Notre Dame defense has date with Kaplan ground attack

By Harlan Kirgan on Thursday, September 28, 2017

    Notre Dame and Kaplan last met three seasons ago when the schools were in the same district. The Pios won that game to make it eight in a row and 22-4-1 against another long-time series rival.
    “We are wrapping up what we like to call the first of three seasons. We get into league play next week and our roles are more defined now. Everyone is figuring out where they fit in. We want to be fundamentally sound and continue to define our offense and defense.”
    After two impressive wins against wide open offenses, the Pios face a different challenge in preparing for the Pirates. Coach Lewis Cook expects a more direct approach from Kaplan.
    “They are not spreading it out and not changing a lot formation wise. They will do things like align four guys on one side to try and get an advantage to just come right at us. They are a traditional wing T attack and they formation to get leverage to run the ball.”
    The Pirates of coach Stephen Lotief are coming off a 13-1 season and a trip to the state semifinals where they dropped a tough 20-12 game to Amite. Kaplan battled Acadiana to a 17-12 opening loss and then fell to Welsh, 27-18, before picking up their first win against Church Point, 23-6. Last week, the Pirates were back in the Pios district against Kinder and rushed for 263 yards in a 28-6 win.
    “Coach Lotief was with us on staff for two seasons, so he knows what we are all about. They play soundly with good technique. We expect they will be coached up to do some things to give themselves some help on defense like hold up our guards to keep them from pulling out in the zone blocking.”
    If anything has been high powered in three straight wins, it is the Notre Dame offense. The Pios have averaged 249 yards rushing and 123 yards passing and Cook hopes to keep that mix going.
    “We have to continue to try and find some balance by mixing it up on offense. If you chart us through the first two and a half quarters of our games, we are 60/40 run to pass. With the lead after that, we are about 90/10 run. We have the opportunity to keep working on that with the type kids we have that can run and catch.”
    GAME BALL AWARDS
    Big Play of the Game – Cameron Nelson 68-yard punt return – Leading 10-0 in the second quarter, Catholic punted from the ND 45 hoping to pin the Pios deep. Nelson fielded at the five and raced across the field to the wall set by his return team all the way to the Panthers 27. Field position flipped, momentum flipped, touchdown follows for a 17-0 lead. Game changing!
    Pios Defense – A total team effort, lots of big plays with special note for cornerback Konnor Broussard who found himself lined up all night across from Peter Leblanc, the Panthers leading receiver. Leblanc caught four passes for 10 yards and nothing downfield. Catholic had 123 yards of offense after averaging over 500 a game this season.
    Gentry Borill – Three catches for 64 yards and three first downs with the finest diving catch down the sideline you could ever hope to see.
    C.J. Thibodeaux – The running game was split around five ball carriers with no one getting more than 63 yards. Sophomore Thibodeaux came into the game with fresh legs late in the third quarter and took us “Back to the Future” with 50 yards on 9 carries highlighted by a 20-yard stretch around the right side knocking two defenders out of the way and running through a third. He scored on a six-yard run dragging tacklers with him.
    NSTANT REPLAY
    The last meeting between the teams was over two seasons when they were league foes in District 6-3A. The teams faced off both years in Week 10 with the league title on the line.
    In 2013, a standing room only crowd at Kaplan saw the unbeaten Pios roll to a 47-6 win. In 2014, ND dominated at home for a 35-6 win.
    The Pios bottled up Kaplan RB Julius Johnson, who had rushed for over 800 yards on the season, holding the Kaplan offense to 135 total yards. ND logged eight sacks, seven tackles for losses, forced and recovered two fumbles and held the Pirates to just eight first downs.
    RB Lance Bertrand capped a 51-yard drive with a three-yard TD run in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead. Two plays later, Conner Kirsch forced a fumble, Jake Reiners recovered and QB Brad Stoma hit a stretched out Boedy Borill at the goal line pylon for a 23-yard TD pass and a 14-0 lead.
    Kaplan answered with an 80-yard scoring drive and a 23-yard TD run by QB Jade Herpin. With two minutes to play in the half, DT Logan Lagrange, who led the Pios defense with eight tackles, forced a fumble and Jake Reiners recovered at the Kaplan 20-yard line. QB Brad Stoma ran it in from three yards for a 21-6 halftime lead.
    ND scored on its first possession of the second half, QB Brad Stoma completed a nine-yard pass to Boedy Borill on second and 17 and on third and eight at the Kaplan 12, Stoma went over the middle to tight end Ethan Smith at the five and he walked in to cap a drive that put the Pios ahead 28-6.
    Notre Dame added one final score on a Stoma to Borill 18-yard TD pass on the first play of the fourth quarter.
    SCOUTING REPORT
    Five starters return in the Wing T ground attack of the Pirates. Senior Mac Thibeaux (5-10, 200) was an honorable mention All-State pick last season. He ran for 105 yards with a 33-yard score in the win over Church Point and last week carried 17 times for 89 yards and a 24-yard TD against Kinder. Junior Brayton Romero (5-8, 170) carried 20 times for 99 yards as the Pirates rushed for 297 yards in the Church Point win and he had 99 yards and two scores against Kinder.
    Senior All-District linemen Aaron Hebert (6-0, 240) and Austin Stelly (5-9, 205) are back to anchor the front. Stepping into starting roles are juniors Michael Lotief (5-8, 200), Anthony DeMarco (5-10, 200) and Hayden Hebert (5-10, 220).
    Senior Trae Case (5-9, 165) is the quarterback with lone receiver Lane Marceaux (5-8, 170 Sr) and tight end Beau Mathews (5-10, 190 Jr) in the offense that hasn’t thrown much.
    The Pirates return six starters on defense led by junior end Quintlan Cobb (6-4, 250) who earned All-District honors as a sophomore and will line up at tight end as an additional blocker on offense. The rest of the front is smaller in size with juniors Ashton Gaspard (5-11, 190), Tyler Stelly (6-0, 210) and Dylan Hargrave (5-9, 203).
    Linebackers Rhett Menard (5-10, 200 Sr) and Logan Roy (6-1, 215 Jr) are all-league returnees. All-District senior Trae Case (5-10, 180 Sr) plays both ways to lead the secondary.