Tom Dodge
It was 1997 and 1998 the last times the Eunice Bobcats advanced to the state semifinals.
That season, Eunice rolled to a 21-0 win over Bastrop to earn back-to-back trips to the 4A championship game.
“It is hard to get to this point,” Eunice head coach Paul Trosclair said. “A lot of coaches coach for a long time and never get to the semifinals.
“If it turns out like the last two semifinals, I will be happy.”
Last week, No. 2 Eunice cruised to a 41-12 victory over No. 26 Madison Prep.
The Bobcats (11-2) will face No. 3 Kaplan (10-3) with the winner advancing to the title game against either No. 1 Iota (13-0) or No. 4 Sterlington (11-2).
The semifinal game will be played 7 p.m. Friday at Bobcat Field.
“We seem to be playing well right now,” Trosclair said of the win over Madison Prep. “They had trouble stopping our running game.
“Our secondary seems to do well against spread teams and they did the other night,” the coach added. “When they couldn’t run the ball, we knew they were going to throw as we made them one-dimential.”
Kaplan opened the playoffs with wins over No. 30 Jennings (29-13), No. 14 Crowley (35-6) and No. 6 Lake Charles College Prep (21-12).
“We have both made it this far so both teams are good,” Trosclair said. “The team that makes the fewest mistakes will have the best chance to win.”
The Pirates’ three losses this season came against Class 5-A Acadiana High (27-20), Church Point (30-24) and 2-A power Notre Dame (20-6).
“No one has been able to stop them running the ball,” Trosclair said, “and their defense is pretty good at stopping the run.
“It is a tough match-up no doubt.”
Trosclair said miscues and short possessions could be the difference.
“It would be great if we can force some mistakes,” he said. “That’s what it all comes down to when you get to this point.”
Trosclair said the 1997 team had a lot of talent and the 1998 team had a lot of determination.
“This year’s bunch is really scrappy and finds a way to get it done.
“The guys are ready to play all four quarters.”
Troslair pointed out that District 5-3A has two of the top four teams left standing and could have had three teams if Church Point had won the overtime game against Sterlington.
“I know we had a tough district and to have 50 percent of the final four teams is pretty impressive.”