VC football team loses money by drawing first round bye; Kaplan at home

The Vermilion Catholic Screaming Eagles, 10-0, the No. 1 seed in the Division IV (private school) playoffs, won’t be playing football this Friday because they drew a bye in the first round. 

The Eagles will play again Nov. 22 against the winner of No. 16 seed Central Catholic of Morgan City and No. 17 St. Martin’s Episcopal. Those two teams play this Friday.

No home game for 14 days could be both good and bad for the Eagles.

The good thing about not playing in the first  round is it gives your players who are banged up and bruised time to heal.  It also lets your coaches scout next week’s opponent. 

The bad news about not playing this Friday: Vermilion Catholic loses the gate (money) it would have made for the first round  game.

By hosting a home game, Vermilion Catholic   could have cleared $3,000 to $4,000, depending on how many fans crowd into the home stadium.

“We are losing money by not playing,” said  VC  Athletic Director Kim Guidry.

When they do play, the Eagles have a chance to play all three playoff games at home, if the road to the Superdome falls right. 

While the VC coaching staff will be relaxing  this Friday, the administration and coaches at Kaplan High School will be busy this week preparing for the only parish home football game.

The No. 11 seed Kaplan Pirates (7-3) entertain No. 22 Mansfield. Game is expected to be at 7 p.m. on Friday.

On the road the first round from the parish are North Vermilion, traveling to No. 13 seed Loranger in the Class 3A non-select division, while No. 32 Delcambre travels to play No. 1 seed Many in the Class 2A non-select playoffs. 

While the coaches are preparing for a football game, Kaplan Principal Laura LeBeouf and the administration  will be busy getting everything lined up to play host to a football game.

They have to worry about getting security for the football game ($500 for security), paying the officials ($400 to $500), making sure the field is ready, speakers and scoreboard are working and volunteers and announcers are lined up ready to work.

From an administration point of view, playing a road game is a lot less stressful than playing a home game,  Kaplan High Principal LeBeouf said.

“As a principal, I would rather be on the road,” she said. “You have less responsibility. If I would be traveling,  you do not have to worry about things like security, gate workers and game organization. It is all a process.”

LeBeouf said the farther a team has to travel, the smaller the fan base.  Kaplan’s first game is against Mansfield, which is two and half hours north of Kaplan, near Shreveport. The round trip is around 430 miles. Kaplan has to reimburse   Mansfield for its mileage  at 50 cents a mile.   

Before kickoff, Kaplan High will be in the hole $1,000 (counting fees to pay officials, security and mileage).

Gate charge is expected to be $8 per person.  The bad news for the home team is that it does not get all of the home-game money like a home game during the regular season.  At the end of a playoff game, the home team has to split the gate with the traveling team.

Kaplan is expected to have more fans than Mansfield, and Mansfield will benefit from Kaplan’s large gate by collecting half the gate money. 

Despite the headaches, LeBeouf said she is happy for the team and coaching staff.

“It is something they have worked for all year.”