LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — It’s not every day you get to see a female lace up her cleats and hit the gridiron.
Hannah Mouton, a junior at Southside High in Lafayette, is changing the game.
Mouton, a wide receiver, is in her junior year at Southside and first year on the football team where she started the season as a kicker.
“I was a kicker at first but got tired of it because we didn’t do much, so I was like I got to have more movement and so I moved to wide receiver.”
She says her inspiration for wanting to play football comes from someone very close to her.
“My brother and I always played football when we were younger in the front the yard. Just playing with my friends and stuff and I always have been around boys and just playing with them.”
Her brother is Isaiah Mouton, a starting linebacker for the Sharks.
Isaiah says having Hannah on the team brings out the best in everyone.
“It motivates me to be better, and I think it motivates the rest of the dudes on the team because if she can do it and get in pads and do what she does then they should have no problem doing the same exact thing.”
Head coach Josh Fontenot says everyone gets treated the same.
“She said I want you to treat me like a football player and so we have. She has never skipped out of any rep of any workout so she’s done exactly what they’ve done and so there’s no reason for them to treat her any different and there’s no reason for her to feel like she should be treated any different.”
Hannah caught her first touchdown pass in a JV game so far this season and with that she has a message for all females playing in a male dominated sport.
“My advice is if you want to do it, go do it. If you want something, go do something and don’t stop yourself and limit yourself at what you want to do.”