being pretty easy – LSU.
Hilliard committed to the Tigers on Dec. 19, 2009, a few weeks after his junior season.
As the halfback played and rushed for 1,804 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior, colleges tried to convince Hilliard to reconsider.
He said he never wavered and was firm to LSU throughout this entire recruiting process.
“It wasn’t really that hard for me,” Hilliard said. “LSU is just home, man. I’m an hour away from home and all of my people can come and see me play. I just wanted to follow in my uncle and my cousin’s footsteps and come to LSU and be a Tiger and just do whatever I could to start to pave my own path here in Baton Rouge.”
Hilliard mentioned a path being paved.
It’s not taking the halfback long to leave a steep imprint on the world of college football.
As a freshman, Hilliard was initially buried in the Tigers’ depth chart behind experienced backs like Spencer Ware, Michael Ford and Alfred Blue.
To see the field early, Hilliard accepted a role as a fullback in the early part of 2011.
“Anything to help my team win,” Hilliard said when asked about the move.
His first college carry came in the first quarter of his first game – a 40-27 rout of Oregon.
Lined up at fullback, Tigers’ quarterback Jarrett Lee handed the ball to the former Patterson star, who was hit at the line of scrimmage, before stumbling forward for two and a half yards.
“It’s funny,” Hilliard said looking back. “I really wasn’t that nervous.”
After a few games at fullback, Hilliard was quickly becoming one of LSU’s best-conditioned and most physical backs.
That progression caught the eye of LSU coach Les Miles, who moved Hilliard up into the Tigers’ rotation in the middle of last season.
It was the right decision.
In his first game receiving extended action, Hilliard rushed for 10 carries and 65 yards with two touchdowns against Auburn.
He closed the season scoring five combined touchdowns in LSU’s final three games, finishing his freshman campaign with 62 carries for 336 yards and eight touchdowns.
Despite the success, the former Patterson star said the freshman season fell flat when it ended in a 21-0 loss to Alabama in the BCS National Championship game.
Hilliard rushed for just 16 yards in that game on five carries.
“That was tough,” Hilliard said. “That was a tough pill for us to swallow as a team. We all worked hard the entire offseason to try and make sure we never felt that feeling again.”
So far, it looks like Hilliard’s labors have paid off.
Through LSU’s first two games, the sophomore rushed for 187 yards and four touchdowns.
In the Tigers’ season-opening win against North Texas, Hilliard eclipsed his collegiate career high with 141 yards on 13 carries.
“I think Kenny Hilliard is ready to play,” Miles said with a smirk following the win.
“I’m just trying to stay humble,” Hilliard added. “I’m just trying to get us where we need to be.”
Even with the success, Hilliard is still sharing reps inside the Tigers’ crowded backfield.
That’s no problem to him.
“Whoever Coach Frank (Wilson) and Coach Miles call is the guy we’re cheering for on that play,” Hilliard said.
That camaraderie runs so deep that Hilliard has become a part of one of college football’s hottest nicknames.
Following the season opener, Miles said he wanted Hilliard and LSU starting halfback Alfred Blue to be known as “Shake and Bake.”
Hilliard laughed at the coach’s creativity, but said he embraces the name.
“I kind of like it,” Hilliard said with a laugh. “It’s fun and it gives people something to talk about. I guess Alfred’s the shake, because he’s quicker and has better moves, where I am more of the physical, pounding back.”
But whether shaking, baking, scoring touchdowns or breaking records, this Tiger said he always holds his home close to his heart.
Hilliard said he speaks with Minton almost daily either through phone calls or text messages.
The LSU halfback said he wants his story to serve as inspiration to Tri-parish children to show them that dreams can come true.
“I want the kids to see me and know that they need to follow their dreams and keep pushing,” Hilliard said. “I’m in Baton Rouge now. But those people out there will always be special to me. Patterson and the surrounding areas – that’s home.”
LSU sophomore halfback Kenny Hilliard breaks into open space during the Tigers’ 41-14 win against North Texas. Hilliard is off to a dominant start to the 2012 season with six rushing touchdowns in the first three games of the season.
