Hamilton turns to ‘the Franchise’ quarterback to lift program

Elijah Asante, the football coach at Hamilton High who’s never been shy about making predictions, wants it to be known that he believes freshman quarterback Thaddeus Breaux is a future first-round NFL draft pick.

He calls him “the Franchise,” and has plans to let him throw 50 passes a game.

Breaux, who is 6 feet 4 and 205 pounds, welcomes the challenge of living up to high expectations. Working out with the Yankees on their new grass field with lights earlier this week, Breaux stood out with his size. On Saturday, he’ll get to show off his arm in the Culver City passing tournament.

Last season, the Yankees went 2-9 in Asante’s first season after taking over just a few weeks before practice began. He’s ambitious, having tried to schedule Mater Dei this season but settling for a season opener against Gardena Serra on Aug. 28. Doubt him at your own peril because he twice had teams beat Mater Dei when he was head coach at Carson and helped quarterback James Boyd become City player of the year at L.A. Jordan.

The Yankees appear to have more depth and talent this season. Besides Breaux, Miles Manilay is a returning safety, Jacob Riley has shown promise as a receiver and Micah Butler is an imposing 6-3, 275-pound junior lineman.

Asante is bringing back his best one-liner, “We will shock the world.” The big question is what is Asante referring to.

Manilay, with a 4.38 grade-point average and a sister who attends Harvard, is one of the captains. He sees a much improved team but also isn’t about to let Asante off the hook.

“I don’t know what world he’s talking about,” he said when asked about “shocking the world.”

Stay tuned.